The Birth of Venus

Rating:
Summary: Birth of Venus
Review: If you like historical fiction you should like Birth of Venus. If you like books about Renaissance Italy, painting, women's issues, you have a chance of liking Birth of Venus. Overall I found it to be an engrossing read.


Rating:
Summary: engaging intellectually and emotionally
Review: I adored this book on many levels. Being an art history student, and studying art in Italy, I truly enjoyed all of the references to painters, frescoes, etc. The author truly has a good grasp of this knowledge, and slips it in here and there. If a reader had no knowledge of Renaissance art, they would come away with a general understanding of how art was commissioned, and the role it played in Florence, particularly with the Medici family. Also, the philosophical changes in those times, that is, the return to Classical art and teachings, is highlighted. It is starkly contrasted with the conservative religious (Catholic) movement and the role of Savanarola (sp?), the charismatic Dominican monk that put the fear of God into the city.

I find this book very applicable to this day and age in America--a time when the religious right is playing a bigger role in government. Read this along with "The Kite Runner" and see for yourself what a dangerous road we may be traveling down...

Rating:
Summary: Worth studying!
Review: An enjoyable, colorful tale set in the changing times of the Italian Renaissance. My only criticism was that the author often pulled me out of the story when her research seemed to overwhelm the flow of the text, the characters' reflections felt forced rather than naturally spoken, especially when discussing art and politics.

Rating:
Summary: Curl up and enjoy
Review: Don't listen to the reviews critical of the sincere main character, Alessandra, or who find "too many modern sensibilities" in the worldview of the protagonists. Having visited Florence and this region, this book plunged me into the 16th century and brought past and present Tuscany alive. Plus the timeless plot touched on romantic love, maternal love, human servitude, and the nature of the relationships between God and man, Deity and priest, and art and artist. (But don't worry, the story is set among these meaningful interplays, but it doesn't preach--it is first and foremost a STORY.) A rich reading experience that while meaningful, and provocative, is also ultimately enjoyable as well and leaves the reader celebrating their own definition of the life well lived. What more can you want? I hope Dunant writes dozens with the same perceptive sense of place and purpose.