Customer Reviews

Realist Vision

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This is an excellent analysis of realism in the 19th century European painting and novel. The author shows a wide knowledge in several fields, allowing him to give a cult and wide overview of the topics covered. His several analysis of specific paintings and novels adds to the depth and leaves aside any fear that the reader may have of general and repeated ideas, so common in other books. It is refreshing to see an English-speaking author dealing with books in an idiom other than English (French in this case). Nevertheless, some references to other national realist oeuvres (Italian, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Scandinavian...) would further enrich the book.
The only flaw of the book - its loose structure, without helpful overview of the subject and a clear conclusion - may also be seen as an advantage of allowing the author a more wandering and enriching reflexion than one can find in a lot of academic-burocratic studies.
The book includes 36 figures. I plan to quote this book in my academic research and recommend it to students in university.
Eduardo Cintra Torres

As an art history student, I found this book very helpful in writing a paper on realism in art and literature in late nineteenth century Paris. Professor Brooks writes in a beautiful, concise way; my understanding of a fascinating subject and time period has been greatly increased.