Author: Toby Ferris –
Publisher: HarperCollins UK –
Genre: Art History, Memoirs –
Overall rating: 5/5 –
Writing: 5/5 –
Duration: 9:52 h (medium) –
Narrator: Jot Davies –
Narrator/performance: 5/5 –
Impressions: n/a –
Performance errors: 0/5 –
Complexity/reading level: 3/5 –
Audience: General
Commentary/review
A definition of a time well spent. This book does not try to get an emotional response from the reader but gets one anyway. It is a record of an art adventure in which the author looked at almost all of the existing paintings by Peter Bruegel the Elder. The book is free from clichées, large strokes and flashy effects. It is rich, informative and well-balanced. Quotations from other works are few and far between, yet seem strikingly accurate. The tone is mild, clear and respectful of the reader. The author embraces his humanity in a refreshing manner. I enjoyed his favorite idioms, such as “being alive to something”. I will certainly read this book at least one more time.
The easiest thing to do in the world is probably designing covers for books about 16th century art. You cannot go wrong with it.
Cover: “Hay Harvest” by Peter Bruegel the Elder.