Special Pleading

 

There is a form of biography where you do not seek to write about the subject so much as yourself.

You fill it with nitty gritty details of a life and build up a particular story, but where the details conflict with your picture, you choose to ignore it, doubt its truth or even, file it away as an anomaly.

And this is what I found with this biography. Da Vinci created in the image of Walter Isaacson who had to filter out details not in keeping with his image of what Da Vinci should be, that is, Catholic.

Being Catholic myself, the ending, where Isaacson doubted Vasari's account, offended me.

I found the book tedious, to be honest. There was a great deal of science but it horrified me, the thought of Da Vinci diving into corpses to figure out how the body works. I was surprised that he had access to so many. Isaacson get down and dirty with the details...but I found myself skimming through the particularly technical bits, because I could not understand them and because I was bored.

Still I laboured humanfully until I got to the end. I had intended to write about it straight away but was waiting to feel less angry at the author.

Which is strange because when I read Steve Jobs, my only anger was at the subject himself whom I found to be a truly reprehensible human being.

But here, it was with Isaacson himself because of how much he interfered with the story.

I also didn't appreciate his jibes at Michelangelo, whom he compared unfavourably to Da Vinci (why Walter? Because he actually finished stuff? Because he was too Catholic for you?)

So if you're a Da Vinci buff by all means read this book.

Otherwise, meh.