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7 Works 403 Members 6 Reviews

About the Author

Elizabeth Romer studied textile design at the Royal College of Art, London, and has practiced and taught in that field. She lives in Tuscany with her husband

Works by Elizabeth Romer

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Gender
female
Nationality
UK
Places of residence
London, England, UK
Aiola, Tuscany, Italy
Relationships
Romer, John (husband)

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Reviews

Romanticized view of rural life in Tuscany. The writers constant exuberance was wearing.
 
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turtlesleap | 2 other reviews | Sep 6, 2017 |
The "seven wonders of the world" were created in the Hellenistic Age. Dominated by Alexander, mankind began to measure itself in human terms for the first time. Not one of these "wonders" remains for us to examine today, however, remnants do remain. Ancient descriptions and remnant stones are examined to exhume the revenant wonders that served as yardsticks of human achievement, millenia ago: Pyramids, Mausoleum of Helicarnassus, Temple of Artemesis (Ephasus), the Colossus of Rhodes, the Pharos of Alexandria, the Olympian Zeus, and the Gardens of Babylon. Includes a map, illustrations and beautiful photographs of many objects and landscapes. The authors capture the birth of what they call the "modern imagination". They also analyze the mind of the list-makers who were clearly taking stock of an emergent set of skills. Humanity becomes the wonder. [41]

I find this work to be invaluable, and recommend it for all who love beauty and the human enterprise around making meaning. I found these Themes in the work of these authors:

(1) Zeus became Jesus. (Ieus-us) The "image of God" becomes obvious in the Phidias images. [24] Seamless transition from Olympian to emperor-cult to Unitarian Goth-God/Pantocrator. [24 ff]

(2) Assault on women. From a female-dominated yearning for fertility and awe for life, to a relentless destruction of Semiramis/Gardens, Isis oasis nymphea, Artemisian bathing.

(3) Wonder and Beauty as the conduit of the sacred. [164]

(4) Words are powerful. The "vision" outlasts the never-built garden. [125]

(5) Heritage has a common root. [127] Scratch below a difference, you find exactly the same identity, longing, value, and hunger for connection.
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keylawk | 2 other reviews | Jan 13, 2013 |
Memoir / cookbook written by a woman who was renting a house on a Tuscan farm. The author essentially spies on the lives of the poor farmers from whom she rents, glorifying their lives, particularly that of the farmer's wife. This women, Sylvana, lives a terrible life of slavery. Up before the dawn every day, she works literally every waking moment, always cooking, foraging for foodstuffs, preserving, making cheese, cleaning, mending, etc., etc., etc. Although Romer attempts to glorify the lives of these farmers, the book ends up being a study in why small-farm life is going by the wayside. I would not want to live Sylvana's life, nor would I wish it on my children.

On the up-side, I did pick up some simple but fabulous cooking tips and recipes, always welcome.
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OneMorePage | 2 other reviews | Jul 15, 2010 |
2914 The Seven Wonders of the World: A History of the Modern Imagination, by John & Elizabeth Romer (read 4 Oct 1996) This is an erudite examination of the ancient wonders. The book is carefully done and told me as much as I need to know about the interesting subjects. Only the Pyramids, of those ancient wonders, still exist. The most recent to disappear was the Pharos (lighthouse) of Alexandria. The Hanging Gardens may not have existed, at least in the form the imagination gives them.
½
 
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Schmerguls | 2 other reviews | Jan 24, 2008 |

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Works
7
Members
403
Popularity
#60,270
Rating
3.8
Reviews
6
ISBNs
31
Languages
5

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