The Modigliani Scandal: A Novel

Rambling and disconnected. Story line intriguing but all over the place, ending just seemed to drop off without a good finish.

Love every other book i've read by mr. Follett this one just fell flat. So many other good reads he's written before you open this one.

It is obviously an early work, still, you feel the potential of the writer. However, if you read the book after your have read the latest Follett novels, you are dissapointed. So, I would not recommend it among the first novels to be read by a Follett novice.

My copy of The Gemini Contenders was part of an order of ten books in early January. I chose to read two other books before getting to The Gemini Contenders, so the complaint I am about to write is too late for a refund from the store.

I read through page 288 in my copy of The Gemini Contenders when I was suddenly confronted by page 273 of an entirely different book, A Stranger in the Family by Steven Naifen and Gregory White Smith! The typeface of this book is different from that of Ludlum's book.

A Stranger in the Family continues to page 364, and then The Gemini Contenders resumes at page 321 and goes to page 384, where it is interrupted once more at page 369 of A Stranger in the Family, which terminates at page 400.

So I received incomplete parts of two books bound together in the cover of The Gemini Contenders! Maybe this "book" will turn out to be a valuable object, sought after by collectors of publishing freaks. But I just wanted a good read of a continuous individual title. If it's not too late, I'd like to receive a normal copy of The Gemini Contenders.

William Moriarty

This early offering by Ken Follett is a comedic romp showcasing the London art world. The subject is forgery and how easy it would be to pull the wool over the eyes of connoisseurs who are supposed to know better.
There are a whole lot of characters in this relatively short book and several subplots that intersect each other in some intricate ways. To his credit, Follett manages to pull off a few surprising twists as the narrative unfolds.
Bottom line: The Modigliani Scandal is a lighthearted romp through the rather stuffy world of high end art. A mildly amusing effort worthy of a 3 star rating.

"The Modigliani Scandal," was originally published in the United Kingdom in 1976 by Ken Follett, international bestselling British author, under the pseudonym Zachary Stone. It was republished, with an introduction by its now famous author, in 1985. It's a light-hearted suspense thriller, only novella length, obviously an early effort by the author who would make his name soon afterward with the famous spy thrillerEye of the Needle, (made into a very good movie of the same name, Eye of the Needle). And then The Key to Rebecca, also made into a movie of the same name. Then the writer would make his name again with the extraordinary non-fiction On Wings of Eagles. Then he made his name again in historical fiction in 1989 with the huge hit, THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH, set in twelfth century England. And now he's moved onto the twentieth century with The CENTURY TRILOGY. But this early novella-length effort of his has, meanwhile, been found and republished. Though it's doubtful it would have been had he not become such a worldwide publishing phenomenon.

The Modigliani Scandal concerns a legendary "lost masterpiece" by Modigliani, famous and much-loved Italian/Jewish 20th century modern artist - he who drew all those thin, elongated figures. This one is supposedly hidden away somewhere in picturesque Italy. It becomes the ultimate prize for a young art historian whose ambition encroaches on everyone around her, an angry young painter with a plan to revenge himself on the art establishment, and a desperate gallery owner who may have double-crossed his own life away. So they all rent cars and go tramping around picturesque bits of that beautiful Mediterranean country. The art world background lends a little bit of glitz and glamour to the enterprise, and the author shows the ability to portray double-, and triple-crosses that will serve him so well in his future spy novels. The novel can be considered fizzy, glitzy fun, but it's very thin, characters, plot, and all, and very lightweight. It doesn't really do justice to its Italian setting. And too many of its important scenes take place offstage.

There is no central character, but there are quite a few characters, mostly young, all pulling off their own little capers. It is an early showing of his ability to create and manipulate many characters, although, owing to the book's short length, they are rather thin. It is also an early exhibition of Follett's ability to produce a complex plot, although, at the book's novella length, it too is necessarily rather thin. Follett has said, "As a writer I have always had to struggle against a tendency to underwrite.... Consequently the many characters are painted in brisk, bold brushstrokes, and the book lacks the feeling of detailed personal involvement with the private lives of the characters that readers demand of a bestseller." It's a reasonably entertaining little book, but will, I think be best appreciated by the author's fans.

Was he under a deadline?

This book started off OK, but quickly devolved. (Spoiler alert) As if two struggling artists could dash off ten art forgeries so quickly and fool different art galleries (playing on their greed by underpricing them helped) is bad enough to try to swallow. But the ending of the book seemed to be more of an outline than a good ending. It was rushed, as if he didn't have time to flesh it out. It's probably just as well, since it was a ridiculous idea anyway. Still, it could have been better if it had been up to his usual standard of writing. It's almost as if someone is trying to push this book as a genuine Follett, but in fact it's a forgery. Wouldn't that be fun? I usually love Ken Follet's books, but this one was a loser. I did finish it, though. Not too hard, since it was pretty short.

