I keep thinking why 5 stars to this book?
Well, here is how I got 'till that point.
Was it what I expected? Yes.
Was it interesting? Yes, several times.
Was it entertaining? Yes, not boring I mean.
It was brief enough... I don't think I needed more information about the colours but neither less of what it gives me. When I chose it, I wanted to find out I don't know, cool unknown things about cultural matters. I was happy it wasn't tedious. Good idea to make it like an interview and the fact that it comes with some coloured pages, is nice too.
I've read about the author and yes, I want to read more of his work.
There must be people that finds this book "stupid" or "a waste of time" but, then don't grab it... the title tells it all: The brief story of colours. Period. Nothing else.
Here I leave some of my notes:
*All colours unfold into two opposite personalities.
*In medieval times: Blue was a feminine colour and red masculine. Now is all the way around.
*RED: Power, blood, war, religion. Love, romance, opera/theater.
-It was a luxury to "wear it" or paint with it because of it difficulty to get it.
-We can't find it very often in our daily basis except in the traffic prohibition signs.
*WHITE: Pureness, peace, innocence. With a lack of.... The beginning of all.
-White: wedding dresses, mind, ghost, baby, old age, hair...
-Around the world: Asian people sees us "like dying" and they think we have a weird "death" smell. While African people sees us "like ill" because our skin is not shiny.
GREEN: Nature, change, eco, good luck. Immature and poison. Monsters and evil creatures.
-Cooper + vinegar or pee = green paint :S but it corrodes so: it is considered unstable. It is also the first color in volatilize.
-Opposite to red. Prohibition vs permission. No vs Yes. Stop and Go.
*YELLOW: Betrayal, autumn, illness, eld. Sunlight, energy.
-"rire jaune" means in french "yellow smile" which means fake smile.
-In the East is very common and popular but not in West.
*BLACK: Death, fear, unknown, meager. Elegance and seriousness.
-Niger in latin means shiny.
-Hard to get this paint colour.
-Chess used to be red and white in the year 1000. The west made it Black and white.
*BROWN: Earth. Dirty
-France: It is called marron which is chestnut.
-Mexico: It is called Cafe which means coffee.
-Germany: It is called braun which means bear fur.
*Violet in latin means subniger!!
*Orange: Joy, vitamin C.
*PINK: Femininity, softness, corny, dreamy.
It was always considered like a faint, soft red... until it got a name.
*GRAY: Sadness, melancholy, eld, hair, boring. Semi Colour.
*"The colour is definitely, another human production. Think about it."
*" (...) I think is good to know their meanings (colours), because they affect our behaviour and the way we think. But, once we are aware of all it entails, we can forget about them. Let's look at the colours as something we understand, but let's also live with some spontaneity and some sort of innocence."