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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Essential for those already interested in Gaudi, January 19, 2002
This biography is not breezy, light reading. Nor, despite it's unusually elegant printing, is it remarkable writing. It is, however, far more detailed and credible information and insight into Gaudi than one is likely to get anywhere else. I've been fascinated with Gaudi's works since a very young age. The construction work on the Sagrada Familia -- the bulk of which has been during my lifetime -- is something I have been able to measure my life by. That said, my understanding of the architect himself had always been quite vague and contradictory for the simple reason that quality information was never available (at least not in English). Until all the renovations for the '92 Olympics, one certainly didn't learn much useful about him by visiting his buildings. While the architectural sites have radically improved their exhibits, they cannot get anywhere near the depth of this volume. This book is certainly revealing. One significant flaw in the book, however, is the complete lack of visual reference. I HIGHLY recommend that you have a visual reference to the buildings on hand, such as the Taschen book, when tackling this biography. The few photos here are mostly of people.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
With two rulers and a chord one generates all architecture, February 26, 2003
My title is a quote from Gaudi himself and it is only something a genius could say. Like Bach claiming his work was 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. What clearly comes through in this book is that Gaudi was an extraordinary man - a creator of unique structures and visions. I have always felt a fascination with things that seem to have some unexpected, almost alien, aspect to them. In architecture this includes the temples at Angkor and the Hindu temples of India; are these the works of humankind? So it is with Gaudi. Where are the precursors? Where are the followers? Perhaps there are no followers because what he did was so exceptional no-one dares takes the same path. And then there is the man Gaudi as described in this book - he is no less alien; banishing intimacy with women from his life, being absorbed in catholicism, following a rigorous vegetarian diet. I didn't want speculation - I hate that in biographies - but I would have liked more information. For example, why was Gaudi a vegetarian - was it a religious tenet he was following, was it a moral one, was it health-driven? Other reviewers have been disturbed by Mr Hensbergens command of the English language. This did not offend me. Perhaps the paperback version I am reviewing had been further edited. But I did find the book slow to capture my attention. Perhaps it was Gaudi and not the prose that finally engaged me - but engaged I was. Another feature that initially annoyed me was the placing of the four sections of illustrations. It seemed to me that I was forever hunting for an illustration for the text I was reading. But by the end of the biography this didn't offend me at all; in fact I grew to love hunting back and forth through the illustrations because as I did so I grew to know Gaudi's architecture better and better.
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24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Completely unworthy of its subject, February 18, 2002
Outside of Catalonia and Spain, Antoni Gaudi i Cornet is mythologised as a sort of mad genius . The man, like his work is appreciated, but completely misunderstood. Gils van Hensbergen's intention is to present Gaudi to us in the Catalan nationalist context which formed him and his buildings. Yes, an understanding of Catalanism with its piety, spiritualism, chauvinist patriotism and family values is helpful to understanding Gaudi's life, but not essential to appreciating his work. Antoni Gaudi was a genius. Works of genius communicate themselves. That is all you really need to know admire and love Gaudi's designs. As pure as Hensbergen's intentions are, the book is a failure. Poorly written, haphazardly organized and indifferently edited, Gaudi is painful to read and does very little to improve ones understanding of the subject. To learn about the Barcelona of those days, its politics and players and how they influenced the architect, read Robert Hughes' Barcelona: a magnificent book by a master non-fiction stylist. Gaudi: A Biography is also inadequate in the descriptions of the projects and the buildings. Hensbegen never clarifies what happened at Poblet; how Gaudi worked and what his studio was like; that the model for Colonia Guell was for an entire church, not just a crypt; and most importantly how did Gaudi view space? Hensbergen never discusses Gaudi's mature interiors. He treats the designer solely as a sculptor--a former of symbols--not as a creator of spaces. I was confused as often by the imperfectly written sentences as by the badly explained ideas. The chronology is a muddle. Dates are even mistyped. Names pile up without clear explanation of who they are or why they are being mentioned. And the endnotes...! They are confounding digressions which clarify nothing.Without beauty, rationality and solid construction, this book is wholely unworthy of its subject.
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