Irving Stone - Agony and the Ecstasy: The Biographical Novel of Michelangelo

Pros: the passion of the artist, Stone's writing, fascinating characters
Cons: the agony was very real, too; need some time to read it

What an exquisite mammoth of inspiration for the tired, lonely artist (and Epinions' writer) this is! At 648 pages, each one a veritable gem in the fictionalized, but well-researched biography of Michelangelo, it is one of my biggest challenges and also...

Pros: An extraordinary history both of Michelangelo and the Renaissance he helped to create!
Cons: The length is cruel and requires both perseverance and patience at times!

I wonder if Stone would feel honoured or slighted at my brash theft of HIS title “The Agony and the Ecstasy”, as the basis for my review of his wonderful work! Irving Stone’s “The Agony and the Ecstasy” is an enormous, comprehensive ...

Pros: some interesting detail about Renaissance Italian Life
Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE, euphemistic, blase, misguided, insulting,verbose for no reason

This book had become legend to me. I of course was familiar with Heston's legendary performance as Michaelangelo in the movie of this VERY big book. ( nearly 800 pages of VERY small typeface) Finally I decided to delve into this massive work after I got...

Pros: Wonderfully descriptive and personal biography of a genius and his torments
Cons: long, but wonderful book about life and sculpture in The Renaissance

Michaelangelo, son of a remarried man whose sadness is preserving his family's past fortunes even as it dwindles to nothing. The family pride makes the father incapable of love, work, and action. Is he physically unable to work?
No. He has pride...

Pros: Accurate historical fiction
Cons: Sometimes a bit dry

This is a tremendous book about the life of Michelangelo. As usual, Irving Stone has carefully researched his subject and the book is as historically accurate as he can make it. I did not know much about Michelangelo before reading this book--I didn't...

Pros: details bring Michaelangelo's life and city into vivid view
Cons: couldn't put it down

The Agony and the Ecstacy is an awesome book. Irving Stone must have walked the streets of Florence and re-traced the steps Michaelangelo took to St. Peter's Basilica and San Lorenzo.

After recently visiting Italy, this book comforted me by...

Pros: Well written, Exciting, Informative
Cons: none

What the Book is About
The Agony and the Ecstasy, by Irving Stone, is a historical biography about the famous Michelangelo Buonarroti. It tracks his life from his first days in the Domenico Ghirlandaio studio, when he was nine, to his last...