#John julius Norwich

[empirearchives]

Description of Napoleon Bonaparte by the naturalist and explorer, Alexander von Humboldt:

Source: A History of France, by John Julius Norwich

[little-candy-store-of-horrors]

Theyre teen royalty. If 16th century Europe was Us Weekly they would always be on the cover.

🩷🩷🩷

I got Some Responses so I thought I'd post the drawing on the back cover 💅💅

[oscarwetnwilde]

A Christmas post from a Christmas video .

𝔐𝔢𝔯𝔯𝔶 ℭ𝔥𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔪𝔞𝔰 ❆⋆꙳•☃︎⋆꙳•✩⋆꙳•❅

[nipresa]

Ritagli

Una delle cose più pratiche che permette di fare un e-reader è sottolineare i testi e avere poi a portata di mano tutti i passaggi che si vogliono conservare.Di seguito, una piccola raccolta di sottolineature, senza un particolare filo conduttore, tra saggi e narrativa, dagli ultimi tre anni circa di letture. Alberto Grandi, Denominazione di origine inventataQuesto è il paese nel quale due tra…

[to-the-manner-born]

A little light reading

[rhetoricandlogic]

A HISTORY OF VENICE by John Julius Norwich

RELEASE DATE: April 29, 1982

Published in Britain in two volumes, this massive but modest tome claims only to be ""a straightforward record of the main political events of Venetian history, for the general, non-academic reader""--and that's all it is. Aside from the occasional appreciation of a major building, you won't find cultural textures here. Also, as Norwich himself admits, you won't find--with a few exceptions--personalities. What you will find, however, is chattily readable prose, a dry sense of humor (""Eunuchs, as everybody knows, are dangerous people to cross""), and the author's engagingly qualified admiration for the Venetians--their unflagging self-interest, their state-imposed discipline, their secular, non-intellectual activism, their flexible ability to live more or less under a constitution for centuries. Here, then, is Venice from 5th-century beginnings as a refuge from barbarians to a loose, autonomous association of island communities under the Byzantine Empire circa 800 (her ""very submission"" assured independence and greatness); from a trade-centered Republic, fighting wars and pirates, to the builders (circa 1150) of an overseas empire (with a boost from the plundering Fourth Crusade) and a world-power circa 1300; from a Machiavellian peak of war/trade/diplomacy to, after Vasco da Gama (""Overnight, Venice had become a backwater""), a steady decline--with external entanglements and internal ""sickness."" Here, too, are the 100-some doges, the ups and downs of the elitist oligarchy and the Council of Ten; the problems with Popes (Julius II is perhaps the strongest character in the book); the role of the condottieri; the pros and cons re Venice as a police state. (Norwich, dearly something of an elitist himself, argues the relative freedoms and huge benefits of Venice's system.) And here, too, is conspiracy after conspiracy, war after war, a few floods, the Black Death, and the acquisition of a patron saint (""History records no more shameless example of body-snatching""). Most Venice-lovers, of course, will miss the esthetic cross-references. Serious history lovers will look vainly for deep, broad analysis. But, for those who share Norwich's more narrow enthusiasms: a lucid, companionable pageant.

[katharinepar]

TUDOR WEEK 2023: Day 1: Favourite Tudor Rivalry

Henry VIII of England, Charles V, Francis I of France

'Despite appearances, [Henry VIII] had never really taken to Francis—who offered, apart from anything else, too much serious competition. For Charles, on the other hand—who was still only twenty—he felt a genuine affection. After his visit to England the young man had written a letter thanking him and Catherine warmly for their hospitality, and in particular for the advice Henry had given him “like a good father when we were at Cantorberi”; and it may well be that the King, who was, after all, already his uncle, did feel in some degree paternal—or at least protective—towards him. What seems abundantly clear is that Charles endeared himself not only to Henry but to all who were with him, in a way that Francis, with all his swagger, had completely failed to do.' (x)

[caesarsaladinn]

Do you have a recommended intro to / overview of Byzantine history?

