Philip Hoare Knihy

For over a millennium, Polynesians have inhabited the remote islands of the Pacific, a vast triangle from Hawaii to New Zealand to Easter Island. Before European explorers arrived, they were the sole inhabitants of these islands. Polynesians, both closely related and widely dispersed, trace their ancestry to epic voyagers who embarked on remarkable journeys across the ocean. The mystery of how these early Polynesians discovered and colonized such distant islands—without writing or metal tools—has puzzled scholars since the eighteenth century, known as the Problem of Polynesian Origins. This enigma is particularly personal for the author, whose Maori husband and sons descend from these ancient navigators. In this exploration, she delves into the rich history of these ancestors and the contributions of sailors, linguists, archaeologists, folklorists, biologists, and geographers who have sought to understand this legacy for three centuries. Blending history, geography, anthropology, and navigation science, the narrative offers a vivid tour of one of the world’s most intriguing regions, capturing the essence of Polynesian exploration and its significance in human history.

Exploring the life of an overlooked yet talented artist, the narrative delves into the complexities of creativity and recognition. It examines the struggles and triumphs of an individual whose work remains largely unappreciated by the public. Through a blend of personal anecdotes and artistic insights, the story highlights themes of passion, perseverance, and the often-unseen impact of art on society. The journey invites readers to reflect on the nature of fame and the true value of artistic expression.

Travelling around the globe in search of the whale, Philip Hoare sheds light on our perennial fascination with the strange creatures of the sea, whose nature remains tantalizingly undiscovered

A book in the Tate’s “Look Again” series (the first book of the second set of four), which aim to “open up the conversation about British art over the last 500 years, and explore what art has to tell us about our lives today.”“Author Philip Hoare takes us on an exploration of the sea and the way it has provided a deep source of inspiration for artists featured in the Tate collection, from William Blake to Maggi Hambling”

In 1520, Albrecht Dürer, the most celebrated artist in Northern Europe, sailed to Zeeland to see a whale. A central figure of the Renaissance, no one had painted or drawn the world like him. Dürer drew hares and rhinoceroses in the way he painted saints and madonnas. The wing of a bird or the wing of an angel; a spider crab or a bursting star like the augury of a black hole, in Dürer's art, they were part of a connected world. Everything had meaning. But now he was in crisis. He had lost his patron, the Holy Roman Emperor. He was moorless and filled with wanderlust. In the shape of the whale, he saw his final ambition. But now he was in crisis. He had lost his patron, the Holy Roman Emperor. He was moorless and filled with wanderlust. In the shape of the whale, he saw his final ambition. But his art captured more than the physical world, he also captured states of mind. Albert and the Whale explores the work of this remarkable man through a personal lens. Drawing on Philip's experience of the natural world, and of the elements that shape our contemporary lives, from suburbia to the wide open sea, Philip will enter Dürer's time machine. Seeking his own Leviathan, Hoare help us better understand the interplay between art and our world in this sublimely seductive book

›Moby-Dick‹ ist ein Buch, das durch seinen Wal legendär wurde – aber umgekehrt wird ebenfalls ein Schuh draus: Seit der Roman von Herman Melville 1851 veröffentlicht wurde, hat man Wale mit anderen Augen gesehen. Aus einem bereits legendären, mythischen Tier schuf Melville einen modernen Mythos. Philip Hoare, seit jeher fasziniert von Walen, versucht in ›Leviathan‹ seiner Besessenheit auf den Grund zu gehen. Warum haben Wale eine so starke Anziehungskraft auf den Menschen? Warum spielen sie in unserer Fantasie immer wieder eine Rolle, verschmelzen darin mit dunklen Vorstellungen von Seeschlangen und anderen vorsintflutlichen Riesenwesen? Ist der Wal ein Symbol paradiesischer Unschuld in Zeiten der Artenbedrohung und des Klimawandels? Oder eher ein uraltes Sinnbild für das Böse schlechthin, ein bizarrer Fisch, der Jona verschluckt hat? Besuche im Londoner Natural History Museum während der Kindheit, die erste (und die zweite) ›Moby-Dick‹-Lektüre, zahlreiche Whale-Watching-Touren, eine Fahrt von Nordengland nach Cape Cod und zur Mitte des Atlantiks: Der Autor unternimmt nicht nur eine persönliche und biografische Reise, sondern auch eine (kultur-)historische; er erzählt seine eigene Geschichte einer Leidenschaft und liefert zugleich erhellende Antworten auf die Frage, was das Faszinosum Wal ausmacht.