The Swerve

How the World Became Modern

By: Stephen Greenblatt

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 2012

National Book Award, Nonfiction, 2012

Renowned historian Stephen Greenblatt’s works shoot to the top of the New York Times best-seller list. With The Swerve, Greenblatt transports listeners to the dawn of the Renaissance and chronicles the life of an intrepid book lover who rescued the Roman philosophical text On the Nature of Things from certain oblivion.

Nearly six hundred years ago, a short, genial, cannily alert man in his late 30s took a very old manuscript off a library shelf, saw with excitement what he had discovered, and ordered that it be copied. That book was the last surviving manuscript of an ancient Roman philosophical epic by Lucretius—a beautiful poem containing the most dangerous ideas: that the universe functioned without the aid of gods, that religious fear was damaging to human life, and that matter was made up of very small particles in eternal motion, colliding and swerving in new directions.

The copying and translation of this ancient book—the greatest discovery of the greatest book-hunter of his age—fueled the Renaissance, inspiring artists such as Botticelli and thinkers such as Giordano Bruno; shaped the thought of Galileo and Freud, Darwin and Einstein; and had a revolutionary influence on writers such as Montaigne and Shakespeare, and even Thomas Jefferson.

©2011 Stephen Greenblatt (P)2011 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"More wonderfully illuminating Renaissance history from a master scholar and historian." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"In this gloriously learned page-turner, both biography and intellectual history, Harvard Shakespearean scholar Greenblatt turns his attention to the front end of the Renaissance as the origin of Western culture's foundation: the free questioning of truth." ( Publishers Weekly)

“Pleasure may or may not be the true end of life, but for book lovers, few experiences can match the intellectual-aesthetic enjoyment delivered by a well-wrought book. In the world of serious nonfiction, Stephen Greenblatt is a pleasure maker without peer.” ( Newsday)

Wonderful

Stephen Greenblatt tells the story of a treasure hunter of the 1400's who unearths a remarkable manuscript. But there is another story told about the way ideas are disseminated and remembered as well as censored and forgotten. The radical shifts of cosmological views during the Renaissance are also explored through the colorful characters that are touched by the ideas contained in the ancient manuscript. For those who love books, for those who love ideas, and for those who enjoy seeing how the two can change the world, this is a great listen.

The narrator is also wonderful. The right pace and a clear voice.

Masters Thesis, padded

What made the experience of listening to The Swerve the most enjoyable?

The premise of this book and the supporting historical detail was well researched and interesting.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

However, to create a "book-length" book, this premise is restated, repeated and so padded that it quickly became annoying. It would have made a very nice monograph at less than half the length.

Have you listened to any of Edoardo Ballerini’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Mr. Ballerini is easy to listen to and did a fine job with his narration.

Academic

If you are someone interested in the process of discovery of medieval books from ancient monasteries - this is the book for you. I am not one of these people but even I could make out that this book is erudite and smart in that field. My problem with this was just that. Drawn in by the blurb, by Prof Greenblatt's Charlie Rose interview where he described Lucretius as the "honey on the lip of a cup of bitter medicine" - I was disappointed that this book did not have enough of Lucretius for me. For almost 5/6th of the book it is clever writing about Europe (or even more specifically Italy) in Middle Ages. It may be that I misled myself, but I would've liked a lot more discussion on Lucretius instead, right from the beginning, and a closer examination of the ramification of the discovery of "On the nature of things" not just the finding of it.

Powerful, extraordinary, deeply insightful

The Swerve, How the World Became Modern
The book is about a former secretary to several popes who becomes the greatest book hunter of the Renaissance. His greatest find in a remote German monastery is a copy of Lucretius’ poem “On the Nature of Things,” which had been lost to history for well more than a thousand years. Along the way of this search there is fascinating exploration of the history of book collecting (especially the classics), paper making over the centuries, the formation of libraries, and how books survived from ancient Rome and Greece due to being copied for generations by monks. But the true power of the book is that Lucretius recognized that all matter is composed of atoms swerving in new directions and thus subject to the forces of evolution. This provides the basis for humanism which recognizes that virtue is achieved through pleasure (friends, literature, art) and not through self-denial (the religious fear underlying subjecting oneself to the orthodoxy of the church to please God). The subversive poem, written before the time of Christ, inspired the thinking and discoveries of Galileo, Freud, Darwin, and Einstein as well as Shakespeare and Thomas Jefferson.

Interesting, but very long

I really enjoyed learning about the search for the ancient writings, i mean, it sounds dry, but it was pretty fascinating how some men tried to save these ancients texts for mankind. But i generally read books for entertainment, and this was a little longer on education, and short on entertainment for my palette. I generally do crime fiction anyway, so this was a departure for me (if that helps judge my review). I'm not sorry i listened, but perhaps an abridged version would've been more for me.

So interesting and so boring at the same time!

What did you love best about The Swerve?

The storyline is very interesting. I really wanted to know how it all turned out in the end and I learned something new at every listening.

What did you like best about this story?

Learning lots about the history of the time.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

NO!

Any additional comments?

The story is interesting, the length and depth are important to the overall tone and understanding. Unfortunately for me, sometimes it just bored me. I found I couldn't listen to it during my commute because it encouraged nodding off! I've listened to other histories and biographies without this outcome but don't think it was the narrator, he was fine, professional. I put to good use the variable narrator speed on the Android app. I might have given up without it and I really wanted to finish it.

I was amazed!

Any additional comments?

This book is wonderful. It is a story that everyone should know. I was stunned by accomplishments of people thousands of years ago and how ignorance destroyed much of the knowledge our ancestors tried to bequeath to us.

A Little too Long with Little Developments

Edoardo Ballerini is a fantastic and engaging narrator. Five stars for his performance. Unfortunatly, I think that the swerve tended to "swerve" offtopic a few times, and thus made it longer than it needed to be. I also think that Greenblatt's viewpoint was a little one sided. He also makes a lot of assumptions about people's actions and personalities by saying, "this must have happened" or, "he must have done this." This added too much speculation into an account that should have been an historical look at what catipulted the start of a new era.

The rediscovery of a nearly lost book

The Swerve is a short history about the recovery of a poem titled ‘On the Nature of Things’. This poem, written around two thousand years ago, presents ideas that the universe operates according to physical principles and not the influence of gods. Greenblatt delicately unfolds the rediscovery of this poem by Poggio in 1417. Thanks to this rediscovery the poem went on to inspire great minds like Galileo and Darwin, and help contribute to the Renaissance.

I loved the juxtaposition of the two time periods, medieval thought dominated by religious dogma verses Ancient Greek Epicureanism which embodies tranquility and the pursuit of happiness. Greenblatt wonderfully weaves the histories of the two together. Although the title is a bit overarching (how the world became modern), I definitely enjoyed this book and learned a great deal. If you’re into history give this one a listen.

AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY

Buy it!

I absolutely loved this book! It does get slow at times and can sometimes be hard to follow but read it to the end you will be glad you did.