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Nocturne: A Journey in...
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Nocturne: A Journey in Search of Moonlight
by
James Attlee
“Nobody who has not taken one can imagine the beauty of a walk through Rome by full moon,” wrote Goethe in 1787. Sadly, the imagination is all we have today: in Rome, as in every other modern city, moonlight has been banished, replaced by the twenty-four-hour glow of streetlights in a world that never sleeps. Moonlight, for most of us, is no more.
So James Attlee set out to
...moreebook, 0 pages
Published
February 15th 2011
by University of Chicago Press
(first published 2010)
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A book that is literally obsessed with the moon and the night. Attlee is incredibly erudite and writes with fluid but modest elegance. The best parts of the book are when Attlee shares esoteric events/facts about something - the moment of discovery, for the reader, I feel, is as pleasant & genuine as it must have been for the writer. One jumps from Li Po to Mussolini to Basho to Rudolph Hess, and I really loved taking this detour through Attlee's book. This is very much a book for the promen...more
His ideas and writing are very unique and I learned things, many esoteric facts I never would have stumbled over independently. His obvious art interest encouraged certain inclusions, but given my ignorance of many cited paintings, I would have loved small reproductions, even black and white. No doubt that would have required a different level of funding and permissions. Unfortunately I have little interest to explore those my own and I suppose that sums of the book: interesting for the time of...more
I looked forward to reading this book: I adore the moon. The very first and last chapter is about the author's moon watching in his home area; this was gorgeous reading, and really mirrored my own feeling of wellbeing about stepping outside into moonlight. I don't know what it is about moonlight, but things always seem brighter with a white, full moon in the sky.
The book in split into several chapters of moonwatching in selected countries: the first is London, and provides us with some backgrou...more
The book in split into several chapters of moonwatching in selected countries: the first is London, and provides us with some backgrou...more
Nov 20, 2011
Heather
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
library-books,
nonfiction
In Nocturne, James Attlee really pleasingly tells the stories of his various moon-focused journeys. He's interested in exploring the role of moonlight in art/culture/life, both historically and now, in a time when light pollution means people in general see less of the moon and are probably less aware of the moon than in the past. He goes to Japan for the autumn moon-viewing festival of Tsukimi; he goes to Italy and writes about Vesuvius and painters of the volcano and the moonlit Bay of Naples;...more
Chock-full of all sorts of anecdotes about the moon.
There's everything from the author's moonlit walks in his own town, to Japanese moon festivals, to kooky New Age contraptions, to the Apollo program, to stories about artists who used the moon as a major motif in their work.
I was hooked from the start when he wrote about having an "assignation" with the moon - as if the moon were his mistress. There's some interesting thoughts about how differences in how the moon is viewed might lead to other...more
There's everything from the author's moonlit walks in his own town, to Japanese moon festivals, to kooky New Age contraptions, to the Apollo program, to stories about artists who used the moon as a major motif in their work.
I was hooked from the start when he wrote about having an "assignation" with the moon - as if the moon were his mistress. There's some interesting thoughts about how differences in how the moon is viewed might lead to other...more
I couldn't make it past page 100 of this book. In the opening chapters, James Attlee says he disagrees that urban lighting reduces crime. He even manages to accuse the old people of an estate who complained and were insecure when street lighting was turned off from midnight to 5am of being somehow out of touch with reality. He suggests (without proof) that in their "very middle-class residential area of the suburbs" crime rates would be low and they are being somehow foolish. I would suggest he...more
Aug 08, 2011
Todd
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
space-and-astronomy,
travel-writing
A non-fiction work that reads like fiction. It is an ode to the moon that travels through culture and time to illustrate its significance. The author also mourns the coming of technology such as street lights, our predilection for locking ourselves up at night in our bulb-drenched homes, etc. -- all things that have robbed us of the night sky.
The author knows how to use imagery and establishes some really beautiful scenes, but there's a point where it starts to seem like to much...almost like a...more
The author knows how to use imagery and establishes some really beautiful scenes, but there's a point where it starts to seem like to much...almost like a...more
«Attlee escribe de manera maravillosa y emocionante sobre la luna». John Banville
«Apasionante. Te apetece sacar una silla al jardín y leer a la luz de la luna.» The New York Times
«Nocturno es una buena guía que recupera los paseos nocturnos, el placer de la contemplación y la emoción de la naturaleza. Nos insta a recuperar la capacidad de disfrutar del aquí y del ahora.» The Telegraph
«Un libro erudito, sencillo, ligeramente chiflado y totalmente cautivador.» The Sunday Times
«Attlee siempre es am...more
«Apasionante. Te apetece sacar una silla al jardín y leer a la luz de la luna.» The New York Times
«Nocturno es una buena guía que recupera los paseos nocturnos, el placer de la contemplación y la emoción de la naturaleza. Nos insta a recuperar la capacidad de disfrutar del aquí y del ahora.» The Telegraph
«Un libro erudito, sencillo, ligeramente chiflado y totalmente cautivador.» The Sunday Times
«Attlee siempre es am...more
I started out really enjoying this strange book and Attlee's gorgeous way with metaphor. Until halfway through I began to feel overstuffed by metaphors, as if I'd had too much foie gras. There's a lovely meandering quality to his writing, and a gentle touch with an ethereal subject, but I have a feeling the overall memory won't last long. Side note that may have affected my judgement: By the time I was finished, I was feeling a little cranky about how nice it would be if someone paid me to trave...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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GB recco: eleanorigby "It's about finding moonlight and the treatment of the moon and moonlight throughout history and in culture. "
Liked it, but didn't love it. Didn't feel any guilt about returning it to the library before finishing it. Worth a quick read.
An interesting meander around the planet looking at different cultures and ways of looking at the moon
A wide variety of topics around the Moon, moonlight and history
The prose sometimes can't get out of its own way. The travelogue portions of the book, though, are quite moving.
Feb 17, 2013
Patricia
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
botany-garden-nature,
mostly-read
Putting this down for a while, but will return. Fun, eclectic mix of the personal, natural, and art historical.
I found the first third to half of this book to be very eye opening...then it digressed, but I was still able to slowly make my way through it.
A lovely piece of travel writing reminding us all of the powerful cultural, spiritual and artistic influence of the moon and its mystical beauty.
Nov 08, 2011
!Tæmbuŝu
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
travel,
ebook-available
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