渴望生活——《梵高传》读后感 放下这本书的时候我无言以对，我想，我也只能选择沉默。在温森特〃梵〃高的不同寻常的一生中，坎坷与苦难始终萦绕于他的左右；而当所有的激情、狂热与执著在这个生命行将结束时，它们都会烟消云散，在人世间不留一丝痕迹。

梵〃高是孤独的，但至死他都是一个高高在上的灵魂，他用生命给予了世间一个超乎于常人的、但却是一个至真至纯的答案：我是生命中的孤独行者。有什么还能比这个更为残酷的么？说偶然受到了某种神灵的启发而豁然懂得了生活的真谛，这样的话实在是夸张得有些滑稽。如果说困苦也不过是一种美丽的内涵的话，那么我只想弄明白在这人世间令人不堪忍受的东西究竟还有哪些。与其说刻意追求的完美在一瞬间就化为了泡影也是一种痛苦的话，那么雾里看花式的心理满足是不是一种更大的嘲讽呢？然而，在人的所谓心理情结上，不可理喻的孤芳自赏实在是一种可笑的心理行为。同时，这种心理行为所导致的又必然是可悲的人生结局。这是因为孤独总是发自心灵的一瞬间的真诚呼叫，这使得处于孤独之外的人群时不时迸发出的有意无意的自怜自爱与诸种感觉都成为了虚伪与多余的东西。但是没有人能意识到这一点。这缘由也很简单：凡意识到了的，孤独总是时时伴随着你。

毕竟梵〃高是幸运的，因为他最终还是走向了自己的理想之巅，不是所有的人都能达到这个境界。梵〃高的幸运源自于他的真诚，而真诚是构筑了梵〃高生命的所有要素。他用真诚来描绘自己孤独的生

命，色彩则是他周身流淌的血液。在他活着时，他几乎得不到理解与同情，这使他的生命连同色彩一同疯狂地流动。他之所以选择了结束自己生命的举动是因为他决心与世间的庸俗与鄙陋远离，但他不知道自己付出的代价实在是太大了。但对于后人来说，这样的代价是值得的，这是因为他使他的那些真正伟大的作品展示在世人面前了，并且长存。

圣经上说，是耶和华创造了世间万物，是他那颗伟大而慈善的心灵拯救了世间这些本是他所创造出的人类，因为人类具有了“原罪”。但是耶和华只拯救了人类那么一次，往后他就再也不管了。这使得善良与宽宥的美好根性在人类心灵中的植入越来越少，以至在一个相对时期几乎消失殆尽；不再相信纯净与真诚的人们开始选择一种“另类”的精神方式与生活方式，同时又在声嘶力竭地呼喊着那已经失却了的精神家园，那被人弃臵了的心灵中的最后一块净土。这样的人或许是智者，因为他们把丢失与找寻看得太轻易了，就像生命逝去还能“归去来兮”一样。于是他们开始有理有据地放纵自我，说是在寻找；他们开始无尽无休地寻欢作乐，自诩为“迷失的一代”。看来，智者总是对自己宽容的。梵〃高不是智者，因为他对自己不宽容，他选择了死亡之路。

第二篇：Lust for Life - A Book Review 渴望生活-梵高传英文介绍

Lust for Life - A Book Review

Lust for life - how better to describe post-impressionist Vincent van Gogh’s enthusiasm. Irving Stone captures the essence of this great artist in his biography, and not only that of Vincent van Gogh but also his brother Theo and many of the artists of the day. Who were the post-impressionists? None other than an outrageous group of individuals. This group included Seurat, Rousseau, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Cezanne and among them Vincent van Gogh to whom the south of France at Arles and the sunflower belong.

Irving Stone’s biography “Lust for Life” published by the Heritage Press in 1937 tells the story of a young Dutchman who was not only unlucky in love but who could never fit into the mold of his homeland. He was unable to fit into the mold of the clergy and the mold of the businessman. He was woefully inadequate in fitting into the established mold of art. While Vincent van Gogh so often failed in life, he succeeded where many do not. Through his art, he discovered a genuine purpose for his life and

pursued it relentlessly. He was an artist. He worked diligently at his craft and succeeded, not in his own lifetime, but for all time.

I am amazed by the magnitude of his art. Vincent van Gogh spent the first 27 years of his life searching for his purpose and in the process failed at everything he tried. He couldn’t bear selling bad art for a high price to foolish patrons. His idealism brought him to ruin as an evangelist. His religious superiors were appalled that he practiced the charity he preached to the point of being destitute himself. They couldn’t reconcile the image of poverty with the church. But Vincent knew what the word of God said and he sought to follow it. Unfortunately, the church leaders of his day cast him out for that. His experiences however taught him to see life in all its hardships and appreciate the beauty of both nature and the laborer. He painted the common man who toils through life. The van Gogh family was wealthy, but

Vincent was not. Even when visiting his parents, he took his bread without butter because he didn’t want to get used to such luxury.

Vincent no doubt would have starved were it not of his brother Theo, a successful employee for a prominent art gallery. It was Theo who paid Vincent’s way, often at great cost to himself - Theo who recognized the art masters to be in the artists of his day and fought to give them exhibitions. To those who criticized Vincent for his dependence on his brother he explained that Theo paid him a salary so everything he painted belonged to Theo.

Vincent van Gogh only drew and painted for ten years. Throughout his life he suffered attacks of what seemed to be sheer craziness every three months or so, causing him to be scorned by society. Perhaps he was manic-depressive, perhaps an epileptic, but his last attack brought about his demise. In a fit of severe depression and concern that Theo would be unable to provide for his new wife and child because

of him, Vincent shot himself and died soon after. Theo’s grief was such that he too died not long after his brother. Both deaths were a great loss to the art world. Yet because of the urgency with which Vincent painted in his ten years as an artist, he left a marvelous legacy behind.

Read “Lust for Life” by Irving Stone. Its 399 pages will give you tremendous insight into the life of an artist. You will see that what brought about Vincent’s early demise is indeed what was responsible for his extraordinary talent.

Copyright 2001 Patricia Dake