This has got to be one of the most boring books I've ever read. The story was confusing and unbelievable. I had no attachment to any of the characters. It took me a long time to read because I kept putting off finishing it. Even when I reached 80% read on my Kindle, I was still tempted to not even finish it. I forced myself to in the hopes of a good ending, but no..it was dull as dishwater.

I am a fan of Ken Follett's writings. He has a way of spinning a tale that quickly pulls in the reader yet you are given opportunities to appreciate his style of prose. In my book this is a winning combination. "The Modigliani Scandal" is one of Follett's earliest works. It was written under a pseudonym. You put these two facts together & you can understand that the author was in the early stages of developing his storytelling muscle. I would agree with the the sentiment from an earlier reviewer that mediocre Follett is better than a great deal of the literature that is out there. But, to each his (or her) own. My only disappointment with the story is it's rather abrupt & awkward ending. And by ending I mean the last page. It made me feel as if my copy of the book was missing pages.

I am a big ken Follett fan, having read most of his books. This is not one of his best. Indeed, had this been the first of his books that I had read, it would have been the last. The story is silly and very confusing. The characters are ridiculous and never developed. Not worth reading and not worth a long review.

I have not read much of Follett's work but I hope the rest is better than this. It must be, as Follett has sold more than 50 million books. On his website he admits that this early work, written under a pseudonyme and then re-released after he had developed a following, is not very good. In the introduction, he indicates that he had not really developed his successful style at this point, and that his aim (something to do with an evaluation of pre-destiny) exceeded his reach here.

Actually the story line has a nugget of a well-developed caper to it, but the characters are hopeless. They suddenly appear, get a minor character development, do something inane or out of character and then disappear. At least in a Seinfeld episode, everyone's story line gets tied out as the credits role.

The gist of this thing is there are several competing groups seeking a lost masterpiece by the Italian 20th century painter Modigliani. This painter caroused and drank to excess, died poor and unappreciated, then became a star posthumously mostly due to the interest and purchases of the eccentric Albert Barnes of Philadelphia. Our story line here is that Modigliani painted while drunk or under the influence of drugs, and one of those paintings was not destroyed by the artist but has disappeared from the art world.

Consider our loopy collection of characters next. Problem number one is that none of them is the protaganist or even the central character. They just appear and disappear as if in an Ionesco play.

Follett gives us a young British girl living in Paris. She takes off after the lost painting, spending the first several days looking in Catholic churches, before remembering that Modigliani was Jewish. You would think someone with a degree in art history who had studied Modigliani extensively would know that, as it was an essential fact in his relationship with the Paris art world.

Next we have a movie star, who frets over her inability to change the world, especially to wipe out poverty. She then meets a rogue at a cocktail party, instantly moves in with him, discovers he has quite a past, becomes addicted to speed, and decides to steal an art collection valued at $1 MM.

How about the art gallery owner who is impotent until he sees his wife cheating on him with multiple simultaneous partners? I dont know how that advances the story. It is almost like Follett had a few characters left over from another book that he wanted to use up before they reached their sell by date.

Then there is the painter, who gets run out of the cliquish London art world because he caused a scene at a cocktail party and his paintings sell for more than they are worth. So he turns to forgery, to make the point that the system is rigged against the living painter who needs to pay the mortgage.

Finally, we have a group of 10 top London art dealers who buy 10 forgeries in one day. Incompetence seems to know no boundaries here.

This book is dated, and the plot took a while to sink in for me. However, once I got into the swing of things, I enjoyed this book very much.
Because the amount of artwork by any given artist is finite, discovering that there may be an undiscovered work by a famous artist is a huge discovery in the art world. When an art student studying abroad hears that not all of Modigliani's works are available, she delightedly decides to find the one that was reputedly hidden during the War.
The many twists of the plot are difficult to follow until they tie together at the end of the book. The plots do fit nicely! but it is confusing to follow throughout the body of the book.
This is not Ken Follett's best work. However, for an early work, it's quite good; furthermore, it's a lot better than a lot of the drek that some authors are trying to pass off as literature.

I found this to be a rather unsatisfying book which left me with an itch to scratch..if you will forgive my allusion. Two reasonably, but not massively, successful artists are fed up with the ridiculous prices that art brings on the market, arguing that it's a form of snobbery which has no real bearing on the true value of the work. They set out to prove this by painting a series of brilliant forgeries of well known artists and selling them as previously undiscovered early works, with the intention of revealing the sales to the world press and causing a major scandal in the art world. There are several characters floating around in the story, such as the famous actress who starts taking drugs after meeting a new boyfriend who could be classed as a "bit of rough", and makes the reader wonder what on earth she's doing in the story, as well as the gallery owner whose wife favours multiple sex partners and who has no part at all to play in the overall story. I was very disappointed with this book.

Having been introduced to Ken Follett's books only recently, I chose this one, as an example of one of his earliest works - if not THE earliest. Whilst interesting, I felt I could tell that the writer had a little ways to go before reaching the highest levels of thriller writing - and where his books are well-placed now. Just see for yourself how Ken's skills developed over the coming years - leading to today's blockbusters.

