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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
Having read both Steve Jobs and Leonardo da Vinci in less than thirty days, it’s safe to say Walter Isaacson is converting me into a biography reader. 4.5/5
Lovely, and a worthwhile read for just about everyone. Leonardo is an incredible figure and Isaacson captures him perfectly.
Hearing about his accomplishments and methods is inspiring. I thought I knew a lot about Da Vinci but I knew next to nothing. What an incredible mind and I feel so energized after reading about all his many interdisciplinary exploits.
An amazingly well rounded and detailed look at a master. Beautifully written and immaculately researched.
Genius isn’t born, it’s acquired
A deeply reverential (sometimes to the point discomfort) and loving work on a highly influential figure. The book is written very well and allows for contemplation as the author describes the life and works of Leonardo. This book sat on my shelf for a long time as I agonized about reading regarding such a ubiquitous person, but I’m glad I did. Guaranteed you’ll learn something new about the man and take away a few insights that may help you be creative or more curious In your daily life.
A deeply reverential (sometimes to the point discomfort) and loving work on a highly influential figure. The book is written very well and allows for contemplation as the author describes the life and works of Leonardo. This book sat on my shelf for a long time as I agonized about reading regarding such a ubiquitous person, but I’m glad I did. Guaranteed you’ll learn something new about the man and take away a few insights that may help you be creative or more curious In your daily life.
We portray Leonardo as a God-like figure and we somehow always forget that he's just a human being. This book does exactly that. It shows us why he's one of the gratest minds that has ever existed, but also more importantly that he's a chaotic human being, who loves to procratinate.
Excelente! Não esperava que a vida de Leonardo da Vinci fosse tão turbulenta haha. Ótimo trabalho de pesquisa e narração do Walter Isaacson.
There is a good reason this book is on my shelf, and that is the gorgeous illustrations from the works of da Vinci himself. (This is not a book to read on Kindle.) Isaacson's writing is leisurely and conversational, and the book fits well in his series of biographies of Great Men of Genius that he admires. But the content itself I found repetitive and jerky, more a series of short essays that borrow heavily from other experts, cobbled together in a roughly chronological order with frequent intrusions of the author's own opinion ("Many people have thought x, but I don't think so"). Great to have as a reference, less enjoyable as a narrative.
I feel like a had a pretty broad, but shallow understanding of Leonardo da Vinci's work before reading this (I used to play an old CD-ROM game on our Power Mac all the time when I was a kid that was all about his inventions and ideas). It was nice to have it filled out a little more.
I especially liked how this book highlighted his curiosity as a scientific mind and how it went into how he was received but others people at the time and how he interacted with them.
I especially liked how this book highlighted his curiosity as a scientific mind and how it went into how he was received but others people at the time and how he interacted with them.
I decided to listen to this audiobook mostly because I had previously loved [b:Steve Jobs|11084145|Steve Jobs|Walter Isaacson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1511288482s/11084145.jpg|16005831], also by [a:Walter Isaacson|7111|Walter Isaacson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1192222433p2/7111.jpg]
To be honest, the first time I saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, I was underwhelmed (in fact, I much preferred hanging out at the Musée D’Orsay). I guess I never really learned to appreciate renaissance art. Even so, I really enjoyed Isaacson’s analysis of DaVinci’s work - he explains the history and techniques involved in most of his well-known paintings, which made me appreciate the artist’s skill and talent. Although I listened to the audiobook, I did occasionally flip through the accompanied PDF to look at DaVinci’s work and listen to the explanation and stories behind his sketches and paintings.
Prior to reading this book, I only ever knew Leonardo DaVinci as a painter (the Mona Lisa obviously) and inventor (from what I gathered from [b:The DaVinci Code|6372|The DaVinci Code A Quest for Answers|Josh McDowell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403744290s/6372.jpg|1163919]). What I learned from this book though, was that DaVinci was a man of many talents and passions. He dabbled in various fields driven by his inquisitive mind and need for answers and knowledge. He was painter, architect, engineer, inventor, anatomist and scientist. Many of his discoveries that he recorded in his journal were way ahead of his time. Unfortunately, since he never published any of his findings, his research had to be re-discovered by others centuries later.
My favourite fact about DaVinci was that he was left handed and wrote mirror-script… like me!! I wrote in mirror-script up until grade 2 which really caused concern amongst my parents and teachers (whereas, all my friends thought it was really cool). This caused my parents and teachers to believe that I was dyslexic when in reality, I was probably DaVinci reincarnated (ok, maybe not. I was probably just a confused leftie).
Overall, I really enjoyed this audiobook. It ran a bit long but I found every moment of it to be fascinating. I wish there was more information available about DaVinci’s sexuality (was he gay or just eccentric?) and relationship with Salai (just a close friend or something more?) but I suppose there's no way of ever knowing for sure.
***#40 of my 2019 Popsugar Reading Challenge - Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - 2017 #4. An Audiobook***
To be honest, the first time I saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, I was underwhelmed (in fact, I much preferred hanging out at the Musée D’Orsay). I guess I never really learned to appreciate renaissance art. Even so, I really enjoyed Isaacson’s analysis of DaVinci’s work - he explains the history and techniques involved in most of his well-known paintings, which made me appreciate the artist’s skill and talent. Although I listened to the audiobook, I did occasionally flip through the accompanied PDF to look at DaVinci’s work and listen to the explanation and stories behind his sketches and paintings.
Prior to reading this book, I only ever knew Leonardo DaVinci as a painter (the Mona Lisa obviously) and inventor (from what I gathered from [b:The DaVinci Code|6372|The DaVinci Code A Quest for Answers|Josh McDowell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403744290s/6372.jpg|1163919]). What I learned from this book though, was that DaVinci was a man of many talents and passions. He dabbled in various fields driven by his inquisitive mind and need for answers and knowledge. He was painter, architect, engineer, inventor, anatomist and scientist. Many of his discoveries that he recorded in his journal were way ahead of his time. Unfortunately, since he never published any of his findings, his research had to be re-discovered by others centuries later.
My favourite fact about DaVinci was that he was left handed and wrote mirror-script… like me!! I wrote in mirror-script up until grade 2 which really caused concern amongst my parents and teachers (whereas, all my friends thought it was really cool). This caused my parents and teachers to believe that I was dyslexic when in reality, I was probably DaVinci reincarnated (ok, maybe not. I was probably just a confused leftie).
Overall, I really enjoyed this audiobook. It ran a bit long but I found every moment of it to be fascinating. I wish there was more information available about DaVinci’s sexuality (was he gay or just eccentric?) and relationship with Salai (just a close friend or something more?) but I suppose there's no way of ever knowing for sure.
***#40 of my 2019 Popsugar Reading Challenge - Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - 2017 #4. An Audiobook***