Monday 29 June 2009

Power of Art by Simon Schama

A great introduction to looking at paintings, this book is a companion to a BBC tv series (which I haven't seen) but stands on its own as an introduction to monumental works of art by Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, David, Turner, Van Gogh, Picasso and Rothko.
I'd always shied away from Caravaggio but was able to admit to myself my fear of his sheer power and sensuality and to enjoy it. I learned about the beauty of Bernini's sculpture and renewed my acquaintance with Van Gogh's delicious and disturbing viscerality and Picasso's timeless denunciation: Guernica.
My only concern is that Schama does at times appear to equate extremity of personality with extremity of vision, as if you cannot be an amazing painter without having a disturbing personal life, and I don't think this is necessarily correct

Wednesday 17 June 2009

One City by Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin & Irvine Welsh, introduction by JK Rowling

A great little slim volume containing short stories by each of the authors on the subject of social inclusion. McCall Smith's gentle romance is about an Indian man experiencing the culture shock of Edinburgh, Rankin weaves a clever story about a homeless illusionist, and Welsh comes through in his usual unrelenting style with a story about an escaped tiger, hilarious. Can't wait to read the next One City Trust book: Crimespotting

Saturday 13 June 2009

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

A story about a young girl Meggie who is devoted to books and her father, who she calls Mo, who hides a secret about the disappearance of her mother 9 years earlier. They live in a remote farmhouse surrounded by books until the arrival of the mysterious Dustfinger and his oddly horned marten Gwin which hurls her into a world where fantasy and reality begin to bleed into each other. I loved the internal references to other classic and modern children's fiction but found the plot a bit repetitive and dry.

Monday 1 June 2009

Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain by Roger Deakin
Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean R Koontz
Handle With Care by Jodie Picoult
The Declaration by Gemma Malley
The Resistance by Gemma Malley
The Dark Horse by Marcus Sedgwick
Persepolis 1 & 2 by Marjane Satrapi
Marvels by Alex Ross and Kurt Busiek