Review: The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution

The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution by Timothy Tackett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A very interesting approach to a very interesting time in history. This is one of those periods in history that we all learn about, but seems a bit of a mystery due to the seeming mass hysteria of wanton killing and prosecution.

Unfortunately, and I know I'm probably projecting, but now I feel like this is the direction the US is heading in. It's not nearly as bad (yet), but we'll see.


Anyway, extremely interesting and highly recommended.





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Review: Napoleon: The Man behind the Myth

Napoleon: The Man behind the Myth by Adam Zamoyski
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was written the way I believe a biography should be written. The initial focus is on Napoleon's childhood and formative years, rather than later battles per se (although there is plenty of those as well). I like this because it give much more insight into why and how Napoleon became the man he was. I wish more biographies followed this pattern. 

Some of my notes:

Apparently after the reign of terror in Paris they had parties and balls where you could only attend if a relative of course had died at the guillotine, and they would wear red ribbons around their necks. Talk about gallows humor...

Amusing to think Napoleon was really bad at Chess, considering he was so good at real life strategic warfare. 

Napoleon's favorite author was Ossian, and he considered Homer's poems much weaker in comparison. 

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Review: The Private Lives of the Impressionists

The Private Lives of the Impressionists by Sue Roe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. I'm only on page 23 but this is already fascinating. Monet came to Paris from Normandy and enrolled in an art school where his classmate was Pissarro (a Portuguese Jew born in the Dutch West Indies), and they became friends. After a while another student joins, called Cezanne (who came to Paris with his good friend Emile Zola). After going back for a visit to Normandy and returning, Monet enrolls with another teacher and is classmates with Renoir. They then room together to save on rent, with Cezanne stopping by often. They're also hanging out with Sisley and Bazille. Affaire à suivre...

*****
Well, I finished the book, and I honestly can't believe they haven't made a movie or TV drama about these people. I have no interest in art, know next to nothing about Impressionism, and frankly just thought I ought to tackle this book because I've had it for over ten years collecting dust. However, I found the entire thing interesting. It certainly had some less than enthralling sections, but then again, it is basically a biography of a group of painters who banded together, were ridiculed, were often immature, often not, found spouses, had children, and finally, after decades, gained recognition. Given that, I'm amazed at how much of it was actually really riveting.

If you're not sure, check out the second (long) paragraph on page 91 (in the paperback version), about how Renoir, before he was famous, was almost killed by a firing squad and how he got out of it. The book seems full of little gems like that.

Recommended for anyone who is interested in Art, Art history, Impressionism, or in none of all that, like I was.



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Review: The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse

The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse by Pierre Abélard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Someone needs to make a movie based on these two. 2 extremely intelligent people falling in love. Taking place in the middle ages in Paris and Northern France. They must hide, escape, have a son while on the run, and then finally return and get married. And that's when the trouble starts, and the husband gets castrated and persecuted and the couple is separated forever, relying on these letters to communicate from thenceforth.

Having said that, Abelard does come across as pretty annoying and condescending in these. I don't doubt his intelligence, but neither does he. I did enjoy the arguments as to why women are stronger than men in the Bible (starting around p. 118).

I wish more were written about the final group of letters. If they really were written by Abelard and Heloise it would really add quite a bit, since the tone and subject matter is so different from the other correspondence.

I also wish I knew what happened to Astrolabe.

4.5 stars

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