Page 40: "But you have to agree that the work of art becomes noble in the degree to wich it represents the tru...moreReading this book together with Chrissie.
Page 40: "But you have to agree that the work of art becomes noble in the degree to wich it represents the truth? Then sculpture will come closer to true form, for when you work the marble the figure emerges on all four sides."
page 41: "Painting is perishable: a fire in the chapel, too much cold, and the paint begins to fade, crack. But stone is eternal! Nothing can destroy it. When the Florentines tore down the colosseum, what did they do with the blocks? Built them into new walls. And think of the Greek sculpture that is being dug up, twoo, three thousand years old. Show me a painting that's two thousand yers old. Look at this Roman marble sarcophagus: as clear as strong as the day it was carved..."
page 74: Michelangelo mets Lucrezia at the Sculpture Garden.
page 89: "Now what is sculpture?....it is the art which, by removing all that is superfluous from the material under treatment, reduces it to that form designed in the artist's mind.." - Bertoldo quoting Donatello
page 150: Madonna and the child
page 426; The rivalry against Leonardo's paintings starts to bother Michelangelo.
page 442 After 3 years carving David, Pope Julius II ask Michelangelo to come to Rome,to carve 40 statues for his tomb in the center of St Peter's Basilica.
This book is traveling from Canada to Brazil, following to Sweden and then back to Canada. There are not enough words to describe such wonderful book,...moreThis book is traveling from Canada to Brazil, following to Sweden and then back to Canada. There are not enough words to describe such wonderful book, one of the best books I read recently. The author has a lyrical way of writing and we are strongly immersed into the story.(less)
From BBC Radio 4 Extra: In 19th century Russia, a bored high society wife embarks on a love affair. Teres...moreHow to resist to this great BBC dramatization?
From BBC Radio 4 Extra: In 19th century Russia, a bored high society wife embarks on a love affair. Teresa Gallagher and Toby Stephens star in Tolstoy's love story set in 19th century Russia.
This is Dickens fifth novel and it was his first attempt to write an historical novel and was inspired by the Walter Scott's novels.
In the first chapt...moreThis is Dickens fifth novel and it was his first attempt to write an historical novel and was inspired by the Walter Scott's novels.
In the first chapters, Dickens describes the Maypole and introduces the main characters: Gabriel Varden with his wife and his daughter, Simon Tappertit, John and Joe Willet, Solomon Daisy, the Haredales, the Rudges and a mysterious stranger.
Maypole Inn in the village of Chigwell:
A hint of mystery is also inserted in these initial chapters through the Haredale murder. And a black raven gives a gothic touch into the narrative. Just to remind that a black raven has a special meaning in literature.
It seems that "Barbaby Rudge" was published first in Dickens's weekly journal Master Humphrey's Clock in 1841.
In some editions, the original tittle of this book was "Gabriel Vardon, the Locksmith of London."
One you start to read the description of the Gordon Riots, you won't be able to stop to read this book.
Page 116: The despisers of mankind--apart from the mere fools and mimics, of that creed--are of two sorts. They who believe their merit neglected and unappreciated, make up one class; they who receive adulation and flattery, knowing their own worthlessness, compose the other. Be sure that the coldest-hearted misanthropes are ever of this last order.
Page 138: So do the shadows of our own desires stand between us and our better angels, and thus their brightness is eclipsed.
Page 222: In the exhaustless catalogue of Heaven's mercies to mankind, the power we have of finding some germs of comfort in the hardest trials must ever occupy the foremost place...
Page 244: 'All good friends to our cause, I hope will be particular, and do no injury to the property of any true Protestant. I am well assured that the proprietor of this house is a staunch and worthy friend to the cause. GEORGE GORDON.'
Page 251: The great mass never reasoned or thought at all, but were stimulated by their own headlong passions, by poverty, by ignorance, by the love of mischief, and the hope of plunder.
The historical description of the Gordon Riots can be found at:
How not to give 5 stars to this book? This is an impossible task.
The plot describes the story of a 15-year-old girl, Lina and how his family was pulle...moreHow not to give 5 stars to this book? This is an impossible task.
The plot describes the story of a 15-year-old girl, Lina and how his family was pulled apart by the Soviet secret police, NKVD, later denominated as the famous KGB.
Lina, her mother and his brother were forced to travel into castle cars until they reached their final destiny: Siberia.
The author described in her fist novel how Stalin had "cleaned" the Baltic region by the death of hundreds of thousand people without any distinction among women and their innocent children.
An advice to further readers: hold your breath while reading this book!!(less)
From BBC Radio 4: A 19th-century German merchant family fight to keep their supremacy.
According to Judith Adams, this book was banned and burned by Hit...moreFrom BBC Radio 4: A 19th-century German merchant family fight to keep their supremacy.
