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plmlighting's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.75
A very informative book which often jumps back and forth through the stories of the 2 main subjects, often to the detriment of the book. A fascinating story about the technology involved, but it feels to veer off the main topic more often than it should.
seifknits's review against another edition
4.0
My review at SLJ: http://blogs.slj.com/adult4teen/2013/05/06/weekly-reviews-stranger-than-fiction/
BALL, Edward. The Inventor and the Tycoon: A Gilded Age Murder and the Birth of Moving Pictures. 464p. bibliog. index. photogs. Doubleday. Jan. 2013. Tr $29.95. ISBN 9780385525756.
Adult/High School–Ball takes a look at two very different men whose paths crossed in the late 19th century. The tycoon of the title is Leland Stanford: grocer, railroad magnate, Governor of California, U.S. Senator, founder of Stanford University. The inventor is Edward Muybridge, an inventor, a bookseller, photographer, adventurer, self-promoter, and murderer. The author weaves their stories together, moving back and forth through time and around the world. Muybridge (born Muggeridge, but fond of changing his name as he changed jobs or locations) is best known as a photographer–he took some of the earliest and most daring photographs of Yosemite–and when he met up with Stanford, he photographed Stanford’s horses in an attempt to prove that “during a gallop, horses at some point in their stride lift all four hooves off the ground.” As he refined his approach, he used multiple cameras to catch ever-smaller increments of movement and invented a device to project the results onto a screen for viewers to watch. Ball brings to life the two men, each eccentric in his own way. The murder is a fascinating sidelight–Muybridge killed his wife’s lover but was acquitted on the grounds of justifiable homicide–that gives some insight into the rough-and-tumble California life of the 1870s. Teens with an interest in history, photography, or film will be fascinated by this exploration into the relationship of money, patronage, and publicity to the creation of art.–Sarah Flowers, formerly of Santa Clara County Library, CA
BALL, Edward. The Inventor and the Tycoon: A Gilded Age Murder and the Birth of Moving Pictures. 464p. bibliog. index. photogs. Doubleday. Jan. 2013. Tr $29.95. ISBN 9780385525756.
Adult/High School–Ball takes a look at two very different men whose paths crossed in the late 19th century. The tycoon of the title is Leland Stanford: grocer, railroad magnate, Governor of California, U.S. Senator, founder of Stanford University. The inventor is Edward Muybridge, an inventor, a bookseller, photographer, adventurer, self-promoter, and murderer. The author weaves their stories together, moving back and forth through time and around the world. Muybridge (born Muggeridge, but fond of changing his name as he changed jobs or locations) is best known as a photographer–he took some of the earliest and most daring photographs of Yosemite–and when he met up with Stanford, he photographed Stanford’s horses in an attempt to prove that “during a gallop, horses at some point in their stride lift all four hooves off the ground.” As he refined his approach, he used multiple cameras to catch ever-smaller increments of movement and invented a device to project the results onto a screen for viewers to watch. Ball brings to life the two men, each eccentric in his own way. The murder is a fascinating sidelight–Muybridge killed his wife’s lover but was acquitted on the grounds of justifiable homicide–that gives some insight into the rough-and-tumble California life of the 1870s. Teens with an interest in history, photography, or film will be fascinated by this exploration into the relationship of money, patronage, and publicity to the creation of art.–Sarah Flowers, formerly of Santa Clara County Library, CA
snootycrumb's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting piece of history, but this telling of it was confusing and far too long. It's the kind of story you can tell a friend in 10 minutes, and yet this book was 400 pages long. The chronology made no sense, jumping around all over the place, dropping pieces of the story all over the place like some kind of unfortunate Hansel and Gretel, but not really resolving how those pieces connected to each other in a coherent way. Ball also told the most interesting parts of the story in the first 100 pages, ostensibly as a teaser, but in effect made everything else seem really boring and disconnected. Not to mention the random parentheticals and moments when Ball inserted himself into the story. It was difficult to understand the nature of Stanford and Muybridge's relationship, which was what the book was supposed to be about. Overall, interesting topic but not well told. Muybridge was an important and fascinating man, but I wish I had gotten to understand him more.
steakuccino's review against another edition
2.0
DNFed at 20%.
It’s not that this is not interesting material. It certainly is. However Ball’s writing is so convoluted that it’s difficult to follow the timeline of the lives of either of these men, let alone their relationship to each other. The constant switching back and forth between time periods and between the subjects is just too much and as a result Ball fails to deliver the story promised by the synopsis.
