The title of this blog entry comes from a leaflet advertising Barnes & Noble's new eReader technology that I received yesterday when I purchased a new book. (Will I have time to read this book anytime soon? Probably not, but books are my weakness and the art/art history section at the B&N in my neighborhood is unlike any other I've ever seen.)
I don't want a Kindle or a Nook, or any other type of technology that replaces the physical objects that are books. While I know the many people find ebooks an outstanding revolution in reading, I am not going to be an enthusiastic convert as long as paperbacks are still being printed and bookstores are still open for browsing. There is something unique and wonderful about holding a book in your hands and turning each page. It is a tangible sensory experience that, for me, is deeply connected with the experience of reading. I love feeling the cracked spines of my favorite and most read books from St. Olaf. I remember the smooth, glossy covers of my childhood Nancy Drew books....I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
That being said, here's a list of what I read over Christmas break:
1.) "Sargent's Daughters: A Biography of a Painting" by Erica E. Hirshler.
Hirshler is a curator of American Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and in this text she explores one of the most well-known works in the MFA's collection, John Singer Sargent's "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit."
This was a great read. Hirshler's book expertly marries the best of art historical scholarship and vocabulary with a very readable "novel-like" writing style that brings Sargent and the Boit girls to life by giving them historical and personal context. I've not seen the painting in person yet, but I'm hoping to visit Boston sometime soon and after reading this book I will make a special trip to the MFA to see it!
2.) "Old Masters, New World: America's Raid on Europe's Great Pictures" by Cynthia Saltzman.
Another great read--though a little more dense than "Sargent's Daughters." This book also reads like a novel at times, but is also packed with a detailed history of the Gilded Age in the United States. "Old Masters, New World" was especially interesting to me because it deals with the subject (art collecting) and time period (late 19th early 20th c.) that I studied for my senior research paper about Bertha Honoré Palmer of Chicago. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Palmer was not mentioned by Saltzman. Palmer is often overlooked because of her location in Chicago (in other worlds, NOT a member of the East Coast elite found in NY and Boston), and because she focused her collecting on contemporary painters--specifically the Barbizon and Impressionist artists of France. Anyway, I digress. The point is, I wish I had known about Saltzman's book when I was working on my Palmer paper--it would have been SO helpful. Oh well. It was still a great book that I would recommend.
3.) Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicolas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
Right now I am in the midst of reading "Half the Sky" by Kristof (a New York Times columnist and his wife, Sheryl Wudunn, who is also in journalism) and am really enjoying it. As the subtitle explains, this book focuses on the human rights of women around the globe. To the Westerner, the human right's struggles of such women are shocking to the point of being unbelievable. Realizing this, Kristof and WuDunn write with this audience in mind--always explaining the cultural and political contexts that allow such inhuman experiences to occur. Subjects covered include prostitution & human trafficking, rape & "honor" killings, and maternal mortality & disability. So far it's getting me thinking more and more about how Western cultures can have a positive influence on women in third world without imposing Western values and cultural standards. It also directly addresses what happens when theory meets practice. It's a challenging and interesting read that I would highly recommend it to anyone concerned with human rights, women, global health, social justice, education, etc. (in other words, I think everyone should read it).
Happy reading.
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