Just finished reading a book entitled \u201cThe World through Blunted Sight\u201d by Patrick Trevor-Roper
\nDespite a rather hokey foray into the symbolism of eyesight (I always thought I wore glasses so I could SEE, but I know now it\u2019s only a shield for my \u201cguiltful or self-conscious soul\u201d…)\u00a0 the book is full of interesting facts about the history of painting , with the focus aptly centred on artists with poor vision.<\/p>\n
Did El Greco, astigmatic and possibly colour-blind, really see those cadaverous, ethereal and slanted figures he paints or was it a vue de l\u2019esprit; is our vison of that stocky and stalwart Henry VIII because Holbein had horizontal astigmatism or was Henry just rather fond of mutton? Were a majority of Impressionists myopic (optically, not spiritually, but is a handicap in one not a certain enhancement of the other anyway?) Despite being far more competent ophtalmologically than artistically or historically, the author does raise some fascinating points. I skimmed over the exhaustive list of eye disorders, squirming in discomfort all the while, and found much to my consternation that either the printing of the book is way off or I am totally colour-blind\u2026<\/p>\n
There is a great section on the \u201cMyopic personality\u201d, which made better reading than my horoscope ever does without being much more helpful. But the best chapter deals with individuals who were born blind (or lost their sight at an early age) and recovered it through an eye operation.\u00a0 There is a lovely anecdote about a teenager who, unable to remember whether the creature nearby was a dog or a cat, (and being too shy to ask) only remembered which it was when he picked it up. So much is involved in learning to see that we casually overlook it, doing so at an age when we are effortlessly acquiring phenomenal amounts of information, but it does explain why the legendary John de Mandeville encountered a rhinocerous and saw a unicorn\u2026<\/p>\n
Seems like humanity is short-sighted.
\nAnd wearing glasses is no remedy.
\nNext time I\u2019ll ask my optician for one of those magic pairs, that lets you see the truth, or the future. Even a clear view of the past would do\u2026<\/p>\n
Otherwise, during this last two weeks or so I read:
\n\u201cThe Alphabet\u201d by David Sacks
\n\u201cA Short History of Progress\u201d by Ronald Wright
\n\u201cDown Under\u201d by Bill Bryson
\n\u201cBeowulf and the 7th Century\u201d By Ritchie Girvan
\n\u201cThe Hanged Man\u201d by Robert Bartlett
\n\u201cInterpretation and Overinterpretation\u201d by Umberto Eco
\nand last but not least:
\n\u201cStatus Anxiety\u201d by Alain de Botton, which despite a rather predictable and regrettably unprovocative conclusion, is a truly excellent reflexion on what western society is all about and why we are on the runaway train to which we grimly cling.<\/p>\n
I only read all these books not because I can barely understand the titles, but they look suitably daunting on the shelf and impress visitors who automatically assume I can actually understand half of what\u2019s in them. (Hardly the case – I read \u201cKant and the Platyus\u201d – Umberto Eco again, which also has a wonderful chapter or three on how we recognize objects and distinguish between one thing and another –\u00a0 from cover to cover and understood nothing, I re-read Robert Graves\u2019 \u201cThe White Goddess\u201d periodically and still can\u2019t see more than a few inches into what I suspect is water deep enough to happily drown in\u2026)<\/p>\n
I also read tons of books I don\u2019t admit to reading: detective, sci-fi, even fantasy, though I can\u2019t read the books with my covers on them because the thought of compromising the spine by cracking it open even most cautiously is unbearable. All those books end up in the attic where they just take up space.\u00a0 What a clutter. (Thankfully, you never have to worry about taking such things with you. The next generation will clean out the attic and make a run to the dump.)
\nThe subtitle?<\/p>\n
Only to get you reading this far, of course!<\/p>\n
A friend lent me a pair of meticulously reconstructed boots for a museum replica of George Washington, so they will look used when they go on the figure. I have yet to become bold enough to wear knee-length high-heeled square-toed black boots into town shopping or to the copy shop, but they are darn comfy for gardening and hiking in the woods.<\/p>\n