According to Judith Adams, this book was banned and burned by Hitler and it was published when the author was 25, in 1901.
A long awaited book, just arrived from USA through BM.
The tumult and the shouting dies,
The Captains and the Kings depart.
Still stands Thine ancient sa...moreA long awaited book, just arrived from USA through BM.
The tumult and the shouting dies,
The Captains and the Kings depart.
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice -
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget, lets we forget!
Rudyard Kipling
This is the story of Joseph Armagh, an Irish immigrant, and his family.
He struggled in order to survive as soon as his mother and two little brothers arrived in America but his perseverance made him a rich and powerful man, which only dream is to make his son the first catholic president of the United States of America.
This is Caldwell's Kennedy's novel, an allusion of this tragic American family.
Single facts, such as the feeling of insomnia of a patient in a hospital, a kiss of good-b...moreStarting to read with my dear friend Lee.
Chapter I - Combray
Single facts, such as the feeling of insomnia of a patient in a hospital, a kiss of good-bye to his parents, the reading of Georges Sand's books and the famous description of eating a piece of "madeleine" with tee, give free rein to fancy of the main character.
I am loving to reading this book and I don't understand how I waited for such a long time to do it. Once we start to read it, we immerse into the story, the details give us the joy of reading such beautiful text. I just finishes the first part, Combray. When I studied the French literature, I only read some small parts of the text, mainly from this first volume. I do intend to read the whole series, no matter how long it will take.
Part II - Un amour de Swann
My favorite quote: Le pianiste ayant terminé le morceau de Liszt et ayant commencé un prélude de Chopin, Mme de Cambremer lança à Mme de Franquetot un sourire attendri de satisfaction compétente et d’allusion au passé. Elle avait appris dans sa jeunesse à caresser les phrases, au long col sinueux et démesuré, de Chopin, si libres, si flexibles, si tactiles, qui commencent par chercher et essayer leur place en dehors et bien loin de la direction de leur départ, bien loin du point où on avait pu espérer qu’atteindrait leur attouchement, et qui ne se jouent dans cet écart de fantaisie que pour revenir plus délibérément,—d’un retour plus prémédité, avec plus de précision, comme sur un cristal qui résonnerait jusqu’à faire crier,—vous frapper au cœur.
About George Sand: Or, justement, les romans champêtres de George Sand qu’elle me donnait pour ma fête, étaient pleins ainsi qu’un mobilier ancien, d’expressions tombées en désuétude et redevenues imagées, comme on n’en trouve plus qu’à la campagne. Et ma grand’mère les avait achetés de préférence à d’autres comme elle eût loué plus volontiers une propriété où il y aurait eu un pigeonnier gothique ou quelqu’une de ces vieilles choses qui exercent sur l’esprit une heureuse influence en lui donnant la nostalgie d’impossibles voyages dans le temps.
About Ver Meer: je n’avais jamais entendu parler de lui; vit-il encore? Est-ce qu’on peut voir de ses œuvres à Paris, pour que je puisse me représenter ce que vous aimez, deviner un peu ce qu’il y a sous ce grand front qui travaille tant, dans cette tête qu’on sent toujours en train de réfléchir, me dire: voilà, c’est à cela qu’il est en train de penser. Quel rêve ce serait d’être mêlée à vos travaux!»
About Alfred de Vigny: «Quand on se sent pris d’amour pour une femme, on devrait se dire: Comment est-elle entourée? Quelle a été sa vie? Tout le bonheur de la vie est appuyé là-dessus.» (less)
What a splendid family saga written by John Galsworthy.
The book covers the period between 1886 and 1920 and tells the story of the Forsyte's and their...moreWhat a splendid family saga written by John Galsworthy.
The book covers the period between 1886 and 1920 and tells the story of the Forsyte's and their struggle to have the most successful life at that time.
This volume is composed by three books: The Man of Property, In Chancery and To Let.
The first book describes the life of Soames Forsyte and his wife Irene. However, this marriage will have a lot of troublesome issues along the whole narrative. This will led to dramatic consequences for all Forsytes.
It's a pity that this big fat family saga ended even if this book has more than 700 pages. (less)
Apparently, this is a mystery book which setting is the discovering of a crime occurred several years ago with a Swedish ambiance. However, with the s...moreApparently, this is a mystery book which setting is the discovering of a crime occurred several years ago with a Swedish ambiance. However, with the story development, we truly are engulfing in very actual plots containing internet hacker, financial crimes and behind the scene of magazine publishers.(less)
Page 107: May I remind Your Highness that while Alexander the GReat spent no more than a few months in the steppes of Central Asia, the satrapies he fo...morePage 107: May I remind Your Highness that while Alexander the GReat spent no more than a few months in the steppes of Central Asia, the satrapies he founded persisted for centuries afterward) Britain's Empire is, by contrast, already more than a century old, and you may be certain, Your Highness, that its influence will persist for centuries more to come.
