Leonardo da Vinci

De: Walter Isaacson

Narrado por: 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).

Remember to download the PDF!

Wonderful book, wonderful narration. The joy Isaacson has for his subject permeates the book. Alfred Molina is a fantastic narrator. The pdf is essential.

Avoid the audible

I was excited when I started to listen to the great narration until chapter one started and I realized the author had done the great intro. The book narrator was disappointing. A British narrator with fake italian pronunciation of Leonardo and every Italian word reminded me of the David Sedaris story about “nicarrrraaaggguuuua”. Annoying. Selective but not all words given their native pronunciation Isaacson should have narrated the whole thing. I’m sure it’s a great book. Will have to get a paper copy.

Still do not know Leonardo

Isaacson is a fine word smith and the performance was very good. But he spent so much time describing pictures and a couple science observations, that almost nothing was said about Leonardo himself. His other books (like on Franklin) did not have this problem- plenty of insight to the man and the stories & inventions just reinforced the vision. Perhaps it is the limitations of five hundred years, but I have come to expect more.

Great book. Interesting

Interesting to here the history of Da Vinci, Mona Lisa, etc, especially all the medical science he discovered 100's of years before anyone else.

A great read of a very good book.

Alfred Molina brings a strong and clear approach to his reading of Leonardo and in doing so enhanced the book where in many places a casual reader might have elided past some key dynamics because of complicated names or titles.
Isaacson’s account adds to my understanding of this great master but there are many areas where I wish we knew more. The addition of the interplay with the Medici families and the Holy See were particularly riveting given the recent interest in televised shows. I hope if the rights are sold that the author will be jealous with his work so that a great visualization can be made.

Very interesting indeed

Great story with fascinating aspects of his life. The only thing annoying is the speakers ‘Italian’ pronunciation of Leonardo and other people’s names. Highly annoying in fact until after hours of this you kind of get used to it. The story itself is very interesting and covers all aspects of Leonardo’s life and his works.

Brilliant Book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this excellently written book about a truly fascinating man. The narrator was equally brilliant in bringing life to the words. Highly recommended.

Great content but Molina left a little to be desired

Great book, just wish Molina did a better job of narrating, by catching his breath more and less strain in speech

One of the most impressive humans to ever live

Leonardo Da Vinci is without a doubt one of the most impressive humans to ever live. He was 100's of years ahead of his time in numerous fields, but published almost none of his work. Even today we are finding areas of anatomy where modern medicine was wrong and Leonardo was right. Walter Isaacson does an incredible job showing us what life in renaissance Italy was like.

After reading the book all you can wonder is why isn't Leonardo Da Vinci as well known as Newton or Einstein? And the answer is because he hardly published any of his work. He made countless advancements in a number of fields not for the sake of advancements, but for the sake of curiosity. He was just simply curious. One example is that he wanted to know how the human body was set up, so he learned how the human body was set up. If we can all appreciate how curiosity can act as a fuel for learning we all might be able to be more well rounded intellectuals ourselves.

I knew Leonardo Da Vinci was more than a painter going into this book. By the end of this book I was blown away by what Leonardo discovered in his life. Had he published his works, we would not know him as just a painter; we would know him the way Leonardo wanted to be known: inventor, architect, scientist, musician, engineer, anatomist, geologist, astronomer, botanist, cartographer, sculptor, and painter.

I am also wholly convinced, in the area of virtual reality or gaming with virtual worlds, we will not create anything truly magnificent until we met our next Leonardo Da Vinci. The reason he was such a good painter was his depth of understanding regarding how the entire world works. Until we have a polymath on par with Leonardo, no digital world will be phenomenally impressive to the masses. The human eye catches these small inconsistencies with the real world, yet it is very hard to replicate them ourselves.

Pure genius

Walter Issacson has crafted a work of art about the world's greatest artist. Read beautifully by Alfred Molina, this biography on Leonardo brings you into the life and times of this preternaturally curious genius. I appreciated Issacson drawing parallels between da Vinci with the likes of Jobs. Bravo!