The Elephant Vanishes

The National Gallery London
by Homan Potterton

“Homan Potterton here gives a birds’s-eye view of one of the richest collections of paintings in the world. Others may excel in particular schools, but the National Gallery of London is unique in it’s coverage of the whole of European painting, from International Gothic to Post-Impressionism. The illustrations of which 75 are in color, include works by great masters of all periods: Botticelli and Leonardo, Michelangelo and Titian, El Grecco and Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer, Watteau and Gainsborough, Constable and Turner, Degas, Cézanne and (one of the gallery’s latest acquisitions) Klimt. A novel feature is the inclusion of comparative illustrations showing such things as related works, preliminary drawings and x-ray photographs, in order to explain a paintings evolution. The introduction is divided into two parts. The first tells the story of the growth of the collection. The second is a description of the physical components of a painting (wood, canvas, paint, varnish) and the technique of cleaning, restoring and conserving an item. The book ends with a complete list of all the National Gallery’s 2,044 pictures, forming an invaluable reference catalogue.”

Salman Rushdie
Enchantress of Florence

This ninth novel penned by Salman Rushdie contains major themes such as eroticism, sex and humanism, and a debate as opposed to authoritarianism. It could be considered as a work of magic realism. The story is about the visit of a European to the Mughal emperor, Akbar’s court. He claims that he is born of an exiled Indian princess and an Italian from Florence and that he is a long lost relative of the king. Will the Mughal emperor believe him?

Haruki Murakami
Men Without Women

Used Book, 228 pages