Page 292 There were quotations from Mahatma Gandhi and a passage that said: "Why should India, in the name of freedom, come to the defence of this Satanic Empire which is itself the greatest menace to liberty that the world has ever known?"
Page 518 "Did we ever have a hope?"..."We rebelled against an Empire that has shaped everything in our lives; coloured everything in the world as we know it. It is a huge, indelible stain which has tainted all of us. We cannot destroy it without destroying ourselves...."
What a magnificent book, the story of three generations that starts in Mandalay....(less)
This is the most impressive book on World War I I've read so far. The author provides a real dramat...moreThis is the second book of the Loss of Eden series.
This is the most impressive book on World War I I've read so far. The author provides a real dramatization of the battlefields of Flandres, Paschendaele and Verdun.
About the main characters:
Johnny Merritt, born in America, decides to leave his English wife to return home, enlists in the 16th Division, and he is among the first Americans to fight in this treacherous war.
Colonel Quentin Rowland lead for 15 months the command of the Weald Light Infantry: his admiration for his men makes him forgive his adjutant, Archie Campbell, for having fallen in love with his wife.
Guy Rowland, a RAF aviator who makes a strange friendship with his major adversary, a German aviator himself. He fall in love with Florinda Gorse.
Captain Boy Rowland falls in love with Lady Helen Durand-Beaulieu who defies custom and her family to bear his husband child.
Another not so popular themes is also taken into account by the author (considering that this book was published in 1980), such as the homosexuality among the soldiers and drug addict problems with Johnny's wife.
This book tells us the story of Jews in Hungary based on the love story between Andras Levi and Klara Morge...moreJust arrived as gift by my dear friend Lee.
This book tells us the story of Jews in Hungary based on the love story between Andras Levi and Klara Morgenstern. Even if these characters seems sometimes implausible to be so real, the author managed to captive the reader by a powerful storytelling. The Holocaust is portrayed without any slobbery, on the contrary.
I really liked this book, also included as one of my favorites and I am looking forward to read more books by Julie Orringer. (less)
This is saga of the Firielli’s family as told by the grandmother Pajarita, her daughter Eva and her granddaughter Salome.
During Pjarita life and her m...moreThis is saga of the Firielli’s family as told by the grandmother Pajarita, her daughter Eva and her granddaughter Salome.
During Pjarita life and her marriage with Ignazio, the author introduces the glamorous city of Montevideo before Word War I.
Page 27: Monte. Vide. Eu. I see a mountain, said the first Portuguese man to sight this terrain from sea.
Just for clarification, Montevideo has only a low hill.
However after the Great War, the Uruguay's economical breakdown just begin.
Her daughter Eva has a passion for poetry in order to surpass her sad and cruel childhood. After her marriage, she moves to Buenos Aires during the Peron's regime in Argentina. During the birth hood of her daughter Salome, she meets Eduardo Guevara, who became afterwards the famous partisan Che Guevara .
Some hints of Getulio Vargas regime in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is also briefly described.
However, it's Salome’s life who captivates the reader, showing during her work at the American embassy in Montevideo, how she became part of the Tupamaros.
The Tupamaros (Movimiento de Liberación Nacional-Tupamaros) was an urban guerrilla organization during the 60's-70's in Uruguay. Similar organizations were held in Brazil and Argentina as well in order to fight their political dictatorship.
Samole was 15 years old and stayed in prison during 13 years.
I won't spoil the whole story but I do recommend this book for those interested on Latin American history, which was magnificently portrayed by Carolina De Robertis. (less)
Katie Mulholland is a daughter of a miner who at an age of 15 years old went to work as a scullery maid in the house...moreJust arrived from UK through BM.
Katie Mulholland is a daughter of a miner who at an age of 15 years old went to work as a scullery maid in the house of the Rosier in order to support her family.
However, his life takes a turn as Bernard Rosier, heir to the Rosier family, charmed by its beauty decided to rape her.
This book chronicles the saga of Katie in a period that begins in 1860 and ends in 1944, with a vivid description of her obsession by Rosier family that intertwines the lives of her family as much as she strives to move away from this harmful influences.
Catherine Cookson is a master of storyteller and that's why I love these books written by the "old" ladies writers.(less)
The first book of the trilogy on the Valois. Now I must read La Dame de Monsereau and Les Quarante-cinq. I don't understand how L"Academie Francaise d...moreThe first book of the trilogy on the Valois. Now I must read La Dame de Monsereau and Les Quarante-cinq. I don't understand how L"Academie Francaise didn't recognize Dumas pere work, only of his son with La Dame de Camelies.(less)
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