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46 reviews for:
The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures: A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies
Paul Fischer
3.55 AVERAGE
46 reviews for:
The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures: A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies
Paul Fischer
3.55 AVERAGE
hopeful
slow-paced
The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures: A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies. Paul Fischer. Simon & Schuster, 2022. 416 pages. Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the free book to read and review.
Like me, have you lived your life thinking that motion pictures were invented by Thomas Edison or the Lumiere brothers? Well, you're wrong, and I taught it wrong all those years. The real inventor of motion pictures was Louis Le Prince, a Frenchman who lived and worked primarily in Leeds, UK and New York City, who made his first films in 1887 and 1888. Why doesn't he get the credit? Because, before he could complete the legal processes of obtaining patents and properly introduce his invention to the world, he disappeared without a trace. In 1890, Le Prince went to Dijon, France to visit his brother and settle his recently deceased mother's estate. After a few days there, he was to take the train to Paris and then Calais, catch the ferry to England for a little work, and then sail home to his wife and children in New York. His brother saw him off at the station, and Poof! Neither he nor his luggage were ever seen again. His wife didn't know for sure that he was missing until several months later, and he was finally declared legally dead 7 years later. In 1893, Thomas Edison started promoting his new motion pictures invention, and the illustrations and patent application descriptions looked and sounded very much like Le Prince's work, leading Le Prince's wife to believe that Edison had at least stolen her husband's work and at worst may even have had her husband murdered. I must admit here that I am firmly in the anti-Edison camp, and any assertion that he was a murderer on top of being one of the most horrible Americans in history is going to pique my interest.
You know the meme "That meeting should have been an email"? This book should have been an article or a short YouTube documentary. The overwhelming majority of the book is a tedious slog through detailed descriptions of cameras and techniques and legal actions. Very little of the book is about Le Prince and the mystery of his disappearance, but Fischer does finally present a logical, but still shocking, theory about what happened. If you're tech-y or legalistic, you'll enjoy. If not, skip this book and read The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel by Douglas Brunt, a very similar story about a disappearing inventor, instead.
slow-paced
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
This book is a thorough investigation into Le Prince’s life and work. I can’t imagine there is much more to know about his work and plans, but the lack of documentation continues to make this story a frustrating one. I found Fischer’s conclusion about the murder of Le Prince convincing, so much so that I wonder that there is still any controversy about it.
medium-paced
The true crime element of this book was tenuous, but it was a very detailed history of photography!
I really enjoy nonfiction that pain-stakingly lays out all these details and finishes on at Occam's Razor conclusion.
I really love film history and analysis, so it was fun to start at the very beginning of that topic.
I really love film history and analysis, so it was fun to start at the very beginning of that topic.
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced