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Title: The Book of the Courtier by Baldassare, Conte Castiglione ISBN: 0-14-044192-1 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1976 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.29 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Readable and fresh-- not dry at all.
Comment: The Book of the Courtier is one of those books that you hear frequently cited, but rarely actually read. I, at least, would like to bear witness that it would have been a shame if it had remained unread. I expected it to take me a while to wade through and I expected it to be dense and difficult to penetrate. What I got was a book that felt modern, lucid, and nearly compulsively readable.
The book is structured as a conversation game carried out the court of the Duke of Urbino in the rooms of his wife Elisabetta Gonzaga. In four books, different members of the court sketch out the ideal Courtier and the ideal Lady. The books treat various subjects, including the nature of grace, love, humor, gender equality, and necessary skills. There are obviously quite a few details relevant exclusively to the time, but these didn't distract from the main points of the book, but layered it instead in a way that made me think about how the details of our lives now were likely to be viewed in 500 years.
Castiglione is perceptive and witty and somehow quite loving in the way he draws the people in the book-- both the "real" people having the conversation, and the imaginary ideal people being described. I enjoyed it, and I recommend it. You don't need to be a scholar to enjoy it as well.
Rating: 5
Summary: The Book of The Courtier - amendments for earlier reviews
Comment: my dear nessie monster,
i think people would take your review more seriously if you managed to keep it in the right century! 15th!!!
The main debate was whether to use old tuscan Italian or the new contemporary Italian of which Castiglione finally decided upon. It was this use of contemporary language which made it so popular, and therefore went on to numerous translations. Castiglione was the 'Mick Jagger' of his day, assisted by his decision to appeal to mass readership. If anyone wants to read an example of blinkered feminism then take a look at Joan Kelly-Gadol's piece in the Singleton edition.
Rating: 1
Summary: Boring Baldassare's Book
Comment: An awful, boring book. One of the most dreadful things I have ever been forced to read.
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Title: The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli ISBN: 0553212788 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 September, 1984 List Price(USD): $4.50 |
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Title: The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini (Penguin Classics) by Benvenuto Cellini, George Anthony Bull ISBN: 0140447180 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1999 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Niccolo's Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli by Maurizio Viroli, Antony Shugaar ISBN: 0374528004 Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux Pub. Date: 09 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy by Jacob Burckhardt, Peter Gay ISBN: 0375759263 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 09 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Lord Chesterfield's Letters by Lord Chesterfield ISBN: 019283715X Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 1998 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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