Review
There is something rather odd about Ian French,
But we just don’t know what it is…
There is something very special about artists, their thoughts and ideas, lifestyle and behavior. There is something about love, how it inspires you, gives way to your imagination, hopes and dreams, how it paints your life with bright colors and makes you feel alive.
“Feuille d’Album” by Katherine Mansfield is a story about an artist and his love. Ian French, the main character, is a young artist who lives in Paris. He is extremely mysterious and strange young man, who leaves the whole neighborhood wondering what’s wrong with him. He is thin, dark, always wearing the same dark clothes, very quiet and “looks just like a boy who has decided to run away to sea”. He paints a lot, his days resembling one another, but everything changes when Ian sees a beautiful young girl on the balcony across the street. He feels like she is the only person he really wants to know, the only one who is just like him, who can understand him and be with him. But meeting her and talking to her is a real challenge for Ian. He stays in his room, dreams about their being together until the very day he decides to take the first step.
This story is all about love and the way it brings one’s life to light, makes one get out of their shell. We do not know the future of Ian’s love story, but there is always a chance that he was not mistaken and the girl in dark dress with a pink handkerchief tied over her hair is the right person for him.