Waterstones Mirrors of the Unseen
76 ratings
TO EXPLORE MORE
Price: £12.99
Brand: Waterstones
Description: Drawing on three years of travel and research, Mirrors of the Unseen offers a rare and timely portrait of Iran, introducing us to the sublime architecture of Isfahan, the forests of the north, the bleak landscapes of Kurdistan and the urban contradictions of the capital, Tehran. An exploration of Iran's immensely rich heritage and a personal enquiry into the nature of Persian and Islamic art, it is a book rich in detail, wit and discovery.'A work of profound thought, imagination, passion and ambition' Sara Wheeler, Guardian'Masterfully comprehensible accounts of Iran's long and complex history, beautiful impassioned descriptions of Islamic art and architecture, some surprising and fascinating encounters with the locals - this is travel writing at its very best' Daily Mail'Informed by intelligence, humour, erudition, descriptive power and poetic prose, Mirrors of the Unseen is a joy to read' Independent.
Category: Books
Merchant: Waterstones
Product ID: 9780330486576
Delivery cost: 2.99
ISBN: 9780330486576
My website utilises affiliate links when you click my 'Get the best deal now' buttons. If you buy something through one of these links, I may earn a little commission, at no extra cost to you.
I have relationships with many of the top online retailers (purchasing, shipping and returns will be handled directly by them) which enables me to offer the best deal online for the Waterstones Mirrors of the Unseen and many other similar products - which will appear below, to enhance your online shopping experience.
For even more great deals on Waterstones Books, click the link.
Author: SlowNsteady
Rating: 5
Review: I greatly enjoyed An Unexpected Light and had high hopes of this when I bought it a few years ago. I've since read and re-read Mirrors of the Unseen four or five times and each time it's a delight. Elliot has the great advantage of speaking the language but each time I read it the understanding of the country and his affection for the people growing through the period of his travels is reinforced. He does go on a bit about the Persian influences on western civilisation and is obviously fascinated with Islamic art, but I knew little of either so I'll forgive him and read on. His erudition, explorations, investigations and surprising findings plus the conjecture on muqarnas kept this armchair traveller fully occupied and left me better educated. Most of all, his affection for ordinary Iranians and their widely varied country will bring me back to this again and again. A keeper.
Author: Louise Simes
Rating: 3
Review: Having read his first book 'An Unexpected Light' and thoroughly enjoying it - I have to admit that I found this book a bit of a slog to be honest. There is not doubt that it is a well written scholarly travel book about one of my greatest interest areas, but I do think that the author laboured his thoughts about the origins and meaning of Islamic art a bit too much, which made parts of the book very hard work. However I never give up on a book unless its badly written so I persevered and did gain something from it. But did we really need to know quite so much detail about the authors conclusions on Islamic art with virtually every tile being analysed. I was disappointed that the author mentions a Monastry/shrine on a mountain top where when one enters a certain room/shrine everyone cries uncontrollably, but then fails to mention where that Monastry/shrine is situated or what it is called after a book of such profound detail - even thumbing back through the book and checking the authors maps I could only hazard a guess of the location of this site. Even so I cannot give the book a bad rating because the author writes well and speaks fluent Persian and it is worth persevering but be prepared for immense architectural detail - this is not really a book about the people of Iran or its politics although it does explain the religion well.
