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1969sl's review against another edition
4.0
In this cute book - part travelogue,part encyclopedia - Victoria Finlay tells a story about jewels, their history, where do they come from and our perception of them. As one of the characters in the book said, "you can't eat them, you can't read them, you can't shelter under them" and still people seems to be obsessed with them to the point they lose lives in order to get them. Finlay travels far and wide to get informations about Amber,Jet,Pearl,Opal,Peridot,Emerald,Sapphire,Ruby and Diamond, meeting all sorts of people along the way, some friendly,some greedy,everybody full of fantastic stories - from little girls in Burma's mines who are keeping Rubies in their mouth to historical stories about old roman obsession with Opals, how fashion for Jets have made and destroyed little english town of Whitby, how cultured Pearls were invented and so on. Finlay actually goes deep into the earth and crawls in mine pits (where permitted) to see with her own eyes legendary places were Emeralds were mined for Cleopatra, fights the bureaucracy in Asia and heat in Australia in her search for good story and informations how jewels are found, cut, sold and people involved in the process. What could easily be boring list about geology turns into real-life adventure because Finlay is brave (crazy?) enough to poke her head into dark corners and in her charming way she is like Indiana Jones continent-hopping and sometimes putting herself into real danger, bribing officials, paying guides trough the mountains and visiting ordinary people won't even think of. The book ends with fascinating story about Diamonds, the reality behind scary myths and how today they can be man-made out from anything, including peanut butter or - if you are inclined so - ashes of cremated loved ones. The last information sound bizarre but it makes sense somehow, if you think what it means to somebody to wear a ring made of father's ashes, like all jewelry it's all about sentimental value more than anything else.And I won't even go into everything I learned about faking the jewels. Fascinating.
vmbee's review against another edition
3.0
really enjoyed this as an audiobook! not usually a subject I search to learn more about, but lovely histories, myths, & legends of some of the most beautiful gems.
reading4funn's review against another edition
5.0
So well-written even the end notes were interesting and could almost be read like a narrative part of the book.
rosiecockshutt's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Exactly the sort of interesting but untaxing nonfiction my brain wants to unwind, and I can literally listen to Finlay read all day.
thenunfrmhell's review against another edition
4.0
This book was really interesting. It is very well writen and an interesting history of items we take at face value.
magup's review against another edition
4.0
Very enjoyable blend of history, social science, and travel writing. If you tend to see diamonds, rubies and sapphires as inherently more valuable than tanzanite or any of the other made-up-sounding gems sold on QVC, this book will set you straight.
levishak's review against another edition
3.0
I gave the book 3 stars because sometimes I got lost in the details. There were sections somewhat repetitious. She kept coming back to Cleopatra, Mark Antony, and Julius Ceasar. Roman history is not my thing, but that's just me. All in all, it was an interesting read and I like the organization of the book, chapters by gem and going from soft to hard gems. I certainly feel I learned a great deal about amber, pearls, opals, peridot, emeralds, sapphires and rubies, and diamonds. I loved the international travel aspect and the writer's sense of adventure and down to earth nature that is transmitted in her writing. To me, the most interesting chapters were about pearls, opals, peridots, and sapphires.
loveca's review against another edition
3.0
Fun if you liked Color: A Natural History of the Palette but Color is much better.
tanya_brodd's review against another edition
4.0
A little too precious and "othering" of the lives of those not English, this was still a delightful book of miscellaneous information about gems arranged by hardness scale. She also combines travel to some amazing place.
All in all, very good read.
All in all, very good read.