Over to You

Letters Between a Father and Son

By: John Berger, Yves Berger

Narrated by: Peter Noble, Nicholas Guy Smith

Length: 1 hr and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Compelling and intimate, this collection of never-before-seen letters between the celebrated art critic and essayist, John Berger and his son Yves, an artist, is a moving look at their musings on art, memory, life, death, and beyond.

Written between 2015-16, with color images of well-known old masters and contemporary art as well as some of the Bergers’ own drawings and watercolors, Over to You is an informal back and forth not unlike the ping-pong games father and son used to play in the barn of their house. It begins when John—who is in a Parisian suburb—sends Yves—who is in Haute Savoie—an envelope of reproductions of art that have moved him. And so they begin to reveal their thoughts looking at a Goya, Watteau, Twombly, Joan Mitchell, Durer, Caravaggio, Manet, and Euan Uglow, among many others. But the art is just a way to summon shared emotions and memories, as well as deepen their understanding of the world and its mysteries.

John at 89 is the more formal teacher, Yves at 39 comes across as the younger, philosophical artist. There are John’s thoughts on the use of color, light and space in, say, a Dürer, or a Beckmann to the question of “staying fully alive”; or Yves noting how much in life exceeds our understanding, the gap between our consciousness and our feeling, between the said and the unsaid. “That’s the zone where I would like us to meet. Are you coming?” He asks his father. “I may need other eyes to confirm what is really there. Like your eyes always did.” This is an exceptional and moving tribute to a relationship between a father and son, and between two artists, as well as a thought provoking look at questions we all have about work, time, the universe, life and death.

* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of artworks referenced throughout.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 John Berger (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Yves [Berger] invites readers into an intimate world of father and son. . . . Whimsical, playful, and ruminative—a testament to the authors’ love of art and each other.”—Kirkus Reviews