It’s not that this is not interesting material. It certainly is. However Ball’s writing is so convoluted that it’s difficult to follow the timeline of the lives of either of these men, let alone their relationship to each other. The constant switching back and forth between time periods and between the subjects is just too much and as a result Ball fails to deliver the story promised by the synopsis.
princesszinza's review against another edition
3.0
In its format, this book reminded me very much of The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. Both books feature a narrative about a murderer juxtaposed against a major event. In this book it is Leland Stanford's building of a railroad and gentrifying the West Coast happening alongside an Englishman's murder of his wife. It so happens that the Englishman also was an accomplished photographer and inventor.
I found both Leland Stanford and Edward Muybridge to be interesting characters. I also enjoyed mention of California towns that I know well: Calistoga, Napa, San Francisco and Hanford. It was fun to learn about these areas at their beginning.
I think that Erik Larson is a talented author and wove his narrative more skillfully. This book used too much speculation, particularly when writing about Edward Muybridge's early life in England.
I enjoyed learning about Edward Muybridge. Evidently he invented the first motion picture machine. Edison learned of his device and later created and commercialized motion picture technology. Muybridge is a fascinating but now largely forgotten figure in early California history.
I found both Leland Stanford and Edward Muybridge to be interesting characters. I also enjoyed mention of California towns that I know well: Calistoga, Napa, San Francisco and Hanford. It was fun to learn about these areas at their beginning.
I think that Erik Larson is a talented author and wove his narrative more skillfully. This book used too much speculation, particularly when writing about Edward Muybridge's early life in England.
I enjoyed learning about Edward Muybridge. Evidently he invented the first motion picture machine. Edison learned of his device and later created and commercialized motion picture technology. Muybridge is a fascinating but now largely forgotten figure in early California history.
siria's review against another edition
2.0
The Inventor and the Tycoon is readable, but I think that's more in spite of Edward Ball's writing than because of it. The subject matter is great: Eadweard Muybridge, an Anglo-American who was as notorious for the murder he committed as for his pioneering photographs and Leland Stanford, the railroad tycoon and founder of Stanford University. Both men played key roles in the history of 19th century California, and both were utter bastards to boot. Great fodder for a book, right?
Sadly, The Inventor and the Tycoon could profitably be used in the college classroom as an example of how not to write history. Ball's narrative jumps backwards and forwards in time for no good reason; I think he was attempting to add drama, but all of his attempts fall flat. The same information is often given three or four times, the thematic links which Ball could have emphasised are often ignored, and Ball has a terrible penchant for speculating about what someone "might have thought" and for reading people's character through portrait photography. Yes, someone might well seem distant and reserved in a mid-19th century formal portrait, when the subject had to hold themselves still for a minute or more in order not to spoil the shot—that doesn't give us some deep insight into their personality! Someone needed to go through this manuscript with a red pen, excise a hundred pages and rearrange the rest in order for this to work.
Sadly, The Inventor and the Tycoon could profitably be used in the college classroom as an example of how not to write history. Ball's narrative jumps backwards and forwards in time for no good reason; I think he was attempting to add drama, but all of his attempts fall flat. The same information is often given three or four times, the thematic links which Ball could have emphasised are often ignored, and Ball has a terrible penchant for speculating about what someone "might have thought" and for reading people's character through portrait photography. Yes, someone might well seem distant and reserved in a mid-19th century formal portrait, when the subject had to hold themselves still for a minute or more in order not to spoil the shot—that doesn't give us some deep insight into their personality! Someone needed to go through this manuscript with a red pen, excise a hundred pages and rearrange the rest in order for this to work.
bookcraft's review against another edition
1.0
DNF.
Somehow the author manages to make what should be interesting history boring. The blurb says that Muybridge killed "coolly and meticulously" and calls it an "obsessive murder plot," but as Ball describes it, it's neither cool and meticulous, nor really a plot.
Somehow the author manages to make what should be interesting history boring. The blurb says that Muybridge killed "coolly and meticulously" and calls it an "obsessive murder plot," but as Ball describes it, it's neither cool and meticulous, nor really a plot.
Spoiler
Basically, Muybridge finds out his wife was unfaithful, and immediately takes a train to where the lover is and shoots him.tcharrette's review against another edition
1.0
The content of the book was interesting but it was so badly written and had such a feeling of disorganization that it was hard to read. There also seemed to be a lot of repetition and filler information that was not necessary but rather a way to lengthen the book.