Rating: 
Summary: History comes to life
Review: I'm not someone who reads much historical fiction, nor do I take much interest in painting and sculpting, but this book overcame all my disinterests and swept me along in the creative process of the genius, Michelangelo. Stone has written an outstanding book, based on extensive research, that really makes history come to life. Pictures of Michelangelo's creations would have been a nice added bonus, but the text itself stimulates our imaginations and carries us into the world Michelangelo inhabited. Wonderful reading.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant biography of a brilliant artist
Review: One must always question the credibility of a biographical novel on a man dead for four hundred years. I certainly did. Yet even if Irving Stone did take a bit of artistic license when filling in the blanks of Michelangelo's life, he did it very well indeed. This story works well as both biography and fiction. As an artist and sculptor, I felt a deep empathy with the tale of The Florentine Master. Though my talents are puny compared to the furious grandeur of his David or the sublime tranquility of the Pieta, I felt a kinship with Michelangelo. Irving Stone's book speaks to the artist in us all.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!!!
Review: Never will I live out of sight of Il Duomo! This book has permanently imprinted my mind with the sights of Firenze. I yearn for the city. I am never entirely whole when I am away. Oh yeah, Michaelangelo is in the book too. I gave copies of this book to all my family and co-workers.
Loved it!
Rating:
Summary: history brought alive
Review: i used to hate historical novels till i read irving stone's masterpiece of biographical storytelling. He seems to hover on the razor edge of fact and fiction, producing a vibrant blend. Italy of the rennaissance is portrayed vividly to the reader, captivating him. The sustained pace of the book keeps the reader hooked till the last page, despite its considerable size.
Rating:
Summary: Legitimize historical fiction NOW!!
Review: The Agony and the Ecstasy truly opened my eyes to the wonders of historical fiction. I bought an old copy at a used bookstore in St. Helens OR. about five years ago and have read it four times since then. From the opening line the reader is transported to rennaisance Italy and the world of Signore Buonorroti. This book (along with Aztec by Gary Jennings) have truely changed my life by forcing me to see the world as a wonderment. Read this book and travel through time. Truely good historical fiction has been an ugly stepchild to historians for too long, it's time to change that and realize that historical fiction has the power to inspire.
Rating:
Summary: History made young again
Review: "The Agony and the Ecstasy" makes an art and history lover out of everyone. Irving Stone's ability to take the biography of one man, as wonderful as he was, and make it such an absorbing novel is outstanding. Not only does the reader learn about Michelangelo and feel as though he/she knows him, but they also get a rare chance to experience his passion for art. The novel
is filled with romance, passion, violence, history,
love, art, and so much more. As Stone did with his
other novels, such as "Lust for Life," he brings history
alive in a way that inspires the human mind. Irving
Stone is an extrordinary author and it is only fitting
that he would write an extrordinary novel.
"The Agony and the Ecstasy" made me a lover of art
as well as a lover of literature. Any book that can
do that, in my opinion, is incredible.
Rating: 
Summary: Mesmerizing slice of ancient Italy via keen observer
Review: Not being an art aficionado, I almost immediately passed over Mr. Stone's book when I first encountered it. What a mistake that would have been!
Written in the form of a historical novel (like Michener), it is easy to get drawn into the life of one of the strongest cultural influences on not only Italy, but the modern world.
The novel should be read for its insight into events and relationships between the major figures of the late 1400/early 1500s. It is this humanistic insight that makes the book.
It should be noted that the inclusion of a pictorial insert could have been used to have added even more flavor, but Mr. Stone's descriptions will carve the sculptures and paintings into your mind's eye.
Rating:
Summary: A Good One!
Review: If you love history and you like or love art, you will want to read this novel. I just finished reading it and I certainly do recommend it highly. I had the great fortune to have an art book with photos of Michelangelo's artwork while I was at the same time reading the book. It made the book all the more enjoyable to be able to see the artworks that are described in the novel at the same time while reading it. A very good book for any historical novel lovers! I appreciate Michelangelo's art so much more now after having read it.
Rating:
Summary: Michaelangelo's Italian Renaissance Brought to Life
Review: Irving Stone has given us an exceptionally readable fictionalized history of the life of Michaelangelo Buonarroti. Stone's ten pages of bibliography hint at his scholarship; we trust his command of history. Yet he brings the novelist's perspective in breathing life into his protagonist. Nor is it only Michaelangelo himself whose character we explore, but all of the important people in Michaelangelo's life. For instance we get as tired of his father, Lodovico's, complaints about his career choice as Michaelangelo himself must have been. And Pope Julius II's incredibly thoughtless treatment of him is explained in full detail. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to get started in art history with one of its most interesting artists. It is must reading for anyone planning a visit to Florence or the Vatican. If I have one complaint, it is Stone's curious and disruptive use of common words carrying uncommon meaning. An example is "fabric," by which Stone means "construction." Without explanation, he gives the word its meaning as the root word in "fabrication." And his consistent use of the word "sculpture" as a transitive verb is similarly disruptive. Why not "sculpt?" Nonetheless I loved this book, found it impossible to put down, and I strongly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: A bit overrated
Review: I had heard a great deal about this book, and I must say that it certainly isn't a bad book. Although the book is quite a heavy one, in the weight of pages, the story moves along quite well and is fairly addictive.
The book seems to be well reseached, especially in the methodology of sculpture in Renaissance Italy: I enjoyed the descriptions of tools and stones, and Stone obviously has a real passion of Michelangelo's work.
However, I found the prose overwritten and out-of-date. I guess I should have known that a book called "The Agony and the Ecstacy" would be. It is not just the prose that gets overbearing after a while (the continual bursts of emotions, the over-use of words like "lions" and "flesh"), but Stone's Freudian interpretations of Michelangelo's sub-conscious are too obvious for great literature. I quickly tired of his sexual imagery when describing the act of creation. Granted, the book was first published in 1961, but in comparison to another historical novelist of the same period, Robert Graves, this book pales in comparison.
All in all, not a bad book, but certainly not the first I'd recommend.
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