not really. I got into it through the History of Byzantium podcast, which is a great resource but a terrible overview--it's very granular and I think it's still working though the crusades. Anthony Kaldellis just published a thousand-page narrative history, which I haven't finished but seems promising--he's a good communicator and his information is up to date--and Reddit seems to like Brownworth's book Lost to the West. John Julius Norwich's trilogy is apparently a great read, but lacks academic depth, which might be a good thing.

alternately, just click around here for a while. https://pbe.kcl.ac.uk/data/index.htm

[nanshe-of-nina]

Women’s History Meme || Empresses (5/5) ↬ Zoe Porphyrogénnētē (c. 978 – 1050)

When Michael V met his fate on Tuesday evening, 20 April 1042, the Empress Theodora was still in St Sophia. She had by now been there for well over twenty-four hours, steadfastly refusing to proceed to the Palace until she received word from her sister. Only the following morning did Zoe, swallowing her pride, send the long-awaited invitation. On Theodora's arrival, before a large concourse of nobles and senators, the two old ladies marked their reconciliation with a somewhat chilly embrace and settled down, improbably enough, to govern the Roman Empire. All members of the former Emperor's family, together with a few of his most enthusiastic supporters, were banished; but the vast majority of those in senior positions, both civil and military, were confirmed in office. From the outset Zoe, as the elder of the two, was accorded precedence. When they sat in state, her throne was placed slightly in advance of that of Theodora, who had always been of a more retiring disposition and who seemed perfectly content with her inferior status. Psellus gives us a lively description of the pair: Zoe was the quicker to understand ideas, but the slower to give them utterance. With Theodora it was just the reverse: she concealed her inmost thoughts, but once she had embarked on a conversation she would chatter away with an informed and lively tongue. Zoe was a woman of passionate interests, prepared with equal enthusiasm for life or death. In this she reminded me of the waves of the sea, now lifting a vessel on high, now plunging it down again. Such extremes were not to be found in Theodora: she had a calm disposition - one might almost say a dull one. Zoe was prodigal, the sort of woman who could dispose of a whole ocean of gold dust in a single day; the other counted her coins when she gave away money, partly no doubt because all her life her limited resources had prevented her from any reckless spending, but partly also because she was naturally more self-controlled In personal appearance there was a still greater divergence. The elder, though not particularly tall, was distinctly plump. She had large eyes set wide apart, with imposing eyebrows. Her nose was inclined to be aquiline, though not overmuch. She still had golden hair, and her whole body shone with the whiteness of her skin. There were few signs of age in her appearance … there were no wrinkles, her skin being everywhere smooth and taut. Theodora was taller and thinner. Her head was disproportionately small. She was, as I have said, readier with her tongue than Zoe, and quicker in her movements. There was nothing stem in her glance: on the contrary she was cheerful and smiling, eager to find any opportunity for talk. — Byzantium: The Apogee by John Julius Norwich

[wutheringmights]

Nightbane by Alex Aster opens with a quote from Cato, A Tragedy (1713) by Joseph Addison: “My bane and antidote are both before me.” Very important. Very cinematic. 

Quotes can rarely, if ever, be taken out of context without any loss of meaning. So I have a personal policy to research the origins of whatever quote an author opens their book with. After all, a good quote should provide important framing or context for the book you’re about to read.  

To summarize a very fascinating Wikipedia article: Cato, a Tragedy is an Enlightenment era play about Cato the Younger’s last days and his opposition to the reign of Julius Caesar. Cato was an icon of republicanism and, fittingly, the play deals with themes of “individual liberty versus government tyranny, republicanism versus monarchism, logic versus emotion, and Cato's personal struggle to hold to his beliefs in the face of death.” 

Nowadays, the play is obscure. Modern productions of the play are rare, if ever staged. The text is also not included in most academic curriculum. Yet, Addison’s work seems to have been highly inspirational for America’s Founding Fathers. According to Wikipedia, quotes like “give me liberty or give me death” are theorized to be references to Addison’s play that the founding fathers assumed their audience would understand. George Washington even attended a production of it while in Valley Forge in 1778.

