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August 15, 2007
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Kat
gave
 
to:
Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages (Paperback)
by Umberto Eco
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in August, 2007
Kat said:
"A fascinating and relatively accessible overview of medieval aesthetics, focusing mainly on Aquinas’ Summa. Admittedly, I don’t know enough about the subject to seriously quarrel with any of Eco’s assumptions. I was particularly interested in...more
A fascinating and relatively accessible overview of medieval aesthetics, focusing mainly on Aquinas’ Summa. Admittedly, I don’t know enough about the subject to seriously quarrel with any of Eco’s assumptions. I was particularly interested in his discussion of the role of the artist as anonym since much of my work involves teasing the creator’s identity out of artifacts from this period. I also appreciate how, at times, Eco seems to almost eschew a strict pre-modern/modern dichotomy by creating little analogies with then and now (well, at least when this was first published, the 1950s): “The work of figurative artists was carried out in the context of urban and architectural construction, and was part of a team effort, so that their only personal momento would be monograms carved on the keystone. It is not unlike the situation nowadays where films are taken as more or less anonymous works by people who do not bother to read the credits”(114). He says these things in passing and they are flawed but interesting and thought provoking nonetheless. I’m also really impressed by the fact that Eco wrote this when he was 26 and serving in the Italian army. There is an anecdote in the preface about how he was so enmeshed in his work that he lost his gun, which is really just, well...adorable.
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August 02, 2007
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Kat
marked as to-read:
Suppressed Books: A History of the Conception of Literary Obscenity
by Alec Craig
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
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Kat
marked as to-read:
Alphabets to Order: The Literature of Nineteenth-Century Typefounders' Specimens (Hardcover)
by Alastair Johnston
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Kat
gave
to:
An Illuminated Life: Belle da Costa Greene's Journey from Prejudice to Privilege (Hardcover)
by Heidi Ardizzone
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in July, 2007
Kat said:
" I picked this up for obvious personal reasons. As a rule, I dislike biographies...too narrowly focused and well...fawning. However, having been in Greene’s residual aura, I was interested in reading this. Greene’s story is compelling. Born...more
I picked this up for obvious personal reasons. As a rule, I dislike biographies...too narrowly focused and well...fawning. However, having been in Greene’s residual aura, I was interested in reading this. Greene’s story is compelling. Born to an African American couple, she was plucked from Princeton’s library at an early age to become the personal librarian for robber baron J.P. Morgan. While in Morgan’s employ, Greene amassed a world-class collection of books and art while gaining a reputation as one of the most knowledgeable experts on rare books and manuscripts in the US. Also, as Ardizzone is very keen on emphasizing, she gained entrance into some of Manhattan’s most elite social circles and maintained a passionate love affair with art critic Bernard Berenson. Of course, to accomplish all of this, she had to pass as white, explaining her dark complexion as the result of a distant Portuguese relative. Ardizzone suggests that Greene would practice a form of passing which she calls “hiding in the light”...that is, avoiding malicious inquiries into her background by openly joking about black identity.
Nonetheless, despite this (facetious) openness, Greene felt compelled to destroy most of her personal correspondence before her death. Consequently, Ardizzone’s book is mainly derived from the cache of letters that Berenson retained at his villa in Italy. This dearth of archival evidence unfortunately doesn’t allow for a very dynamic narrative causing Ardizzone to remain fixated on the more sensationalized aspects of Greene’s life...e.g. the endless parade of friends and parties...the drinking and smoking...the flirtations with well-heeled socialites…ad nauseum. Agghhh…honestly, who cares? Ardizzone could have filled in the holes of Greene’s story by giving more historical context rather than harping on these vapid details. Of course she had friends and love affairs...why is this so exceptional? Because she was (gasp) a librarian? please.
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July 16, 2007
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Kat
gave
to:
Voyage in the Dark (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Jean Rhys
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my rating:
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read in June, 2007
Kat said:
"Good Morning, Midnight is much better. Nonetheless, it's still filled with all the self-debasement and urban malaise characteristic of Rhys' early work. Critics like to chomp on this one more because it invites post-colonial readings, but if you hav...more
Good Morning, Midnight is much better. Nonetheless, it's still filled with all the self-debasement and urban malaise characteristic of Rhys' early work. Critics like to chomp on this one more because it invites post-colonial readings, but if you have never read Rhys, go with GM,M or her most lauded work, Wide Sargasso Sea (prequel to Jane Eyre). They are all semi-autobiographical and hence somewhat alike...paranoid female protagonist, copious drinking, wayward men, weird dream sequences, etc. ...less
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Kat
gave
to:
The Sot-Weed Factor (The Anchor Literary Library)
by John Barth
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Kat said:
"uuugh...I have been thoroughly swived! egads! odsblood! "who never saw a proper bum-swab"????!! Anyone that can have this much fun with bawdy, archaic English while featuring a ubiquitous guru named Burlingame is worth twenty-five stars a...more
uuugh...I have been thoroughly swived! egads! odsblood! "who never saw a proper bum-swab"????!! Anyone that can have this much fun with bawdy, archaic English while featuring a ubiquitous guru named Burlingame is worth twenty-five stars as far as I'm concerned. deeelightful....less
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