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sallyavena's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting take on color/pigment that is like a humanities book, history, travel guide and travel journal/log all rolled into one. It does have a lot of personal speculation and thought from the author, but I didn't mind that because it added to the travel log aspect of it. The author had some amazing experiences as part of her research that gave me a little wanderlust.
030ina's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.5
scheu's review against another edition
4.0
A largely anecdotal and very interesting story of the origins of pigments. Worth checking out if you enjoy any of the popular science nonfiction published recently.
rayfer's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
ghostrachel's review against another edition
4.0
I love color. I've often said that I get the same pleasure out of looking at color that my friends seem to get from listening to music. It's a visceral feeling of joy that I can't describe particularly well with words. Also, since I'm a painter, this book has all the makings of a seven star review. Yet you notice it's only four stars, what gives?
Okay here's the deal. When the subtitle of your book is "A Natural History of the Palette," that implies history, as in truth (or the best we can make of it). Non-fiction. For the most part this is how the book is written, there are great stories about pigments and their origins, HOWEVER, there are several dozen little bits snuck into the text that all start, "I like to imagine that..." Well, guess what lady, I don't want to know about how you IMAGINE historical events to have played out. It's often not clear when we emerge back from imagination-land and back into facts, so now my brain is mishmashing true things with what Victoria Finlay wishes were true. As a somewhat sidenote, this is what I don't like about historical fiction, it generally results in me at a party disclosing some mindboggling facts about something I read, only to realize later when my ass (or brain, rather) is being handed to me on a plate, that it's not true and I had conflated the "historical" with the "fiction".
All in all, I still would recommend this book to people who are interested in this topic, I just wish it never strayed from the already interesting stories about the origin of pigments/dyes.
Okay here's the deal. When the subtitle of your book is "A Natural History of the Palette," that implies history, as in truth (or the best we can make of it). Non-fiction. For the most part this is how the book is written, there are great stories about pigments and their origins, HOWEVER, there are several dozen little bits snuck into the text that all start, "I like to imagine that..." Well, guess what lady, I don't want to know about how you IMAGINE historical events to have played out. It's often not clear when we emerge back from imagination-land and back into facts, so now my brain is mishmashing true things with what Victoria Finlay wishes were true. As a somewhat sidenote, this is what I don't like about historical fiction, it generally results in me at a party disclosing some mindboggling facts about something I read, only to realize later when my ass (or brain, rather) is being handed to me on a plate, that it's not true and I had conflated the "historical" with the "fiction".
All in all, I still would recommend this book to people who are interested in this topic, I just wish it never strayed from the already interesting stories about the origin of pigments/dyes.
moswanky's review against another edition
1.0
This is one of the few “did not finish” reads of the year. I was intrigued to read about the history of color, but was completely unprepared to read long speculative rambles by the author. I was hoping for a good blend of the anthropological aspect along with the science of color, but what I read of this book definitely camped out in the author’s imagination and personal quest for understanding color and lacked a good editor.
spacewhombus's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This was such an interesting book, not just from the histories of how each color has been made, discovered, and its impact, but also this author is such a wonderful travel writer! She travels all over the world in search of stories about color-making, and it was so easy to get swept up in her journey along with her. This book made me look at the colors all around me in a new way, and especially those that aren’t synthetically made but those that come from the natural world. This book made me want to get into dying my own wool lol I can’t stop thinking about it! It is such a treat to read something that peels back the layers of something so simple that we encounter every day.