With its considerable influence on the founding of this country, it’s mind-boggling to me that this play is not only not taught in school, but is largely forgotten. I even asked my father, who is almost 70 and is a giant history buff, if he knew anything about this play in the vain hope that maybe some previous generation learned about it. But, no; even he had no idea what it was until I told him.

My bane and antidote are both before me comes from a soliloquy from act 5, scene 1. In it, Cato contemplates the merits of committing suicide. The bane and antidote is a sword he places his hand on and a copy of Plato’s Immortality of the Soul. He does not want to kill himself. How could anyone? But if he does not die now, he will have to live in a world made for Caesar. But Plato’s writings provide reason to the universe, which gives him comfort: “the stars shall fade away, the sun himself / Grow dim with age, and Nature sink in years; / But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amid the war of elements, / The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds!”

There’s something undeniably fascinating about pieces of art that were highly influential during a period of history that have been lost to the passage of time now. Cato, a Tragedy is a cornerstone in American history, yet that did not save it from being a victim of obscurity. It failed to flourish in immortal youth. 

Joseph Addison is best remembered as an essayist. His simple prose style was credited by John Julius Norwich as the marked end of the conventional, classical images of the 17th century.  You can hardly believe it with the ease of poetry in Cato’s words. 

What does this have to do with Nightbane? 

Absolutely nothing. I am ninety-five percent certain that Aster found this quote on an enemies-to-lovers moodboard and declared it good enough! Sure, the quote has nothing to do with romance, but hey! Who would go through the effort to research the original context? 

I spent so much time waxing poetry about Cato first because it's a funny bit; but mostly because it’s at least interesting. There’s nothing to say about Nightbane except that it’s bad. But you already knew that. That’s why you and everyone else in my life wanted me to read this book. It has to be bad to warrant any real attention. 

Hell, even I wanted to read this book because it’s bad. Aster’s books are my guilty pleasure, largely because she sucks. Aster writes like she has never written anything before and is quickly realizing that it’s not that easy. When I read Lightlark and Nightbane, I feel like I am thirteen years old and writing my first story all over again. It brings me joy and comfort in a way that’s completely unmarred by irony. 

That’s why I can almost forgive Nightbane for all the times the story goes out of its way to respond or correct a criticism from the first book. Aster definitely reads the comments, and it’s comical all the lengths she goes through to retcon bad ideas or retroactively add lore. It reminds me not only of how I wrote when I was a pre-teen, but how I write now with my way too long, just publish the first draft it’s fine, writing project. 

One of the somewhat interesting ideas Aster introduces is a plot line about the ethics of having your peasantry’s lives literally tied to their monarchs and Isla’s budding admiration for democracy. Of course, she only brings either up because these were among her critics’ common talking points. It’s obvious she has no real desire to explore either idea for all it’s worth.

The democracy plotline ends with a big slap to the face to Cato, A Tragedy’s legacy. Isla promises to make the Starling kingdom a democracy in the future. Why? She personally doesn’t want to be a ruler. She has no problem with the idea of the monarchy and has no real passion for self-determinism. She just doesn’t want to have any responsibility. It’s too much work. 

Plus, she only wants to make the Starlings a democracy. Not the Wildings. She may hate having any form of responsibility, but she’s not inclined to unseat herself from power. She can still be the Wildling’s shitty ruler. No democracy for them. Sorry. It’s so blatantly hypocritical that it turns comical, and I fall a little more in love with the absurdity of Aster’s storytelling. 

While there are a lot of flaws I can forgive, I can’t forgive when the plot “goes through the motions.” Aster clearly wanted to include scenes where Isla and Grimshaw (I still refuse to call him Grim) recite bog-standard dialogue and recreate tropey romantic moments. The lead up to these scenes are vaguely, choppy, and inconsequential. The why does not matter; only these scenes do. 

