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91 of 95 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
History, art, literature all rolled into one, May 8, 2000
I have the large hard-cover version of this book with absolutely wonderful black and white photographs. They are what originally drew me to it - I had read "The Group" in college but wasn't a big fan of Mary McCarthy. Well, that changed fast! In Florence, more than in any other city I know of, history and art are entwined in such a way that you can't talk about one without talking about the other. In this book, Ms. McCarthy conveys this duality better than I have ever seen done before. Her style is quite literary, in a dreamy way, so it reads smoothly and flows logically. You learn a lot without realizing it. The photographs are somewhat old-fashioned; sharp-focus B&W, many of minute details. The text and the pictures complement each other beautifully - her style is such that even without the pictures, you can see what she's talking about in your imagination - the very best kind of writing. Ms. McCarthy also wrote "Venice Observed," a similar kind of book. Both are out of print, but are not too hard to find in used book stores, where I found the Venice book. I highly recommend them to anyone with an interest in Florence, art, the Renaissance, history...
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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A City of Age-old Contradictions and the Great Renaissance, July 10, 2001
There are several reasons to go for Mary McCarthy's THE STONES OF FLORENCE. You are about to go to, are in or have been to Florence, Italy; you enjoy the literature of travel; you appreciate a well-written book. I fall into the latter two categories and thoroughly enjoyed this idiosyncratic work. McCarthy wrote this in the very early 1960's when the very nature of Tuscany's chief city couldn't help but attract tourists at the same time it seemingly did everything to discourage them. She swiftly dispenses with the contemporary city and spends the book peering back into its Renaissance soul, primarily the 14th through the 16th centuries when Florence was the Western center of intellectual activity. What emerges is the picture of the greats-Dante, Giotto, Brunellseschi, Donatello, Fra Angelico, della Robbia, Botticelli, Da Vinci, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Cellini, and various Medici to name a few-functioning amidst social, political and occasional natural upheaval. As she suggests about one artist, perhaps the productivity was inspired by the need to make order out of chaos. That and no doubt the fact that the Florentines used and valued art in their daily lives in ways that it is not today. That science, engineering, architecture and art were closely aligned offered cross disciplinary assistance is also key-without the mathematicians, for instance, would artists have been able to as easily co-opt perspective and volume? THE STONES OF FLORENCE is both direct and impressionistic. McCarthy's prose moves right along, never bogged down by a "perhaps" or the need to recite contemporary opinion. Her progress from the 14th to the 16th century is zig-zaggy, so that most of the Renaissance is spoken of as if on a continuum. There is a sly wit at work (in the personality contest, the score is Leonardo 10, Michelangelo 0) and McCarthy presents a strong spine-she is unequivocal about the decline of the Renaissance in the 16th century as the major players moved away from Florence and the populace fell into a "gee-gaw" mentality. This is a travelogue and, after a fashion, an art history catalogue, and yet there are no pictures (in this edition). That and its not too chronological organization would suggest an abstract mess but it is nothing of the kind. I became very much aware of how much of the Renaissance was covered in my early education as every reference brought up old lessons and visits to museums out of the tar pits of memory. I felt at home, not at a loss.
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
After an irritating start, a real pleasure, June 27, 2002
In the first chapter of THE STONES OF FLORENCE Mary McCarthy weighs in against everyone who might want to know about Florence who deeply irritates her: casual tourists, Europeans who love Florence deeply... who, you might wonder, is the book intended for? But once she gets this out of her system (though not ever entirely--as the book continues she often takes little sideswipes at everyone, even including Goethe!), the book settles down to be a very idiosyncratic and informative study of a city Mccarthy loves and knows well. Skip the intro (or at least try not to let it get under your collar) and keep plugging along: this is a highly readable and fun little book.
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