Leonardo da Vinci

By: Walter Isaacson

Narrated by: Alfred Molina

Now a docuseries from Ken Burns on PBS!

The #1 New York Times bestseller from Walter Isaacson brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography that is “a study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve it…Most important, it is a powerful story of an exhilarating mind and life” (The New Yorker).

Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson “deftly reveals an intimate Leonardo” (San Francisco Chronicle) in a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo’s genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy.

He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. He explored the math of optics, showed how light rays strike the cornea, and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history’s most creative genius.

In the “luminous” (Daily Beast) Leonardo da Vinci, Isaacson describes how Leonardo’s delight at combining diverse passions remains the ultimate recipe for creativity. So, too, does his ease at being a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted, and at times heretical. His life should remind us of the importance to be imaginative and, like talented rebels in any era, to think different. Here, da Vinci “comes to life in all his remarkable brilliance and oddity in Walter Isaacson’s ambitious new biography…a vigorous, insightful portrait” (The Washington Post).

Describe the tongue of a woodpecker.

A note on one of the lists Leonardo left for us to ponder 500 yrs later. Over 7000 pages of notes and sketches, shopping lists, geometry doodles. It all survives today and I am terrifically grateful to Mr. Isaacson for reading all of them. Leonardo's life was overfilled with thought and emotion so for the author to make a pleasing narrative of it is outstanding. Story by story, era by era, place by place you follow Leonardo as he develops into the genius he became. This story is populated by other memorable people and we see how rich the era was that gave rise to da Vinci. The narrator has a clear and understandable speaking style with a hint of English academic but spits out the complex Italian names like Louis at the Pizza Joint. I feel smarter for having listened to this book. While it is a long listen you never get stuck or bored. Also comes with a pdf of the paintings and notes described. If you do listen to this book you will be able to describe how the tongue of the woodpecker protects hils brain from trauma of pecking..

Remarkable! ! !

Remarkable the depth & breadth of Leonardo's endeavors & interests and informs & inspires us in present days. Ready to begin it again! :)

Great book and great story.

I now have a better appreciation of Leonardo DaVinci and his life. I plan on picking up the hardcover book.

Exceptional

What a fascinating bio. It was truly amazing how incredibly curious and observant Da Vinci really was. That theme seemed to permeate all of the various aspects of his life, from Military Engineer, Artist, City planner, to his work in optics and annotating the musculature and blood flows of the human anatomy. Being uneducated in the conventional sense probably served him well in that it allowed him to draw his own conclusions on a wide variety of topics. Being both a perfectionist and a procrastinator also probably played a role in painting the masterpieces that he created - working for years on many of them and never finishing others. His notebooks - especially the to do lists and some of his doodles were also very interesting. Alfred Molina's narration was outstanding as well. Well worth the credit.

Reads more like an art history than a biography

It is probably due to the lack of source material, but there is an a lot of biography and this biography. There is a lot of discussion of art which makes sense. But I was expecting to get a more well-rounded view of Leonardo.

A story artfully told

Isaacson never disappoints. The disappointment in his book is only from the perspective that it should be read and not listen to. The discussions on the works of Leonardo require the reader to see the work of art being analyzed or discussed. Supposedly there is a PDF available, but it is a bad strategy to separate graphics and text. Therefore the book trumps audio.

With that criticism out of the way I found the biography presented in a manner that engages the listener, even when Italian vocabulary pops up. In presenting The early life of Leonardo da Vinci the author dispels some of the, common misconceptions of his accomplishments. That in itself elevates the interest in the subject matter. The deep look into Leonardo at times becomes overwhelming. I suggest you simply take a break and and come back when you're ready to absorb Isaacson's attention to biographical detail. If you have any interest in Italian Renaissance art this is a must read. Make sure you have access to the illustrations and pictures or you may be disappointed.

Mandela effect + A Course on Genius.

A must read for all artists. It was great learning about the humanity behind the Genius. The book is a blend of art theory, history, with a touch of gossip :)

That said, I found that the author’s description of the subtlety of The Mona Lisa’s smile (Chapter 31) and all the manners in which one can bend to see the smile (Like say looking out of the corner of your eye for example) could be presented as evidence of the fact that her smile has been changed due to the Mandela Effect. (If you haven’t heard of the Mandela/Quantum Effect, google it.)

When I was younger I too remember her smile as being almost imperceptible. But now, it’s glaringly obvious and no longer matches the author’s description of her smile or even the great lengths The Master Da Vinci went to make said smile mysterious. That second to last chapter was like the icing on an already excellent book...sort of like an “Easter Egg” in this Virtual Reality we call Life.

An iconic, entertaining, well researched book on a great scientist, architect and artist.

P.s: I do wish Leornado would’ve gotten a handle on his procrastination. It saddened me that he lefts so many works unfinished.

Good (but not great)

I'm not sure what I went in expecting from this book. It was my first from Walter Issacson. There is so much good information packed in here, it just felt more like an art history class as opposed to an inspirational story of one of the world's great human incarnations. This is no reflection on Walter Issacson or his writing style, just my expectations (or lack of) going into this book. That being said, I learned so much about Leonardo and this time period in Italy.
I can't wait to return to Florence and Milan armed with so much more knowledge about the history of this area.

The narration by Alfred Molina is superb, his ability to correctly pronounce the Italian while at the same time being crystal clear in English is such a huge plus for me with this one, really pleasing to listen to.

“AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY”

great book

fascinated, easy to follow as well as mesmerized compedion of information, for the future generations... good.

Inspiring

If Leonardo da Vinci’s life is not inspiring I don’t know what is. The book does a great job at concentrating on many aspects of Da Vinci’s life and art and basically is telling us what we want to know and what we didn’t know that we want to know. The details about drawing the Mona Lisa and the history are great. The conclusion reintroduces the reader to Leonardo’s brain and the way he thinks. Everything gives you the power to achieve when it comes to him.