Customer Reviews

Archaic and Classical Greek Art (Oxford History of Art)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book gave me a new look into greek art. I have read a lot of books about this period and I found that Robin Osborne added new viewpoints. I liked his style of writing, it invited me to read on.

Archaic and Classical Greek Art is good supplementary reading if you're into art history or classics that focus on ancient Greece. While the text isn't too exciting, the pretty pictures make up for it; if ever you need to make a presentation on the reading, you can do what I did and talk about how pretty the pictures were. And while the text is a bit boring, it's simple and concise, which would be lifesaving attributes if you're reading it 5 minutes before class. It's an ideal introduction into the subject matter; the content is easy enough to understand and the pictures make it enticing enough to pursue.

On a more general scale, why 4 stars? Because to a classics nerd, it's vastly exciting delving into the world of ancient Greece when it's completely unrelated to school. So I read it after we were tested on it and found it all the more enjoyable.

Well, once you get past Osborne's pedantic writing, it's an informative treatment of the subject. But, doesn't most academic writing suffer from the "write-like-it's-a-lecture" syndrome? I guess I'll always be a scientist at heart, never a humanist.