Except when these scenes happen, they are so generic that your eyes skim over them. Isla and Grim already do not feel like real people. I can hardly call them characters, or even concepts. To call them shadows suggests there is some kind of substance they spring from. I can’t even think of a good metaphor to describe them. 

They are nothing. The plot is nothing. The prose is nothing. There is nothing worth chewing on. It’s not even worth composing a long rant about it. 

It’s easy-bordering-pathetic to dissect a book everyone knows is bad, especially when your only purpose is to explain why it’s bad. Where is the critical thought? What effort are you actually putting into your analysis when everyone already agrees with your arguments? I will always prefer a critic who goes after works that are genuinely popular and well-liked. If you want to win an argument then, you have to work for it. 

Yet, I’m still here doing this. You’re still here reading it. Ultimately, we’re all victims to the smug pleasure of believing that we are not capable of producing trash like this. Obviously, we are all secretly the world’s greatest artistes. We are the next Great American Novelist. None of us are capable of writing anything thoughtless, absurd, or shallow. We are infallible, unlike the sinner Alex Aster. 

So, yeah. Bad book. Really wish someone will let me read a good one soon. 

--

Nightbane by Alex Aster

⭐/5 stars

--

Now that I have finished lording my moral superiority over all of you, here is a miscellaneous list of stupid shit that happened in Nightbane. Even I can’t resist kicking the dead horse:

Oro reveals that he is deeply traumatized from  accidentally killing someone by turning them into gold. Isla proceeds to demand a gilded blade of grass as a romantic tribute. He gives it to her. It’s romantic. 

Oro is rich, has a job, and a healthy group of friends, and is somehow still going to lose this love triangle. What bullshit. 

After emphasizing how traumatic if was for the Skylings to lose their ability to fly, the narrative tries to convince you that the Skylings would choose not to fight a war where them refusing to fight will lead to them losing the ability to fly again.

This is so stupid that when there’s a debate about it, Aster provides no examples as to why they shouldn’t fight; she just states she happens.

So much of the story is just told-- isla’s feelings and motivations, the lore, character relationships: it’s all just told to us. 

Isla is confronted with having to fix the social issues of both the Wildlings and Starlings; instead of solving them herself and learning something new, an extremely competent lesbian volunteers to fix everything for her.

One of said problems is that Wildings, who have plant-based magic, do not know how to grow crops.

Wildings have also never cooked the hearts they have been eating. Like, ever? Not once in five hundred years?

Isla shows prejudice towards the Vinderland because they are cannibals.

It’s increasingly unclear how the immortality rule works about the nobility

New lore reveals that the Nightshade have so many extra cool magic abilities because of lore reasons, and not because Aster likes them the best.

There’s a rebel group that got fed up with the rulers not fixing the curse; they also managed to make no progress in solving the very easy mystery in less than 500 years. 

During flashback time, Grimshaw saves Isla no less than 7 times

There is a night market on Nightshade that has to take place during the day time, due to the curse. They still call it a night market.

There are multiple Nightshade events where the dress code is on a scale from”instagram baddie” to actually just naked. Isla’s clothes are described in detail, but not Grimshaw. I can only assume that his dick and balls were out every time.

Grimshaw seems to also be the only unfun prude on an island of hedonistic extroverts. 

There is a sword that had been stolen no less than three times by different thieves.

New starstick lore clarifies it’s a device (not a wand!), and that Isla can’t use it to go anywhere she hasn’t been before; this renders her entire backstory impossible.

Instead of disengaging a bunch of traps, Grimshaw decides to Looney Tunes his ass and trigger each one by one.

There’s so much on and off screen cannibalism and flaying that neither are cool anymore. Sorry! We have to find new imagery for our toxic situationships.

The plot structure being a jump back and forth between the past and present made me question my own ability to write a storyline like that lmao

Isla and Grimshaw have been married the whole time, in a plot twist shoved in at the last second with very little thought put into it. 

Isla should divorce his ass. I hope Lightlark is a no-fault state. If not, she luckily has a fuckton of faults to bring up. 

