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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
Leonardo da Vinci é um gênio no sentido mais literal possível da palavra. A escrita de Walter Isaacson é leve e torna até os momentos monótonos da vida de Leonardo emocionantes. É satisfatório descobrir como Da Vinci lidava tranquilamente com questões sexuais, como era interessado em biologia, e que fez descobertas na medicina que nunca foram publicadas. Ele observava pássaros e tentava compreender como eles voavam. Isso tudo pelo prazer de conhecer. Para seu próprio mérito, até mesmo quando estudou óptica, era com o único objetivo de tornar suas obras artísticas mais belas — muitas vezes, essa obsessão pelo perfeccionismo o impedia inclusive de terminá-las. E é de extrema satisfação perceber Leonardo em seus manuscritos descrevendo que a história bíblica do dilúvio é extremamente improvável, e que o fato de encontrar conchas em montanhas, dispostas em estratos diferentes e organizadas, indica que provavelmente as montanhas já estiveram no nível do mar e por um processo lento e gradual, as conchas foram depositadas, contrariamente ao mito que relata uma tragédia divina vingativa e súbita, no qual, as conchas estariam espalhas de forma desigual, em um único estrato.
Como bem resumiu o próprio biógrafo:
“O maior gênio da história era filho ilegítimo, gay, vegetariano, canhoto, muito disperso e, às vezes, herético.”
Como bem resumiu o próprio biógrafo:
“O maior gênio da história era filho ilegítimo, gay, vegetariano, canhoto, muito disperso e, às vezes, herético.”
Great history of someone who is undoubtedly famous, although after this book I feel he should be remembered more for his anatomy research than painting! Thus work was lost and rediscovered as opposed to hanging on the wall enigmatically.
Fractionally too long, with a little bit of a slow start, it is one of the few biographies I've listened to that I feel I would return to refresh myself with in the future.
I listened to the audio book and it was quite engaging but suffered from repetitive timelines. This can be a challenge in audiobook biographies where several chapters cover the same or overlapping time periods because they are focusing on different things (painting skills, travel, patrons for instance) and I find it harder to keep track of the relevant dates purely through listening. This then leads to things being mentioned and returned too and rather than weaving together a complex pattern it messes up the timeline ;). I guess I want my audiobook biographies to be linear....
The audiobook also comes with a nice PDF of accompanying illustrations, drawings etc, which definitely enhance the understanding of Walter's points, although I found it interesting to not look at them when instructed but to review later en-masse.
That's it, gotta go, the soup is getting cold.
Fractionally too long, with a little bit of a slow start, it is one of the few biographies I've listened to that I feel I would return to refresh myself with in the future.
I listened to the audio book and it was quite engaging but suffered from repetitive timelines. This can be a challenge in audiobook biographies where several chapters cover the same or overlapping time periods because they are focusing on different things (painting skills, travel, patrons for instance) and I find it harder to keep track of the relevant dates purely through listening. This then leads to things being mentioned and returned too and rather than weaving together a complex pattern it messes up the timeline ;). I guess I want my audiobook biographies to be linear....
The audiobook also comes with a nice PDF of accompanying illustrations, drawings etc, which definitely enhance the understanding of Walter's points, although I found it interesting to not look at them when instructed but to review later en-masse.
That's it, gotta go, the soup is getting cold.
I’m astonished by the similarities between Leonardo’s genius and my own. Like looking into a mirror.
...
Yeah. Right. :P
Fun book. I was especially interested in the time he spent the with the Borgias.
...
Yeah. Right. :P
Fun book. I was especially interested in the time he spent the with the Borgias.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
I finished this book with hours to spare in 2017 and it may just be the best book I read this year. I bought the hard cover book and I'm glad I did. This is just a beautiful book, with 144 images of Leonardo's paintings and drawings all on high quality paper. The writing is just fantastic; it doesn't read like your typical history book. I was riveted to Leonardo's story from page one. He was an amazing person, and successfully combined art and science like no other person of his time.
I think most people are familiar with who Leonardo was, and have a basic understanding that he was one of the notable people of the Renaissance. This book takes a close look at Leonardo's life starting with his out-of-wedlock birth to his death in France after a long life, probably one of the most interesting lives I've ever read about. He was one of the smartest men of his time, not because he was born a genius, but because he had an insatiable appetite for knowledge. He wanted to understand the world - from anatomy, to astronomy, to engineering, to geology, and everything in between. Some of his scientific theories and inventions were centuries ahead of their time. Amazing, just amazing! We know all this because he left behind 7,200 pages of notes which survived over the last 500 years. Oh, and he was a notable painter, too. Have you ever heard of The Last Supper or the Mona Lisa?