There's not much to say in reviewing the Modigliani Scandal, an early Follett novel published before he hit it big with the World War II thriller "Eye of the Needle." In a forward for the version I read, Follett acknowledges that this little story about art dealers, artists and thieves in London doesn't have much depth. Still, it is fun to read and to see traces of the greatness that is to come. There really aren't any main characters, just a bunch of story lines that all merge together in the end. The plot concerns the chase for a rare painting by a famous Italian artist, Modigliani. The plot also follows a Lucian Black as he tries to open his own art gallery. The book is short and easy to read, and if you're a Follett fan, I recommend you read this, but I don't think I'd recommend that you pay money for it. It's just not that good of a book.

I generally have liked books by this author but this one misses the mark. There is not nearly enough detail, plot development or character development. In other words, it is much too short given the general plot lines, number of characters and twists. My spouse and I were disappointed.

When looking back from Follett's later books, one can see the facile nature of his writing, here with wit and creativity. You'll find plenty of twists and turns....and surprises. This was a delightful short read from beginning to end, capturing me with its imagination. Read this as a light touch from an extraordinary author. Loved it.....

Great fun! Follet has yet to write a book that wasn’t worth reading, This one is a bit lighter than many of his others, but with fully de eloped characters and an engaging plot, yiu’llfind it Well woth your time. Enjoy....

This is one of Ken Follet's early books. It is really more of an good story than any sort of thriller or mystery. The book is essentially about several individuals whose lives becomes intertwined in a search for a missing sketch by Modigliani. All of these individuals are involved in the art industry. In this respect the book also provides an interesting window into the world of artists and art dealers.

First of all let me tell you that this book could be written in 100 pages less, taking that little part away, how could ten art experts buy a fake copy of a paint. They don't study how to recognize a fake?
The book has too many stories and everybody make wrong things and they go against all the laws and nobody does nothing, that is unreal.

S P O I L E R: don't read the next text unless you already read the book

How can anybody steal one million dollars and no one does nothing? Or even worse, they forgive the thieves just for the value of the real paints. That is pathetic.

I am a big fan of Ken Follett, I read every single book he wrote. I was excited to find this book written early in his career, a book I have not read before. But I found it boring. It was the only book of his that I have not finished. Some day I might take it with me on vacation where I would be forced to finish it by not having any other options...

Why all the negative reviews???

A delightful little mystery, written when he was still an unknown, and I think originally published under some other name? Of course you cannot compare this little book (a short one) with the best of the best sellers today, but you must remember it was written many years ago. Put yourself in 1986 or whenever this was written when you read it.

Fans of Ken Follett must get this book. I think it's even better than some of the books written right after he got famous, which I thought were too pretentious (the books, not him). You should be grateful this book has been reprinted.

To be honest, I haven't read the entire book. What I've read of it so far seems to be pretty good. At least it has captured my reading attention. The problem I *DO* have with this book is the formatting for Kindle. It is horrible to say the least; to the point where it is quite distracting. It appears that they converted from a printed book, ran it through a spell checker and never looked at the final file. Lead quote marks are backward, as are apostrophes, contractions break across two lines. Nit-picks, I know. But really, they could have at least looked at the final product before releasing it.

Reportedly one of the first books done by Follett, the
action is not as intense as later works. ( Lie Down With
Lions ).
Story concept is easy to follow but interest is maintained
by the introduction of several crosses and double-crosses.
Good description of story locations adds to the enjoyment.

I found this book outside a small bookshop while i was strolling the streets of Amsterdam. I was on my summer holidays from Ireland and was quite lost. Being an avid Follet reader i snatched it up immediately.
Lets call a spade a spade. The book lacks depth, character development or any sign of tension. However, it was an entertaining read for a person who was travelling by train around Europe and was often stuck for english material. by Follets own admission the book didn't turn out the way he had planned. nobody would try to argue that this book is anywhere as good as 'pillars' but at the end of the day it is still a good entertaining read.

I recently read the Modigiliani Scandal. I think this is the worst Follett I have ever read (and I have read quite a few). There are many weaknesses in the plot- first of all the ease with which art experts can be fooled seems too far fetched. Secondly the lack of a solid central character. Also by the end you get a feeling of being cheated as it seems what you have just finished was not a Follett at all. I do not recommend the book to any Follett lover

Ok. Follet is better than this... I agree. But it is still a very entertaining story with some entertaining characters in it. To the person that said it could have been done in 100 pages, you're stupid, it was to short to start with, especially because you complained about the character development, which would have made the book much longer. Overall, I liked it, not as good as jackdaws, the man from st. petersburg, ect., but still worth the few hours it takes to read.

I love Follett books, but this is his weakest effort. The characters are not well developed and none are endearing. You don't find yourself pulling for or against anyone and I could care less about having a beer with any of the characters. The plot is far fetched and the ending is worse. Pick any other Follett book and you will be better off.

I read this book at the end of the spring semester. I'm not very familiar with Follet's work but I generally liked the book. It was an easy read and a great way to relax. Though it is a good easy read, I probably won't read it again though.