A high point of civilization and artistic accomplishment, the Byzantine Empire has also been the object of great misunderstanding and prejudice.
This is a portrayal of its cultural history, focusing on its surreal landscapes and fantastic monuments. The book starts in Istanbul and crosses the Sea of Marmara to travel through Anatolia, the region of Asiatic Turkey which was the source of the Empire's wealth and manpower.
John Ash finds his way through a country of anachronisms and contrasts, of bloody feuds and frescoed cave-churches, of saints and sinners, of emperors and sultans. The book introduces the reader to an exotic cast of characters, including the impassioned aesthete Theophilus, the great mystical poet Rumi, the bishop and necromancer Theodore Santabarenos and the Empress Theophano.
John Ash was born in Manchester, England in 1948, the son of schoolteachers. With a brief break to attend the University of Birmingham and to take a post-graduation year in Cyprus, he remained in the city of his birth until 1985, at which time he moved to New York.
In New York, he became associated with the New York School of Poets and formed a strong and lasting friendship with its leading proponent, John Ashbery. After stints teaching at Iowa and Berkeley, in 1996 he moved to Istanbul, where he has lived since, teaching at Boğaziçi University, before moving to Kadir Has University.
During this time, several of his books, including Selected Works and To the City, have appeared in Turkish translation, published by Yapi Kredi Publications, affiliated with the bank of the same name. Deluxe editions of The Anitolikon, published in a side-by-side English and Turkish edition by Yapi Kredi, featured illustrations by Peter Hristoff, a noted Turkish artist of Bulgarian Christian origin living in New York.
In a review of To The City, Poetry, said John Ash "could be the best English poet of his generation". Most recently he was profiled in The Economist in an article by Hugh Pope, himself an author and formerly the Wall Street Journal correspondent in Istanbul. Pope has suggested that Ash is the leading light in a new "Istanbul School" of English-speaking poets taking their inspiration from the city.
Following Byzantine Journey, and other travel writing, Ash led tours relevant sites and in 2006 wrote the script for the documentary "Istanbul for Aficionados". He has also appeared on a BBC guide to Istanbul.
评分
评分
评分
评分
这本书的叙事节奏把握得极好,情节层层递进,引人入胜。作者似乎对历史的细节有着近乎痴迷的关注,使得那些宏大的历史背景和微小的个人命运交织在一起时,充满了令人信服的真实感。我尤其欣赏作者在处理复杂人物关系时的细腻手法,那些看似不起眼的对话和眼神交流,往往隐藏着巨大的信息量,需要读者放慢速度去细细品味。每一次阅读体验都像是在拨开层层迷雾,每一次揭示都带来新的震撼。那种对古代世界生活气息的捕捉,精确到了衣食住行的方方面面,让人仿佛能闻到君士坦丁堡街头的香料味和尘土味。那种沉浸感是很多历史小说难以企及的。故事线索繁复而不杂乱,即便牵涉到众多历史人物和权力斗争的侧面,作者也能清晰地勾勒出一条清晰的主线,让人始终能抓住核心。
评分我必须坦白,这本书的语言风格对我来说,初读时带来了一些挑战,但很快我就被其独特的魅力所折服。它不追求华丽的辞藻堆砌,而是选择了一种近乎冷峻、精确的散文体来叙述。这种风格的好处在于,它极大地增强了历史事件的客观性和无可辩驳的力量感。叙述者像一位旁观者,冷静地记录下时代的洪流如何塑造、碾压每一个试图掌握自己命运的个体。读到关键转折点时,作者往往会使用极简的笔触,留出大量的空白让读者自行填补情感的波澜。这种“少即是多”的叙事策略,使得书中那些关于忠诚、背叛和信仰的探讨,显得格外厚重和深刻,而不是浮于表面的煽情。它要求读者拿出极大的专注力,去解码那些看似平淡的文字背后蕴含的巨大历史张力。
评分读完这本书后,留在我脑海里最深刻的印象是一种挥之不去的宿命感。作者似乎在不断追问,在强大的制度和历史惯性面前,个体意志究竟能发挥多大的作用?书中的主要人物,无论他们多么雄心勃勃、多么富有智慧,最终似乎都无法完全摆脱被时代洪流裹挟的命运。这种对权力幻象和时间无情流逝的深刻洞察,使得这本书的基调显得既宏大又略带悲凉。它不像许多流行的历史小说那样提供一个清晰的英雄胜利或失败的结论,反而倾向于展示一个更加复杂、模棱两可的结局。这种开放式的思考空间,让这本书拥有了持久的生命力,每次重读,都会基于我自身的阅历,对那些古老的问题产生新的共鸣与理解。
评分从纯粹的历史氛围营造的角度来看,这本书达到了一个令人赞叹的高度。它不仅仅是关于帝国的兴衰,更是关于“人”在那种特定历史语境下的生存哲学。作者对宗教教义、宫廷礼仪以及军事战术的描绘,显示出一种扎实的学术功底,但最可贵的是,这些知识点被完美地融入到了故事的肌理之中,从未感到任何突兀的“知识灌输”。例如,描述一场朝堂辩论时,引用的法律条文和神学观点是如此的自然,以至于它们本身就成了角色性格和冲突的载体。这种将学术严谨性与文学感染力完美融合的能力,是许多试图描绘此段历史的作者望尘莫及的。它提供了足够的细节去满足历史爱好者的探究欲,同时也保证了故事本身的戏剧张力。
评分这本书的结构设计无疑是匠心独运的,它巧妙地打破了传统编年史的线性叙事模式。作者似乎更热衷于在不同的时间点之间进行跳跃式的穿梭,通过并置不同角色的视角,构建起一个多维度的历史切片。这种非线性叙事带来了一种独特的“回声”效应:一个在开篇看似不经意的事件,可能在书的后半部分,通过另一个人物的视角被重新审视,从而揭示出其更深层次的含义和后果。这种结构上的复杂性,要求读者必须时刻保持警惕,随时准备修正自己对当前局势的判断。它不是一本可以随意翻阅的书,它更像是一个精密的钟表,每一个齿轮的咬合都关系到整体的运转,一旦漏看一页,就可能错失理解全局的关键。
评分A fascinating book, harking right back to the days of great 19th century travel writing, when the prose were florid and opinions distinct.
评分A fascinating book, harking right back to the days of great 19th century travel writing, when the prose were florid and opinions distinct.
评分A fascinating book, harking right back to the days of great 19th century travel writing, when the prose were florid and opinions distinct.
评分A fascinating book, harking right back to the days of great 19th century travel writing, when the prose were florid and opinions distinct.
评分A fascinating book, harking right back to the days of great 19th century travel writing, when the prose were florid and opinions distinct.
本站所有内容均为互联网搜索引擎提供的公开搜索信息,本站不存储任何数据与内容,任何内容与数据均与本站无关,如有需要请联系相关搜索引擎包括但不限于百度,google,bing,sogou 等
© 2026 qciss.net All Rights Reserved. 小哈图书下载中心 版权所有