My favorite parts of this book were his scientific discoveries and theories. There were a lot of "wow" moments for me. I had no idea that Leonardo dabbled in so many of the sciences. I also really liked the in-depth analysis of some of his paintings and sketches, and the accounts of his encounters with Michelangelo. The parts about Michelangelo paint him as a 15th century crab-ass who was no fan of our hero. They had little in common outside of being the best artists of their time.
I can't recommend this book highly enough, especially to history buffs. I'm glad I bought the hard cover over the audiobook as I was able to see the images of Leonardo's drawings and painting while the author described them. There is an extensive description of The Last Supper and a number of his other famous paintings, and a whole chapter describing the Mona Lisa. The book also includes a cast of characters, notes, and an index.
Ten stars.
On to 2018.......
I think most people are familiar with who Leonardo was, and have a basic understanding that he was one of the notable people of the Renaissance. This book takes a close look at Leonardo's life starting with his out-of-wedlock birth to his death in France after a long life, probably one of the most interesting lives I've ever read about. He was one of the smartest men of his time, not because he was born a genius, but because he had an insatiable appetite for knowledge. He wanted to understand the world - from anatomy, to astronomy, to engineering, to geology, and everything in between. Some of his scientific theories and inventions were centuries ahead of their time. Amazing, just amazing! We know all this because he left behind 7,200 pages of notes which survived over the last 500 years. Oh, and he was a notable painter, too. Have you ever heard of The Last Supper or the Mona Lisa?
My favorite parts of this book were his scientific discoveries and theories. There were a lot of "wow" moments for me. I had no idea that Leonardo dabbled in so many of the sciences. I also really liked the in-depth analysis of some of his paintings and sketches, and the accounts of his encounters with Michelangelo. The parts about Michelangelo paint him as a 15th century crab-ass who was no fan of our hero. They had little in common outside of being the best artists of their time.
I can't recommend this book highly enough, especially to history buffs. I'm glad I bought the hard cover over the audiobook as I was able to see the images of Leonardo's drawings and painting while the author described them. There is an extensive description of The Last Supper and a number of his other famous paintings, and a whole chapter describing the Mona Lisa. The book also includes a cast of characters, notes, and an index.
Ten stars.
On to 2018.......
Men of lofty genius sometimes accomplish the most when they work least.
-p521, quoting Duke Ludovico Sforza
Leonardo listed painting as the very last (and the uninitiated would think least) of his skills, when applying for a job at age 30.
He perfected techniques of sfumato (smokiness/haziness at the borders of objects, instead of distinct outlines) and chiaroscuro (interplay of light and shadow).
The reader gets the impression that LDV was both a genius but distractible, or at least able to quickly move on to the next item of study, and once perfecting it he might not linger to complete a painting or piece of art, because his interests were so diverse and fast-moving. This way of thinking and investigating is like the Dirk Gently idea that all knowledge is connected, if we could only know how to look at it, and not be worried about the stiff adherence to the boundaries of individual disciplines.
He had a geometrical appreciation for (and creativity in) mechanical engineering. Flying machines, pulleys, perpetual motion machines (he would correctly deem them impossible), rendered in vivid detail. The mechanics of light, optics, water, human anatomy – all fascinated him.
Didn’t want this to end. Learned much. Good read. Fascinating guy, maybe the most curious human ever. Put really well:
He enjoyed the challenge of conception more than the chore of completion.
-p518
-p521, quoting Duke Ludovico Sforza
Leonardo listed painting as the very last (and the uninitiated would think least) of his skills, when applying for a job at age 30.
He perfected techniques of sfumato (smokiness/haziness at the borders of objects, instead of distinct outlines) and chiaroscuro (interplay of light and shadow).
The reader gets the impression that LDV was both a genius but distractible, or at least able to quickly move on to the next item of study, and once perfecting it he might not linger to complete a painting or piece of art, because his interests were so diverse and fast-moving. This way of thinking and investigating is like the Dirk Gently idea that all knowledge is connected, if we could only know how to look at it, and not be worried about the stiff adherence to the boundaries of individual disciplines.
He had a geometrical appreciation for (and creativity in) mechanical engineering. Flying machines, pulleys, perpetual motion machines (he would correctly deem them impossible), rendered in vivid detail. The mechanics of light, optics, water, human anatomy – all fascinated him.
Didn’t want this to end. Learned much. Good read. Fascinating guy, maybe the most curious human ever. Put really well:
He enjoyed the challenge of conception more than the chore of completion.
-p518
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Detailed and interesting. Probably more informative as a hard copy book so you can see the images.