[ancientphantom]

How do you know so much about 19th century France? Are there any resources (such as books and articles) you would recommend for learning about this time period?

Short answer: lots and lots of research, over time, in both long protracted chunks and small surgical lookups. When you read about 19th-century France this much, early on you have to stop every few minutes to look up what was happening at the Bastille or what have you, but after you've done that for a few years, you've built up a sort of sedimentary layer of accumulated knowledge. (Although of course I still get things wrong; I try but I'm not an actual historian!)

Here's a short reading list, although there are a ZILLION books out there that might be useful:

The Aesthetics of Reaction: Tradition, Faith, Identity, and the Visual Arts in France, 1900-1914 by Neil McWilliam (especially good for art movements)

Charles Garnier's Paris Opera: Architectural Empathy and the Renaissance of French Classicism by Christopher Mead

France: A History: From Gaul to de Gaulle by John Julius Norwich

How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City by Joan DeJean

The Keys to French Opera in the Nineteenth Century by Herve Lacombe

Robe and Sword: The Regrouping of the French Aristocracy After Louis XIV by Franklin L. Ford

A Tour of French History: From a Province of Rome to the Kingdom of France by Pierre D. Bognon

These aren't all easy grabs off Amazon anymore, but try your local libraries and universities - that's where I found them!

[little-candy-store-of-horrors]

Where did those quotes in the art piece of yours you reblogged about Charles V being ugly and stupid actually come from?

I'm really curious about which academics said that

YAY im being recognised as a reliable source to come to for these things!!!11!

Moving on okurrrrr i //did// say academics in like massive inverted commas so 🤡🤡🤡 regular history book writers is more like but doesn't quite have a ring to it. Anyway here are your Sauces™ because i may throw words around but I don't make shit up!! *Taps head*

"A perfect twit, a cruel victim of spoiling and aristocratic inbreeding" - Eric Metaxas, Martin Luther

"He couldn't help being ugly", "Villainously ugly" - John Julius Norwich 🔫 WHAT'S GOOD CUNT!!!?!?!????!*, Four Princes

"Not quite put together.... Ungainly and frail-looking" - James Reston Jr, Defenders of the Faith

"Thin, sickly-looking and somewhat ugly" - Henry Kamen ((aka the only bitch on this list i respect)), Spain 1469-1714: A Society of Conflict

*((if you all KNEW how much i hate JJN. it's Unreal. Had semen scumbag Montefiore from soviet history's good review on the very back of this book too they can suck each others and rot together imo.))

Have a sketch i never posted with it! And yes he was a skrunkly lad wasn't he!! If I can't *quite* say I love him then I can at least say I feel a deep sympathy really every time someone unironically dunks on what was otherwise an uncomfortable teenager. It just feels mean, ye know what i mean?

And then a deep fascination with his arc from that sopping wet rat to whatever the hell god complex delulu bullshit he became when he got older. Thoroughly insufferable. I'm obsessed.

[thetldrplace]

Sicily: An Island at the Crossroads of History. Chapters 1-3

This book was written by British historian John Julius Norwich. I will attempt to cover the chapters one at a time, other than this first installment, since the chapters are smaller.

1 Greeks  The first true culture we encounter on Sicily is Mycenaean, from around 1600BC. Around 1400 BC, Sicily was absorbed into the Mediterranean trade routes. The Mycenaeans disappeared around 1200BC, no one knows why. There were some tribes that lived on the island: Sicans, Sicels, Elymians, but we know little of them.  

Sicily's earliest historical period people were Greeks who had come over to colonize areas of the eastern and southern coast. The first Greek-Sicilian settlement was Gela around 688BC. The next centuries saw the cities build up through Greek art, philosophy, and civilization. But we must recognize that "Greece" was something like the way we consider "Arab" today. It was a concept more than a particular nationality. 

The Carthaginians had a footing on the western edge of the island at Marsala and Trapani. Carthage was originally a Phoenician outpost. The Phoenicians were canaanites from the Old Testament. They were a seafaring people, who had established trading outposts all over the Mediterranean. Carthage, modern day Tunis, was one of those cities, which had gained independence in 650BC. 

