There, finished at last! Actually, I finished this last night, and have since started The Closers by Michael Connolly. I feel relieved when I finish a book like this, as it's always kind of a chore.
The typeface is very dense so there's plenty of text on each of the 500 pages, and if you don't like books that mention dozens and dozens of different people then you might not really take to this. As it is, I found it quite tough going at times, but the subject is quite an interesting one.
This book is comprehensive. It charts Leonardo's life from his birth to his death, as you might expect from a biography! But he had such an interesting life, mixing with the nobility of Italian city-states such as Milan and Florence, studying everything from anatomy to hydraulics and engineering. Leonardo really was a man who spent his entire life furthering his own knowledge, as well as painting
As a book, I found that it was the subject matter that was engaging rather than the biographer's treatment of it. And indeed perhaps the biographer concentrates too much on Leonardo's paintings and my impression is that some of Leonardo's other interests were glossed over a little too much - then again I may have had the wrong preconceptions about LDV.
I would find it hard to recommend this book for general consumption. Perhaps somebody with an interest in painters, or the Renaissance, or Italian history - even a passing interest - would appreciate this book more than I. As a book to read for pleasure, there are plenty others. However, this is but a humble opinion, on a humble blog - I can speak only for myself. I'll give Nicholl 4/10 for this book.
The typeface is very dense so there's plenty of text on each of the 500 pages, and if you don't like books that mention dozens and dozens of different people then you might not really take to this. As it is, I found it quite tough going at times, but the subject is quite an interesting one.
This book is comprehensive. It charts Leonardo's life from his birth to his death, as you might expect from a biography! But he had such an interesting life, mixing with the nobility of Italian city-states such as Milan and Florence, studying everything from anatomy to hydraulics and engineering. Leonardo really was a man who spent his entire life furthering his own knowledge, as well as painting
As a book, I found that it was the subject matter that was engaging rather than the biographer's treatment of it. And indeed perhaps the biographer concentrates too much on Leonardo's paintings and my impression is that some of Leonardo's other interests were glossed over a little too much - then again I may have had the wrong preconceptions about LDV.
I would find it hard to recommend this book for general consumption. Perhaps somebody with an interest in painters, or the Renaissance, or Italian history - even a passing interest - would appreciate this book more than I. As a book to read for pleasure, there are plenty others. However, this is but a humble opinion, on a humble blog - I can speak only for myself. I'll give Nicholl 4/10 for this book.
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