Kevin Jackson’s recent work includes the BBC Radio 3 programme on Ruskin, People, Be Good, the BBC 2 television documentary on Anthony Burgess, The Burgess Variations and Invisible Forms - a Guide to Literary Curiosities(Picador). Other books include The Oxford Book of Money and The Humphrey Jennings Film Reader (Carcanet).
A is for Art - as an art critic he was the man who in Charlotte Bronte’s words” taught a once blind nation to see”
L is for Lectures - attendance was a cult activity for middle class Victorians
P is for Pathetic Fallacy - Ruskin gave this phrase to the English Language
H is for Herne Hill - its aesthetic paucity helped shape his appreciation of true beauty
A is for Architecture - he was the father of the Arts &- Crafts movement and passionate believer in architecture as imperfect, ’savage’ as he called it
B is for Brantwood - Ruskin’s Cumbrian home overlooking Coniston water - newly restored with gardens inspired by Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’
E is for Ecology - he claimed that the sky itself had been damaged perhaps beyond repair. A prophet of global warming?
An essential pocket sized volume marking Ruskin’s centenary year (1819- 1900) this book is a must for the lover of art, architecture, literature and the Victorian period. With entries ranging from Art to Zoology via Etymology, the Middle Ages, Pantomimes, Tolstoy and Usury, it provides an accessible introduction to this multi-faceted genius, and a comprehensive review of his life, influences and often turbulent world.