There were occasional clashes between the Greek cities with appeals to Carthage to intervene by whatever city saw itself as undermanned in the looming fights. 

Around 400, an agreement was made between Syracuse and Carthage whereby Carthage would limit itself to the western portion of the island.  

2 Carthaginians  For the next hundred years, skirmishes continued between Greek Sicily and Carthaginian Sicily, but in 272, Rome captured Tarentum and effectively claimed control over the entire Italian peninsula. During the 200's Sicily was going to have to make a choice between Rome and Carthage.  

There were a series of 3 Punic wars (wars between Rome and Carthage) fought between 264 and 146BC. During that time, Sicily became a Roman territory. 

3 Roman, Barbarians, Byzantines, and Arabs.  Roman  By 241BC Sicily was essentially run by the Romans. The Greek speakers were still there, but Greece was in no position to influence much on the Island. Carthage was a power during the first part of the 200's, and indeed, Hannibal was causing all kinds of trouble on the Italian peninsula itself but, Carthage was not the influence on Sicily.

The Romans never considered Sicily more than a province... allies... but they were not considered citizens. The important fact was that Sicilians spoke Greek, not Latin. We know relatively little about the events on the island. But here are some 'highlights'... or lowlights... you can decide....

There were several slave revolts on the island. The slave population dangerously outnumbered the free, and they were terribly abused. (Good combo for an uprising.) The first slave war broke out around 139BC, Rome was slow to react since it didn't take the idea of slaves too seriously, and consequently wasn't put down until 132BC, seven years later. 

A second slave war broke out in 104BC, but this time Rome was quicker to respond. The second war was ended in 100BC after an epic effort by the slaves. 

Gaius Verrus was governor/criminal from 80-70BC, which saw the island suffer terribly under his pillaging. He was excoriated in the Roman Senate by Cicero, who took the case on himself, and Verrus, who saw the writing on the wall, packed up his stuff and amscrayed to Marseille before the trial ended and he was put under arrest.

The final transition of Rome from Republic to Empire left Sicily with a much larger Roman element than before. By decree, all mainland Italians had gained Roman citizenship, but this was not true for Sicily. 6 cities however were included, and their citizens were given Roman citizenship: Taormina, Catania, Syracuse, Tindari, Termini, and Palermo. 

Sicily had become one of the most important sources of grain for the Roman empire.  

Unfortunately, we know little of Sicilian history for the first 500 years of the Christian era. It seems to have prospered, as evidenced by the quality of the buildings that have survived from that period. 

They were largely unconcerned by Constantine's decision to move the capital of the Empire to Constantinople in 330. They were largely unconcerned with the decision to move the western capital to Ravenna in 395.  

Constantine's main contribution was the official status of Christianity, which spread rapidly across the island, replacing the old Greek religion.  

By the 400's there also seems to have been a large influx of Jewish immigration. 

Barbarian  By the late 400s, the barbarians had arrived. Who you callin' barbarian?? I'm sure the barbarians didn't think they themselves were so deficient... after all, who just kicked who's @$$ on Rome's home field? The three "barbarian" tribes of interest to us are the Goths, Huns, and Vandals. Only the Vandals showed any interest in Sicily. 

The Goths, under Alaric, had besieged Rome as early as 408.  

The Huns attacked Italy by 452, but didn't get to Sicily. 

The Vandals however, had gone across Gaul (france), settled in Spain, then crossed into North Africa, attacked Carthage and raided Sicily. 

The Roman empire, these days, is considered to have finally succumbed in 476.  

