John Batchelor (1) (1942–)

I enjoyed this book; it's the first bio of Ruskin that I've read, so I can't really assess it. But Ruskin led a fascinating and in some ways bizarre life, dominated by his parents until he married, disastrously, in mid-life, then obsessively infatuated with a teenaged girl, then finally descending into madness. But meanwhile he wrote Modern Painters, The Stones of Venice and dozens of lesser works, spread his influence through the Guild of St. George and set the direction of 19th century architecture. Batchelor tells the story well, and it seems balanced - an admiring but never hagiographic portrait.… (mais)