Reviews for American Wall Stenciling, 1790-1840

The average rating for American Wall Stenciling, 1790-1840 based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-04-09 00:00:00 Lyle K Hardesty [Note: This is not the first book of 2020, the Shadow King, by Maaza Mengiste, was the first read of 2020. The novel is really fantastic. Upon finishing, I immediately starting reading it again.] ++ This book was really helpful in understanding the crucial ways that Venice was already in peril as a result the fall of the republic 1797 and the devastating Napoleonic and Austrian rule. Already during this time, Venice was struggling with issues of decay and restoration. We think the city was ruined in modern times by mass tourism--and that is true--but the stress began long before in these earlier age of colonial rule, when Venice began to transition into a pedestrian city. Then with the bridge and rail station, Venice did become something in else--as John Ruskin wrote about so voluminously. But after being devastated by colonial rule and then the two wars--how was Venice to stay afloat? Literally? There never has been a solid strategy for maintaining or saving the city. To not die, jobs were needed--prosperity desired~~~ so that led to the Porto Marghera. It does seem like an extraordinary or unbelievable intrusion on the Venetian skyline. But ultimately, Venetians wanted to remain a city where people could actually live and work--and of course, delusions of a time when Venice ruled the waters must be part of it? So, the huge tanker lanes... Before reading this book, my focus was on the contemporary issues: of the aqua alta, of the mose project and the horrendous toll of mass tourism. There is no commitment to a solid strategy--just words. But this goes back much further in time than I imagined, right back to the collapse of the Republic and the Evil rule of Napoleon. What a menace. Interesting to think about the two contradictory impulses that we've seen over time. One that delights in the decay and the dreamy enjoyment of Venice's Picturesque ruin (death in Venice) compared to the the famous Violet du duc's promise of "restoration "like it was before." An apocalyptic vision for the sentimental versus dreams of resurrection and these two impulses have characterized Venice since the time of Ruskin at least . Text book like prose... dry but very interesting-and the photographs are splendid--by Sarah Quill who did "Ruskin's Venice: The Stones Revisited." Ah, Venice... how do I love thee?

Review # 2 was written on 2017-05-20 00:00:00 Sandra Bassett I had to read this book for a class and after the first 5 chapters I was bored. It's not that it was a bad book it's just that I'm not that interested in knowing a bunch of facts about the parks. Perhaps if I lived in the area where this parks are founded than perhaps I would care more. However I liked the preface and the introduction to the book a lot since it tells you the actual reason why parks were build which is kinda dark, I'm not going to say why though. In addition to that some of the parks also have interesting histories which sometimes involve corruption so that's always fun oh and it also talks about crime in the parks which is also interesting.