Byzantine  In 533, Emperor Justinian launched a campaign to recover the western empire. His general, Belisarius, arrived in Sicily in 535, where he was universally welcomed by the Greek-speaking population. Sicily was once again an imperial province,  ruled by a Byzantine governor, hooray! By the middle of the 600's, the Greeks were concerned for their western provinces because of the surge of Islam.  Emperor Constans II decided that a Roman empire without a Rome was kind of pointless, so he wanted to shift his capital westward, but after actually seeing the dump that Latin Rome had become, he decided in 663 on the more familiar Greek atmosphere of Syracuse. This should be good for the Greek speaking Sicilians, right? The next 5 years were a nightmare for the Sicilians, due to the extortions and heavy taxes laid on them. This may have gone on for God knows how long, except in 668 Constans was assassinated. His son picked up again and moved back to Constantinople. 

Arab  Sicily had been left in peace for some time, but Arab raids were continuing. They now controlled the entire north African coast, and in 827, they invaded Sicily when a local governor, Euphemius, was ousted for an affair with a nun. He responded by proclaiming himself Emperor and then, realizing he didn't have enough muscle to actually make that happen, invited the Arabs to come help. The Arabs came, shoved  Euphemius out of the way, and started a slow takeover for themselves. 

Palermo fell in 830; Messina fell in 843; Syracuse in 878. By that time, Sicily was effectively an Emirate of the Muslim world. 

The Muslim conquest made Sicily a major player in Mediterranean commerce. The Arabs introduced terracing and siphon aqueducts, they introduced cotton and papyrus, melon and pistachio, citrus and date palm and sugarcane. Muslim, Jewish, and Christians all thronged the bazaars of Palermo. 

But stability was not part of Arab rule, and there were always tensions between the various factions. 

[diceriadelluntore]

I Libri del 2022

Per sognare non bisogna chiudere gli occhi, bisogna leggere - Michel Foucault

1. Carla Benedetti - La Letteratura Ci Salverà Dall’Estinzione

2. Antonio Pascale - La Foglia Di Fico. Storie di alberi, donne, uomini

3. Federico Rampini - Fermare Pechino. Capire la Cina per salvare l’Occidente

4. Mark Kurlansky - Carta. Sfogliare la Storia

5. Marshall G.S. Hodgson - L’Ordine degli Assassini

6. Julian Barnes - Il Senso Di Una Fine

7. Lello Arena - C’era Una Volta. La fiaba un po’ storta di un incontro incredibile

8. John Julius Norwich - I Normanni Nel Sud 1016-1130

9. Neil MacGregor - Il Mondo Inquieto Di Shakespeare

10. Amor Towles - Lincoln Highway

11. Isaia Sales. Teneri Assassini. Il mondo delle babygang a Napoli

12. Ian McEwan - Amsterdam

13. Carlos Fonseca - Museo Animale

14. Hermann Hesse - La Cura

15. Carlos Ruiz Zafon - Il Labirinto Degli Spiriti

16. Massimiliamo Valerii - Le Ciliegie Di Hegel. Una riflessione sull’idea di libertà

17. Fabio Bacà - Nova

18. Gilles A. Tiberghlen - Amare. Una Storia senza fine

19. Andrea Moro - Il Segreto di Pietramala

20. Ilaria Tuti - Come Vento Cucito Alla terra

21. Sylvie Testud - Senza Santi In Paradiso

22. Cesare Pavese - La Casa Sulla Collina

23. Marco Balzano - Resto Qui

24. Orhan Pamuk - Le Notti Della Peste

25. George Robert Sims - Le Avventure Di Dorcas Dene. Una detective nella Londra vittoriana

26. Francesca Stavrakopulou - Anatomia Di Dio

27. Abir Mukherjee - Le Ombre Degli Uomini

28. Guido Barbujani - Come Eravamo. Storia dalla grande storia dell’uomo

29. Richard Powers - Il Dilemma Del Prigioniero

30. Julio Cortazar - Bestiario

Mi sono fermato a 9843 pagine, ad un soffio dal mio obiettivo delle 10 mila. Quest’anno ho letto molti libri che mi hanno regalato, tra cui quello che mi è meno piaciuto, il saggio di Rampini. I saggi favolosi: Kurlansky, quello sull’Ordine degli Assassini preso dopo anni, il saggio sul Corpo del Divino di cui ho parlato sul blog. Sui Romanzi, Fonseca una novità stupenda, un mix stuzzicante di realismo magico e di giallo internazionale, notevolissimo, per struttura, trama e lessico quello di Powers, scoperto tra l’altro come appendice ad una bella chiacchierata. Bei libri italiani, tra nuovi (Bacà interessante, la conferma della Tuti, la scoperta di Moro) e la lettura o rilettura dei classici, che fa sempre sempre bene. per chi volesse altre informazioni, sono pronto a rispondere.

