The Treachery of Beautiful Things
590510
This book was not what I was expecting, but it was still very interesting. Parts of the book were violent or creepy, and I did not enjoy that. For the most part though, this was a very enchanting book. The world they were in was magical (even if it was dangerous) and I can imagine how gorgeous it was.

I plot was great, and always kept me on my toes. I would think I had it figured out, and then something else would happen that through me off. I really enjoyed that about this book. There was not as much about her brother as I thought there would be though. He was brought up multiple times throughout the book, but he was only actually in the story for the last part of the book. I wished he could have played a slightly bigger role, instead of just always knowing he is there. The love between Jenny and Jack was definitely my favorite part of the story. Together, they overcame so much. It really was magical.

I received this book for free in return for an honest review.
4093708
Fascinating, troubling and beautifully written
3052798
Splendour & Squalor, by Marcus Scriven, reminds me of the gift that keeps on giving.  As Mr Scriven describes in great and intricate detail and with a riveting style, these three aristocratic families (two of them Dukes, traditionally the highest rank of nobility below the monarch) crumble from indolence, stupidity, greed and general perversity.  As you read page after page of the sheer depravity and wanton destruction, in a mere few years, what more prudent family members had accumulated over the centuries, you find yourself shaking your head in both disbelief and wonder.
The behavior of the four people featured in the book absolutely captivates a reader.  One does not have to have a special interest in the English nobility to find the book appealing.  Rather, I enjoy stories about mindless destruction, as well as struggle and sacrifice to accomplish and build.  Well, put the latter out of your mind when reading Splendour & Squalor.  I found myself absolutely captivated in the most perverse way by the characters that populate these pages.  One image kept returning to me as I tried to understand the attraction of these utter wastrels.  Then, it dawned upon me.  The morally and financially bankrupt dukes reminded me of the odd and strange insects and other creatures you find scurrying away when you roll over a decaying log in the forest.  Most people would either not do this or would jump back in fright.  Some people watch the activity with a strange fascination.  Reading Mr Scrivens elegantly written prose about these characters loathsome and destructive behavior reminded me of the creatures under the log.  You want to look away, but you cannot.  So you keep turning the pages, almost addictively.  His way with the language and his ability to turn a phrase captures the essence of his subjects with spot-on accuracy and deftness.
Clearly, Mr Scriven has done his research, as the extensive notes indicate.  Moreover, as someone who has had some minor connection with the Manchesters (and even more slightly with the Herveys), I can attest to the accuracy of Mr Scrivens research.
If you have an interest in the English aristocracy, the disintegration of family wealth and prestige, or the utter perversity of human behavior, Splendour & Squalor makes a compelling read
3819742
Lyn Hamilton has another winnner with this complex tale of greed and betrayal set in Italy. Few writers can compare with her in presenting layer upon layer of deceit together with intricacies of plot and character.
This mystery novel, set in Tuscany and Rome, illuminates the dramatic scenery of the region and shows the reader the world of antique hunting and the people within it. These are not your gentle Sunday afternoon antique shop browsers but sharks in Lamborghinis, some motivated by financial greed, others by the need to possess the finest Etruscan artifacts. They have the money and the motivation to establish expensive smokescreens, sending antique dealer Lara McClintoch to Paris and back through Tuscany in an attempt to retrieve the Etruscan Chimera.
But the chimera is just that. The characters are never so simple, and just as one could not trust a chimera, one cannot trust anyone but Lara McClintoch in this book. Their deceits are so manifold and intricate that it's almost hard to keep track. Chimera indeed.
This is a vivid and and well-told tale. It is carefully researched, even scholarly, but never loses its drama and immediacy.
1305469
My interest in this book stems from viewing a CNBC's American Greed episode detailing the spectacular heist of Boston's Isabella Stewart Museum that went down in the dead of night on March 18, 1990. The thieves targeted 13 very specific artworks, including major Rembrandts, while leaving very valuable works intact on the walls. The thieves did their dirty work by cruelly slashing the desired paintings from their mountings. This book offers details surrounding the resulting investigations and was written in collaboration with the security director of the Isabella Stewart Museum, Anthony Amore, who became employed w/ the museum post-robbery. This particular crime remains unsolved and, from what I understand, the museum has chosen to leave the empty frames of the stolen paintings as is, in memorium for their much loved and lost masterpieces.

