[[{“value”:”James J. Walsh, The Thirteenth Greatest of Centuries. Eccentric, published long ago, not correct, yet full of vitality and insight. So many of the key pieces of the West already were in place by that time. So recommended, this one just has been reissued. How was the Giotto chapel in Padua possible? Parsival? This book
The post What I’ve been reading appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.”}]]
James J. Walsh, The Thirteenth Greatest of Centuries. Eccentric, published long ago, not correct, yet full of vitality and insight. So many of the key pieces of the West already were in place by that time. So recommended, this one just has been reissued. How was the Giotto chapel in Padua possible? Parsival? This book gives you a start on those questions.
Stephen Walsh, Stravinsky: The Second Exile, France and America 1934-1971. Yes, it made me order and want to read the first volume as well. This is likely the best biography of Stravinsky and his musical times.
Rochelle Gurstein, Written in Water: The Ephemeral Life of the Classic in Art. On the importance of classics, and common standards for classics, if art is going to challenge and improve us. The book is also sufficiently appreciative of Canova, one of the most impressive artists of all time but somehow these days underdiscussed.
Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, Father Time: A Natural History of Men and Babies, offers a scientific look at how fatherhood and raising children changes the minds, bodies, and behaviors of men.
Sulmaan Wasif Khan, The Struggle for Taiwan: A History of America, China, and the Island Caught Between. I’ve been following this issue for a long time, so I don’t feel I learned much from this book. But for most people, especially younger people, it is a very good introduction to the longer history.
Douglas Porch, Resistance and Liberation, France at War 1942-1945. Too detailed for my purposes, so I stopped reading it. But this volume seems to be a major historical achievement, and a must read for at least some subset of humans.
Andrew O’Hagan, Caledonian Road. This is the British novel that now everyone there is reading and talkinig about. A “cast of characters” and “biting portrait” sort of thing, reflecting modern Britain, most of all London, today. I read about fifty pages, found it highly engaging, and then decided the rest would be a waste of my time.
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