Reviews for The Medici

The average rating for The Medici based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-10-12 00:00:00 Jeffrey Scott I have this (probably wholly inaccurate) vision of what it would be like to kick it in Renaissance Florence'hyper-intelligent (albeit probably socially dysfunctional) dudes in brightly colored robes gallivanting and prancing about hither and thither, splashing paint on canvases, carving smoking hot (if occasionally armless) statues, throwing down mad poetry slams, sciencing like scienticians should (I'm not sure they were sciency enough to be called "scientists"), and just generally engaging in intellectual shenanigans. I'd like to hang out there, maybe spooning an endless supply of gelato into my mouth as I watch these polymaths achieve greatness on a daily basis. So, it seems like a book that details the reign of Lorenzo de' Medici, the patron of so many artists like Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and other teenage mutant ninja turtles'not to mention a fine writer in his own right (suck on that, Dante!)'would be right up my (metaphorical) alley (not my actual alley, because ouch). Especially when that book also details the rise to power of Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican friar/preacher/profit/inspirer of names for Tom Wolfe novels, who put an end to such free-flowing creativity by zealously persecuting anyone and everyone who enjoyed things like fun, independent thought, rainbows and fluffy bunnies, and fornicating with anything willing and capable of fornicating. But, sometimes what smells like a 5-star burger and looks like a 5-star burger turns out to be a Wendy's burger. There's nothing wrong with Wendy's'I'd put it at the top end of the old-school fast food burger chain game (it's clearly inferior to, say, BGR or Five Guys, but superior to McDonald's and Burger King), but when you've got your mouth set for a juicy gourmet burger, it leaves you wanting more (or, at least, in need of the biggest Frosty you can find). Why wasn't this a better burger? Let's start with style. As I like to repeat ad nauseum, when it comes to historical narrative, Joseph Ellis is a master stylist (and not of the hair variety). He elevates the material. Mr. Strathern? He serves the material. He's fine. He's a hamburger from Wendy's. When I put Mr. Ellis down, I'm still thinking about how good the last chapter I read was. When I put Mr. Strathern down, I just started thinking about how much I wanted a burger. Then there's the material…turns out what sounds like an exciting story'religious firebrand clashes with visionary patron of the arts'is really more a story of petty corruption, small-minded prejudice, and willful ignorance. It's the latter point that really dragged things down for me'though, to be fair, that's hardly the author's fault. As I've gotten older (not wiser, mind you, though certainly more devastatingly handsome'if that's even possible, given my already epic level of devastating handsomeness), my interest in the medieval/renaissance period, once insatiable, has waned somewhat, and the primary reason for that is that I can't stand the willful ignorance so often promulgated by organized religion, particularly pre-Scientific Revolution. This is not an anti-religion screed'I'm fully in favor of people worshipping as they see fit and have no problem with any religion, save for those which advocate violence or discrimination against other people who don't hold the same beliefs (which, sadly, is many of them these days, it seems, if you listen to any given extremist sect, particularly those of monotheistic faiths). Savonarola was amongst the most intellectually gifted people of his time, and his efforts on behalf of the poor and disenfranchised undoubtedly did much good, particularly in the face of such appallingly corrupt leadership within the Catholic Church. But, instead of deploying that intellectual firepower against a bulwark of ignorance erected during the Dark Ages that still loomed large, even as the Renaissance blossomed, he channeled his talents toward such austere and sanctimonious measures of reform that he threatened to derail no less than the advancement of human society, and this in the heart of a city known far and wide as a beacon of enlightened thought. That may seem a trifle melodramatic, and perhaps it is (I've never been one for understatement or restraint, as I believe that hyperbole is the best and most effective method ever invented for accomplishing anything anywhere ever), but if so, it's not far off the mark. Savonarola's reign ended with his very public and very painful execution (well, one assumes that hanging and nearly being consumed by flames is painful, though I cannot, fortunately, speak from experience…not yet, anyway), brought down by his enemies both within the church and without. It wasn't justice'executions rarely bring that'but it did bring to a close a disappointing, destructive, and dismal chapter in Florentinian history, one that followed on the heels of perhaps its most glorious. I'm still not quite sure how this book didn't light me up like Savonarola on the scaffold (ooh…too soon?). Alas. It's a solid read, though, and worth checking out if this is a period of history of particular interest.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-08-05 00:00:00 DAVID POLIVY This book: compelling, but weirdly homophobic. I never thought I'd have to write this in a review about a book on the Medici's, but every time I got into the flow of this book I'd be startled by the author's 2 cents on homosexuality. So many of the characters' negative personality traits were explained "likely because he was a homosexual". How do you cite that?! I listened to it as an audiobook, and I'm hoping there were explanatory footnotes left out or something, but never have I encountered a historical book with so much unrecognised blatant bias. Occasionally, he we add hedging statements like "one might imagine...", but at all the wrong moments! Another content warning: for an author who is so keen to put his values on these people's lives, he was remarkably fine with rape. He even explains that Cosimo's Caucasian slave was treated well.... and bore him a child. Yeah, so that's rape (under modern values). He talks at length about "troublesome" boys "defaming" women with no real condemnation, but as soon as Donatello makes his David, it's like "he was GAY and his David is GAY and it's weird that they were scandalised by how GAY it was". Dude. Sort your shit out. You obviously want to have sex with men, and don't know what to do with that energy. I recommend having sex with men, instead of leaving a trail of gay bread crumbs through your book on the Medicis.