The Secret Power of Beauty - Softcover

Armstrong, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140294724 ISBN 13: 9780140294729

Publisher: Penguin, 2005

Synopsis

The notion of beauty is elusive: we love the things we find beautiful, and yet we are inarticulate when we try to communicate this love, or describe its essence. We are aware of people, paintings and houses that are universally recognized as beautiful, and yet we know also that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.

In defining beauty and our response to it, we are often caught between the concrete and the sublime. We wish to categorize beauty, to clearly label its parts, and yet we wish also to celebrate its mysterious - and at times mythical - power. Armstrong's response is a discursive and graceful journey through various and complementary interpretations, leading us from Hogarth's belief that the essence of beauty lies in shapely curves, to Kant's discourses on the meaning of pleasure.

In this lucid and lyrical exploration John Armstrong aims to deepen our response both to beauty and to happiness. As he shows, the ability to truly recognise the beauty that surrounds us in the everyday could enable us to deepen the enjoyment of our lives.

About this title

Product Description:

Edition Penguin Books, 2005. ISBN: 0-140-29472-4. PAPERBACK. 183 pages. The new and unread book remains in excellent condition throughout. Text all clean, neat and tight. Prompt dispatch from UK.

Review:

'An elegant and discursive book' -- Waterstones Books Quarterly, February, 2004

'Good soul food for a hungry age' -- The Herald (Glasgow), January 17, 2004

'John Armstrong's apprach, compact, readable, anecdotal and discerning, is also morally optimistic' -- The Tablet, 6 March, 2004

'Like Alain de Botton, Armstrong writes translucently, intelligibly and thoroughly gracefully' -- The Sunday Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0140294724
• ISBN 13: 9780140294729
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192