Another famous heist that occurred in the Taft Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, has a chapter and another section concentrates on robberies from (upper crusty) private homes. For an international perspective, there are chapters regarding foreign thefts in Britain and Sweden.

As this book is highly detailed, it is not suggested as a light read. So, while it might not be light and fluffy, it's a plus for people like me who love viewing the deviants of this world through a magnifying glass.
335364
A fascinating and touching look at the effort to reclaim a family's history through some of the beautiful art objects stolen from them by the Nazis.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in efforts being made to restore art objects looted by the Nazis to their rightful owners.
648667
Brothers' careful and beautiful prose contrasts with the horror of Argentina's military regime, and the crimes of murder and child abduction that lie at the heart of this story. Well and responsibly researched, this book opens eyes to recent history and compounds Brothers' work in Hinterland, where she also uses fiction to explore real social injustices. It will be interesting to see what she comes up with next!
2871933
The book is magnificent. Robertshaw is a true master at detail and he draws you in further and further as the book progresses. I found myself outraged at what the Chinese were doing to this ancient culture. Robertshaw has a way of making you care very much in a very subtle manner. It sneaks up on you. Before you know it you are hooked and turning pages so fast the book may go up in flames from the friction.

The setting details are wondrous. I found myself thinking of what it would be like to live among such history.

Smith is an interesting guy. He is complex but simple. I thought of him as a rough and rugged but intelligent handsome fella with dirty hands and a complex mind.

Kinda like James Bond without the ego and fancy gadgets.

I felt horrible for the nuns and the people of Tibet. I cant imagine the horror of what they experienced. Robertshaw does a brilliant job of bringing these issues to light in a way that breeds emotion.

I think it was important for Robertshaw to include the gritty details of war. Its imperative that these issues be shown as they are. In all their horrifying glory. We should never condone or allow such actions. Politicians rarely care about morals when a goal can be achieved.

I hated what happened at the end but it was one of the most real endings I have read in a fiction book in awhile.

Robertshaw has impressed the crap out of me with this book. I hope there is a second.

To see my fully review, check on my blog AlliesOpinions on wordpress!
1960134
Holy mackerel, what a set, what filigree, what costumery, what a splendor for the eyes!

What treachery! An Asian analogue to Hamlet, set to the imperial palace as a backdrop 

