BookieMonster

Book Spotlight: Ancestral Images : The Iconography of Human Origins

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Sep 292009
 
Ancestral Images : The Iconography of Human Origins by Stephanie Moser

Ancestral Images

Ancestral Images

Description:

 

Pictorial reconstructions of ancient human ancestors have twin purposes: to make sense of shared ancestry and to bring prehistory to life. Stephanie Moser analyzes the close relationship between representations of the past and theories about human evolution, showing how this relationship existed even before a scientific understanding of human origins developed.

How did mythological, religious, and historically inspired visions of the past, in existence for centuries, shape this understanding? Moser treats images as primary documents, and her book is lavishly illustrated with engravings, paintings, photographs, and reconstructions.

In surveying the iconography of prehistory, Moser explores visions of human creation from their origins in classical, early Christian, and medieval periods through traditions of representation initiated in the Renaissance. She looks closely at the first scientific reconstructions of the nineteenth century, which dramatized and made comprehensible the Darwinian theory of human descent from apes.

She considers, as well, the impact of reconstructions on popular literature in Europe and North America, showing that early visualizations of prehistory retained a firm hold on the imagination–a hold that archaeologists and anthropologists have found difficult to shake.

BookieMonster says:

An intriguing book, with illustrations on almost every page, this is the perfect book for art historians or art history buffs, particularly those interested in iconography and religious or scientific illustration.  I have to confess to having my eye on a copy of this…

Purchase Ancestral Images from BookieMonster now!

What’s BookieMonster Currently Reading? Affinity by Sarah Waters

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Sep 282009
 
Affinity

Affinity

Description: An upper-class woman, recovering from a suicide attempt, visits the women’s ward of Millbank prison as part of her rehabilitation. There she meets Selina, an enigmatic spiritualist-and becomes drawn into a twilight world of ghosts and shadows, unruly spirits and unseemly passions, until she is at last driven to concoct a desperate plot to secure Selina’s freedom, and her own.

BookieMonster says: Phew, Sarah Waters! Into one very well-written and captivating novel she managed to cram spiritualism, lesbianism, Victorian stifling of women, Victorian mourning rituals, Victorian treatment of mental health, Victorian prison history, Victorian class structure and a clever little mystery plot. (Sorry for all the Victorians, but this novel is rather, well, Victorian.)

The very best thing about Waters is that, unlike much lesser historical writers, she manages to cover all these points in a way that doesn’t say “Hey, look at how historical I’m being! Look at my many accurate historical points! oh, and look! Lesbians!”.

No, Waters does a very neat trick in her writing – and that is being genuinely authentic to the point where you just don’t really notice it. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery of the plot and the portrayal of prison life and the spiritualist movement (especially having recently read Spook).

Affinity has been somewhat overshadowed by Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith (both also excellent, by the way) which is a bit of a shame, as Affinity is every bit as good. This is a dark tale with a sad and lonely heart. Highly recommended.

BookieMonster’s Unappreciated Classics No. 9: Number9Dream by David Mitchell

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Sep 262009
 

Disclaimer: The no. 9 coincidence was just that!

Number9Dream

Number9Dream

Description:

In outward form, Number9Dream is a Dickensian coming-of-age journey: Young dreamer Eiji Miyake, from remote rural Japan, thrust out on his own by his sister’s death and his mother’s breakdown, comes to Tokyo in pursuit of the father who abandoned him. Stumbling around this strange, awesome city, he trips over and crosses—through a hidden destiny or just monstrously bad luck—a number of its secret power centers.

Suddenly, the riddle of his father’s identity becomes just one of the increasingly urgent questions Eiji must answer. Why is the line between the world of his experiences and the world of his dreams so blurry? Why do so many horrible things keep happening to him? What is it about the number 9? To answer these questions, and ultimately to come to terms with his inheritance, Eiji must somehow acquire an insight into the workings of history and fate that would be rare in anyone, much less in a boy from out of town with a price on his head and less than the cost of a Beatles disc to his name.

BookieMonster says: I LOVE this book. Love, love, love it, it’s craziness, literary fireworks, sudden changes in story and underground Japanese feel. Love it!

David Mitchell is a wonderful author – he has never disappointed me, but this is probably his least critically acclaimed and most divisive book because of it’s fairly wild switches in tone and story – it’s not as immediately literarily dazzling as Ghostwritten or Cloud Atlas and it doesn’t have the incredibly strong tone and heart of Black Swan Green.

What Number9Dream is, though, is a wild, truely unputdownable ride through reality and dreams and it makes no distinction between the two. It can be incredibly moving, and also horribly shocking and violent. I think mostly it suffered from being distinguished as a “sophomore effort” – every artist who produces an amazing debut falls prey to the expectation of the “sophomore effort” – even when that effort surpasses the debut.

Mitchell’s greatest asset in Ghostwritten, Cloud Atlas and Black Swan Green is his amazing control of his writing and his talent. In Number9Dream he totally let that control go – the result is every bit as admirable as those titles but with a wildness that takes it into a whole other sphere – one that I think every great author should visit at least once, if only to produce works as good as this.

Book Spotlight: Twenty-First Century Design by Marcus Fairs

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Sep 242009
 
Twenty-First Century Design - cover w/ dustjacket

Twenty-First Century Design - cover w/ dustjacket

 

 

 

 

 

Description:

From Mass Market to Avant Garde

Twenty-first Century Design is the a fascinating survey of the contemporary design landscape, guiding the reader through the intoxicating array of contemporary movements, styles and trends, and identifying today’s leading designers, as well as future design classics.

This pioneering publication places the contemporary scene in a historic framework and explores cultural and economic forces shaping design now and in the years to come.

Accessible and engaging, it charts the incredible explosion of design worldwide and discusses cross-fertilization between design movements in what is rapidly emerging as one of the most exciting industries in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BookieMonster says: This is a beautiful design book – thick, large and packed with photos and illustrations covering over 200 design stars from the fields of urban design, landscape design, fashion, furniture and graphic design. 

Purchase a brand new gorgeous copy of Twenty-First Century Design from BookieMonster for $48.95!

Twenty-First Century Design - cover w/out dustjacket

Twenty-First Century Design - cover w/out dustjacket

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