Scan barcode
A review by ehays84
Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction by David Macaulay
4.0
Macaulay books were always around when I was growing up, and I would frequently get excited about them and start them, but then they were always just too much for me. I suppose it's a pretty good thing I didn't try to become an engineer or architect. Even today reading it, I still just can't really visualize how some of the steps to build something actually worked.
What always has appealed to me about these books is the way that he brings something from history to life, hence my great excitement about these books. But then once I get into it, I realize it's really mostly about making something with an awl, or hammering something on an anvil, or hoisting something up on a pulley. And that's great and all, but my mind just doesn't think like that.
His books are probably the closest I will come to understanding or liking construction and engineering. I really can and do enjoy learning about architecture, because that to me is a lot more like art where there is a lot of symbolism and everything has a meaning. With the other two, there is an element of being able to visualize the way that something will actually work where I get lost. And it's funny, because I am actually pretty good with some special awareness or visualization things like planning ahead in chess or picking out a pass in soccer, but for some reason, this is different.
These are the sort of books that I will probably keep reading more of and trying to understand and appreciate that much more, but that in many ways, I hope one or both of my children will actually get more than I do because there is a lot of value in this world in knowing how to make or fix things.
What always has appealed to me about these books is the way that he brings something from history to life, hence my great excitement about these books. But then once I get into it, I realize it's really mostly about making something with an awl, or hammering something on an anvil, or hoisting something up on a pulley. And that's great and all, but my mind just doesn't think like that.
His books are probably the closest I will come to understanding or liking construction and engineering. I really can and do enjoy learning about architecture, because that to me is a lot more like art where there is a lot of symbolism and everything has a meaning. With the other two, there is an element of being able to visualize the way that something will actually work where I get lost. And it's funny, because I am actually pretty good with some special awareness or visualization things like planning ahead in chess or picking out a pass in soccer, but for some reason, this is different.
These are the sort of books that I will probably keep reading more of and trying to understand and appreciate that much more, but that in many ways, I hope one or both of my children will actually get more than I do because there is a lot of value in this world in knowing how to make or fix things.