| The Creators - A History Of Heroes Of The Imagination
(1992)
|
| Front Cover |
Book Details |
Back Cover |
|
| Genre |
Non-Fiction |
| Subject |
Civilization - History; Arts - History; Creation |
| Publication Date |
9/8/1992 |
| Format |
Hardcover (9.5
x
6.5
mm)
|
| Publisher |
Random House |
| Language |
English (US) |
| Extras |
Dust Jacket; Dust Jacket Cover |
|
|
| Description |
| In this companion volume to his bestseller The Discoverers, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Daniel Boorstin brings to life more than 3,000 years of human artistic achievement. This immensely readable and engrossing book examines what people have added to the world: painting, sculpture, architecture, theology, philosophy, poetry, drama, music, film, and more.S. News & World Report. |
| Personal Details |
| Store |
2nd & Charles |
| Purchase Price |
$6.95 |
| Acquire Date |
12/7/2019 |
| Condition |
Very Good/Very Good |
| Rating |
0 |
| Links |
Library of Congress
|
|
| Product Details |
| LoC Classification |
CB69 .B65 1992 |
| Dewey |
909 |
| ISBN |
9780394543956 |
| Edition |
[1st ed.] |
| Cover Price |
$30.00 |
| No. of Pages |
811 |
| First Edition |
No |
| Rare |
No |
|
| Notes/Review |
This second book in Boorstin's knowledge trilogy covers the arts, more or less. Its focus is, like the previous volume, is a "view from the literate West".
It begins with the creation myth itself, then proceeds through sculpture, architecture, painting, dance, music, drama, poetry and prose, and, finally (in a short epilogue), film. Had I attempted to read this book when it was first published, I think I'd have been quite frustrated. I found myself going to the internet to find pictures of the various works discussed. This was the case more for the first parts of the book than the last, as a series of photos can give a sense of a building or painting but is much less useful when it comes to the works of Proust or Cervantes.
Like the Discoverers, this book is a nice jumping-off point for further investigation. And, like that earlier volume, this one is made up, essentially, of a bunch of short stories: a biography of some Creator (William Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Richard Wagner, etc), a description of their work, and why their work was significant.
Given the breadth of the subject, and the number of "artistic" disciplines covered, I think Boorstin did a great job. It has been said (originally by Martin Mull, probably) that "writing about music is like dancing about architecture." He's not trying so much to describe the music (or painting, etc) itself, but what made this music (or sculpture, etc) different from what came before; what made it important.
Of course, it's impossible for a book like this to meet the expectations of all readers. Myself, I was surprised that, given the amount of space devoted to music, jazz is barely mentioned (it has but one entry in the index). And the art of film gets only nine pages in an epilogue.
The reference notes are not what I'm used to (i.e. specific source information) but much more general. There is no separate bibliography and no pictures. |
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