Gory in parts, but splendid regardless
3200306
The plot of this elegant and tender book turns on luck, on accidents of place and time, on familial disruption and the bureaucratic capriciousness of the totalitarian state. Though the gray pressure of communism forms the backdrop of much of the narrative, the narrative, which concerns the lives of three generations of Czech women and girls, tells of connection, of intellectual passion, of moments of joy. The writing is lucid and plain; in its reticence it conveys almost unbearable pain and the deepest happiness. It is a gem of a novel, whose delicate threads combine into a beautiful, moving, and surprising fabric.
3758008
This is an eclectic and fascinating trip on the meaning of lists in literature history. Eco's wit and interests are present. However, some chapters and excerpts look weakly assembled and superficial. The graphical content is rich, and sometimes outstanding, but has only an illustrative function: the book is about lists in literature. Many pictures are not even cited in the text, but may have some relation with the cited excerpts. It is not as in the volumes of History of Beauty and Ugliness, where pictorial representations where thoroughly discussed. Beware: graphical content has some overlap with "On Ugliness". Book design: beautiful, it may be a nice gift for an Eco's fan.
2849651
"Beautiful Loot" by Konstantin Akinsha is the story of how the Soviet Union methodically stripped Germany of its art treasures, architectural details, and other cultural heritage items as World War II ended, and even several years afterward.  I had always assumed there was some degree of looting by Soviet (and Allied) soldiers, but was shocked at how planned this was, and how everyone up to the highest level of the Soviet government knew and approved of it.  Revenge taken for the horrific destruction and slaughter on Soviet territory by Nazi troops taken in paintings and porcelain...a strange idea.  And this book does leave you wondering where the thousands of still missing cultural items are to this day...
177445
This "novel" is written in a lower key, compared to Balzac's masterpieces. Nevertheless, it has passages of great beauty and others where Balzac, a man of the first half of the XIX Century, shows a remarkable understanding of politics and economics, clearly exposing concepts that some people still don't get today in spite of their logic and simplicity. This is the story of Dr. Benassis, a man who, after an irresponsible and crazy youth, after having lost the woman he loved and the son he had, leaves everything and takes refuge in a remote and primitive province in South-eastern France. There, in atonement for his sins and mistakes, he devotes his life to take care of his fellow humans as a doctor, to teach them hygiene and to educate them in health, laboriousness, industry and commerce, which brings prosperity and dignity to the place. It is a little treaty on the nature of economic development, filled with little stories and the simplicity of Beauty. Not a masterpiece, but certainly an unforgettable story about love, redemption and humanity.
3101418
This is an amazingly wonderful book! It features excellent color photos, both full-size and detail, of dozens of circa 19th century Plains Indian works of leather, including shirts, leggings, robes, and other practical artwork. Beadwork, quillwork adn paint adorn these works of buffalo deer, elk, antelope and bighorn sheep hides, and the author selected some astoundingly lovely pieces.

The text that accompanies each one goes into the source, the components, and the cultural significance of both the objects themselves and their adornment, as well as interesting bits of information about certain details, such as a particular type of bead or feather used, or the importance of the piece in its culture. The tribal origins of each entry are also discussed, including cases where the author disagreed with the museum or collection that held the piece, and details explaining why (ie, this detail resembles this tribe instead of that tribe).

Overall, it is a really nicely done work. However, one question is left unasked. We've seen the pretty artwork and have learned its immense importance. Now can we please return these to the people to whom they are so very important?
1543713
This book was an amazing look into the beautiful and its connection to good and evil. It's idea of redemption intense. I recommend it to all
2079344
Written down word for word by a monk under a vow of silence, as recounted by the unwilling hero Jude, this is a tale of England at the time of the Black Death, heavy with moral overtones, life's lessons, and insight into peasant life, as Jude tries to make sense of all that is happening around him.

Pity, compassion and a sense of justice compel him to set free a strange fairground freak, befriend and heal her, then together they rid the land of the terrible creature that plagues it. In doing so, Jude discovers how fear turns to hate, greed to cruelty, and friendship to love. As well as finding his inner strength and self-worth, he discovers that beauty is mostly inside and in the eye of the beholder.

Although simply and archaicly written, the narrative flows, carrying one along with the adventure, immersed in the plot. In the accompanying (sometimes bawdy) descriptions we learn a little cultural and social history, as well as what made the mediaeval mind tick. What takes a little getting used to are the stilted, one-sided conversations with the silent scribe who's been instructed to 'copy every word', that preface each chapter - but it adds a certain charm to this lovely, addictive book. *****
1137890
This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read.  The prose is lyrical at times (describing nature, or the abiding love between two long-married people), and also funny (when Leonard's mind meanders in the middle of things, "Spaghetti Bolognese"), and poignant (when Leonard aches that he can't make his grown daughter feel "all better"; the crushing grief he feels so deeply, and remembers feeling).  It's a tender, engaging story of an older man, his thoughtful relationships and connections he has with others, chosen or not.  It moves slowly but deliberately, and I enjoyed reading as it meandered along and didn't want it to rush.  The plot is enticing, and pulls the reader in to learn the secret, but the writing makes it a lovely world to inhabit once inside, and asks profound questions about life and love and trust.  It's a mystery, but it is also Truth.