He has a deft way of describing atrocious behavior without damning his characters, without suggestions that they’re entirely circumscribed by their worst acts. His comedy is tempered by a kind of a gentleness that’s a salve in these mean times ... At several points, in fact, I was reminded of Peter Carey’s brilliant little novel Theft (2006), about a complicated trio of art forgers. But Rachman brings his own, warmer touch to the crime, transforming it into a surprising act of defiance that’s both deliciously ironic and deeply affectionate.
Rachman’s new novel may well be his most impressive yet ... Rachman vividly evokes the dismalness of Pinch’s life in Bear’s absence, and how this leads him to further valorise his father ... In the end, this deceptively subtle novel offers a surprisingly upbeat message: that even a life marked by outward failure can contain many hidden kinds of success.
The Italian Teacher is about more than art and commerce. At its core beats one of literature’s perennial themes: the paternal ties that bind, sometimes to the point of choking ... The Italian Teacher trots along at an engrossing clip, occasionally devolving into the ridiculous ... A more bothersome misstep is Rachman’s habit of baldly spelling out his characters’ thoughts in italics, not trusting us to glean them if stated less directly. Fortunately, he handles questions about art, craft, authenticity, identity, aesthetics, meaning, and value judgments with more subtlety ... Should exceptionally gifted people 'get to live by different rules?' Rachman’s response is exceptionally clever.
Rachman sometimes relies on caricatures...And some plot developments don’t emerge naturally from the narrative but feel engineered to drive home Rachman’s points. But the novel takes satisfyingly unexpected turns, especially when the reader might expect a clichéd depiction of father-son strife. And Rachman offers a nuanced portrait of talented people whose lives don’t work out the way they had hoped.
Rachman has terrific fun skewering the hyperbole and hypocrisies of the art world. While it is hardly virgin territory, he brings a shrewd eye and a knack for aphorism that lend his observations a satisfyingly sharp edge ... Pinch’s middle years are a study in neediness, disappointment and self-disgust ... While psychologically acute, this poses novelistic challenges Rachman appears at first not quite to meet. In its central third the novel slows to a crawl as Pinch limps through his lonely, colorless existence, unwilling to recognize his father’s monstrousness or admit his own collusion, unable to forge a convincing self of his own. Passively, unhappily, he sags into middle age. The plot, such as it is, sags too. It seems a surprising miscalculation from a novelist of Rachman’s caliber until the book reaches its final climactic third and he delivers his sucker punch of a payoff ... The satisfaction of the ending, and its moral ambiguity, underscore the impossibility of easy answers.
...[an] engaging and subtle third novel ... While Bear’s genius does not seem to be in doubt, we are given a rather one-note, not to say gimmicky, impression of his work ... Yet Rachman appears in perfect control of his material. This is not an aesthetic treatise but, first and foremost, a morality tale about fame and family ... Pinch’s middle years, and the middle of the book, are meandering and seemingly plotless, filled with sadness, disappointment and tenuously formed and lost connections. Yet the quiet story remains engrossing, by turns gently humorous and pathetic, mundane and poignant ... There are no black-and-white answers in life and art, not even in our present age of increasing personal responsibility. The Italian Teacher is a psychologically nuanced pleasure.
Rachman’s ensemble of art-world characters here is luminescent; their dialogue is intelligent and so entertaining ... while I had fears that I could see how everything would play out, Rachman manages a truly dazzling ending, one that balances one’s captivation with paint with one’s presence in the world.
...reading Rachman is simply de rigueur if you appreciate literary fiction’s brightest, newest voices ... Rachman’s narrative is rich with wordplay, clever dialogue and subtle insights. His plot twists blindside you. And, his ensemble of lovable, misfit characters are unforgettable.
Rachman draws his characters with a specificity so sharp it borders on cruel ... after several hundred pages that seem like sad checkpoints (albeit wonderfully written ones) on a trail of beta-male woe, Teacher finds a lovely and unexpected grace note, a left-field redemption made even sweeter by its long and winding path.
Rachman has succeeded in painting a vivid portrait of a man of such magnetic charisma that everyone he meets winds up orbiting him long past the time he has lost interest in them ... The Italian Teacher, Rachman manages to conjure a fresh perspective on fame and its destructive effects on the people ensnared by it. Instead of running toward celebrity, readers may find themselves instead turning around and running away.
One of Mr Rachman’s gifts is his ability to evoke a time and place in a few deft strokes ... Despite its breadth, though, the book is intimate, subtly exploring its characters’ inner lives ... His struggle to find meaning amid the rubble becomes a surprisingly suspenseful quest. For all his faults, Pinch is gifted with wisdom, as is the author of this sad, funny and moving novel.
Rachman not only details these relationships with relentless clarity and precision, he also explores deep questions about the nature of art, ambition, and value ... But there is something hollow—cerebral and mathematical—about all of this depiction and interrogation. I read, I understood, I pondered, but I didn’t feel ... There is also a tendency to deescalate moments of tension instead of leaning into them. Moments of great drama somehow feel anti-climactic ... Rachman writes with rich and abundant detail. It’s the feelings underpinning these details that get lost.
The Italian Teacher is another superbly poignant novel featuring deeply imperfect people making deeply human decisions. It is about loyalty, the power and pretension of art and, most of all, the ties that bind.
Rachman’s haunting addition to the list of novels about children overshadowed by famous parents is a momentous drama of a volatile relationship and the fundamental will to survive.
If you’ve found yourself wondering lately whether you can love the art while hating the artist’s behavior, Tom Rachman’s moving tragicomic novel “The Italian Teacher” provides savory and satisfying food for thought ... Novels about second chances can be as cloying as they are reassuring, but Rachman avoids this by always returning to that wistful minor key, sensitizing us to loss yet surprising us with joy. Exploring the heart-rending rifts between life and art, Rachman gradually reveals the graceless beauty of one man’s most inartful life.
... the novel does traffic a bit in familiar notions of the art world and difficult artists, but its subversion of these tropes makes for a satisfying examination of authorship and authenticity, and a fine fictionalization of how crafting an identity independent of one’s parents can be a lifelong, worthwhile project.
