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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
The book was a good read, and I enjoyed it in that I learned some very interesting facts about da Vinci's life that I never knew before (Art History guy here). A lot of the book is speculation, too. For a man that has become so steeped in history, he is still quite the mystery. I would say that my only disappointment in this book was that I wish it focused on more on the man than his work. Still, I am giving three stars simply because I did get through the book, but it is not something that I will be revisiting.
Too many pages were spent trying to convince me that da Vinci was a genius. It came across the same as it did in A Mind at Play--I felt like the author was almost embarrassed of the life lived by their subject. In some ways, Shannon and da Vinci were similar people and present similar challenges for biographers. Both are famous as geniuses but don't have much completed work. Both spent much of their time pursuing dead ends or seemingly frivolous projects. I can see the logic of editorializing about the subject's genius if one is writing a biography of either person, but this style doesn't work for me. I want to read a book-length treatment of someone's life to get details and rich context. Show me the warts-and-all character and trust that I am reading the book because I have already found the subject interesting enough to invest more time.
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
A very interesting and informative book. I liked the personality of Leonardo, depicted in it - a man of great talent, imagination and curiosity, always pursuing perfection, yet also a great procrastinator, easily distracted by anything that manages to capture his attention. His life, it seems, was one of a genius, but also of a human being with his doubts, problems, insecurities and mistakes.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
fascinating look at one of the greats. this is a really solid biography of a very interesting man. i'm more interested in Da Vinci now than I was before I started this, which is high praise for a 600 page biography.
Walter Isaacson's Leonardo da Vinci is a delightful read, and for me, an excellent introduction to the history of Renaissance-era Italy.
I picked this book up on a whim from a bookstore. I suppose it attracted me because of my love of biographies and the urge to read some nonfiction that was totally new to me. I got that with this book. I've never dipped my toes into Italian Renaissance history or art history before at all, so this was brand new for me. What I discovered was a fascinating and oddly relatable story about the most famous Renaissance man.
What this book so excellently illustrated was Leonardo's willingness to drop everything for the pursuit of a new study or interest, often to some monetary detriment. His interests were so broad that he could never focus on and complete any one project. I relate to this heavily. I have so many interests and so many things that I want to do with my day, that I always end up feeling that I'm missing out on something, and I never give anything the amount of attention it deserves because I'm always jumping to the next topic of interest. The fact that Leonardo -- one of the only men truly qualified to be considered a genius -- also had this same problem is quite inspiring to me.
Another big takeaway I had from this book was one of Isaacson's call-to-action phrases he used in his Conclusion. Isaacson says to observe. Leonardo was an excellent observer. It's one of the things that made him so accomplished in so many different fields. I, on the other hand, tend to find myself dazing off and floating through my everyday life. While Leonardo notices the movement of a dragonfly's wings or observes the way light cascades across a surface, I nonchalantly walk by, my mind entirely focused on what I'm going to eat for dinner or a movie I recently saw. If I take anything from this book and the story of Leonardo, I want to really take the time and mental energy to observe my surroundings and be present. I want to notice and wonder at things as Leonardo did.
My one criticism of this book (which isn't even a real criticism, just a personal preference) is that it focused too much on Leonardo's actual artwork at times. Now, I know this is a ridiculous criticism. I just personally am not a huge art guy; I am just more interested in Leonardo's life than I am his specific works. That being said, I did learn to view art a little differently by reading this book. To notice things I would not have before, such as the sense of motion, perspective, and the use of harsh lines or sfumato.
Overall, this book was a great read, and it has sparked my interest in learning more about the Italian Renaissance.
I picked this book up on a whim from a bookstore. I suppose it attracted me because of my love of biographies and the urge to read some nonfiction that was totally new to me. I got that with this book. I've never dipped my toes into Italian Renaissance history or art history before at all, so this was brand new for me. What I discovered was a fascinating and oddly relatable story about the most famous Renaissance man.
What this book so excellently illustrated was Leonardo's willingness to drop everything for the pursuit of a new study or interest, often to some monetary detriment. His interests were so broad that he could never focus on and complete any one project. I relate to this heavily. I have so many interests and so many things that I want to do with my day, that I always end up feeling that I'm missing out on something, and I never give anything the amount of attention it deserves because I'm always jumping to the next topic of interest. The fact that Leonardo -- one of the only men truly qualified to be considered a genius -- also had this same problem is quite inspiring to me.
Another big takeaway I had from this book was one of Isaacson's call-to-action phrases he used in his Conclusion. Isaacson says to observe. Leonardo was an excellent observer. It's one of the things that made him so accomplished in so many different fields. I, on the other hand, tend to find myself dazing off and floating through my everyday life. While Leonardo notices the movement of a dragonfly's wings or observes the way light cascades across a surface, I nonchalantly walk by, my mind entirely focused on what I'm going to eat for dinner or a movie I recently saw. If I take anything from this book and the story of Leonardo, I want to really take the time and mental energy to observe my surroundings and be present. I want to notice and wonder at things as Leonardo did.
My one criticism of this book (which isn't even a real criticism, just a personal preference) is that it focused too much on Leonardo's actual artwork at times. Now, I know this is a ridiculous criticism. I just personally am not a huge art guy; I am just more interested in Leonardo's life than I am his specific works. That being said, I did learn to view art a little differently by reading this book. To notice things I would not have before, such as the sense of motion, perspective, and the use of harsh lines or sfumato.
Overall, this book was a great read, and it has sparked my interest in learning more about the Italian Renaissance.
A fascinating book about a fascinating person. I have a deeper understanding and appreciation for art now, too.
I read Isaacson's book on Einstein a few years ago and couldn't put it down. I have to say, that I was slightly disappointed with this book. I've been searching for a good biography on Leonardo for quite some time so I was excited to see that Isaacson had written one. It had its high points for sure, but there were some very long, dull sections of the book where I found myself losing interest.
I will assume that part of the difficulty in writing this book when compared to his book on Einstein was the lack of information on Leonardo's personal life. When writing about Einstein it was fascinating to learn more about his personal life as well as his work in theories. I felt that Isaacson had to spend an excessive amount of time on mundane details about painting techniques, as there was less to write about concerning Leonardo's social life.
Don't get me wrong, I was also very interested in Leonardo's work and innovations in art in science. I just felt that sometimes the focus was on that aspect of his life too much, and in turn, some of the book's humanity and heart were lost.
I will assume that part of the difficulty in writing this book when compared to his book on Einstein was the lack of information on Leonardo's personal life. When writing about Einstein it was fascinating to learn more about his personal life as well as his work in theories. I felt that Isaacson had to spend an excessive amount of time on mundane details about painting techniques, as there was less to write about concerning Leonardo's social life.
Don't get me wrong, I was also very interested in Leonardo's work and innovations in art in science. I just felt that sometimes the focus was on that aspect of his life too much, and in turn, some of the book's humanity and heart were lost.
Fantastic - that Isaacson provides such a deep dive into Leonardo’s life came as no surprise to me given his other work. But the lengths he went to to describe the painting techniques and to analyze how he thought, how he saw the world - these were real treats. I highly recommend this to anyone.
Definitely not a quick read, but it was worth the time. If you are looking to get into biographies, it's hard to do better than this.