[helloquotemyfoot]

Book Backlog Busting Reading Challenge!

Had a productive week this week and three books were finished!

The Time Traveller's Guide to Restoration Britain by Ian Mortimer. FINISHED. Really enjoyed this one. For some reason, the period descriptions here felt more vivid compared to the other books in the series. Great detail as always.

The Great Cities in History by John Julius Norwich (editor). FINISHED. This was a quick and easy read as each chapter about the cities was only 3-6 pages. That said I was a bit disappointed. The breadth was incredible but the depth shallow and there was no sense of "world history" in terms of linking anything together or analysis. Still, I will be combing through the bibliography for choice picks, and it introduced me to cities/cultures I knew nothing about before.

A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time #7). FINISHED. I can sense the series is starting to drag a bit here - it felt particularly egregious that the weather plotline resolution was put off for yet another book. I'm still enjoying the series though and especially the Rand/Min interactions in this book, which were adorable and actually felt like a normal relationship.

Upcoming books!

A History of the World in Bite-Sized Chunks by Emma Marriott. Sticking to the world history and "rummaging through the bibliography for good finds" theme... I'm also trying to get through some of the shorter books on my list - this one is under 200 pages.

The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson. I've read lots of Bryson's works and really enjoy his ability to convey his enthusiasm about learning new things and his sense of humour, so I'm sure I will enjoy this one too.

Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time #9). Not sure if I will get round to this one as I haven't gotten that far into Path of Daggers yet, but Path of Daggers is very short by WoT standards, there's a fairly good chance.

96 books remaining!

[beckyh2112]

Books I Have Read in the Past Six Months and Enjoyed

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Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy by John Julius Norwich - Quite fun and informative. By necessity, he has to breeze over some of the popes because either a) it's so far back, we know jack and shit about them, or b) they're boring, and we need space to talk about Renaissance popes behaving badly.

(The Renaissance Catholic Church behaving badly is currently one of my major interests.)

Paladin's Grace/Paladin's Strength/Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher - I love Ursula Vernon's characters and worldbuilding, and it's delightful to return to the world of the Temple of the White Rat. She also has some of my favorite takes on paladins in fiction.

The Cardinal's Hat and Conclave 1559 by Mary Hollingsworth - Remember how I said the Renaissance Catholic Church behaving badly is one of my major interests? Allow me to introduce you to Ippolitto II d'Este, grandson of Pope Alexander VI (aka Rodrigo Borgia).

Not sure why The Cardinal's Hat isn't on bookshop.org, but you can find it elsewhere. It covers Ippolitto's early career up until shortly after he received his cardinal's hat. Conclave 1559 covers a papal election Ippolitto was a major figure in that went on for months. Both are very good reads.

Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick - Also not listed on bookshop.org for some reason. I kriffing love weird world-building, and our protagonists stumbling headlong into problems and making problems for other people while they try to figure out what's going on, and this book has both.

The Cardinal's Blades by Pierre Pevel (omnibus with the whole trilogy; caveat: I haven't read the whole trilogy yet, just the first book) - Dragons vs. Cardinal Richelieu. We focus far, far more on the people he's using to fight the dragons than the cardinal himself, which allows the writer to get in some amazing twists. None of them are forced, they just rely on us not being told everything because the character whose pov we're in hasn't been told everything.

The book does hop through multiple points-of-view, so if you're bad at keeping track of names, you may not enjoy this as much as you might otherwise.