Andrew K. (kuligowskiandrewt) -
Helpful Score: 1
The Cities of the Dead can provide valuable insights into the cities of the living. This can be said about a lot of places I recall wandering the cemetary of my hometown, and the one in Salem Massachusetts, just to cite two examples. However, probably nowhere in the world is this as true as in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Robert Florence, along with his photographer brother Mason, attempted to provide some insight into the history of New Orleans by exploring its unique cemeteries. Their architecture, their rules, the sometimes unique neighbors, and the times when the various cemeteries were established, all contribute to telling the story of the much larger city built by and for the living. This is augmented by offering a few sidebars into some of the characters that might be found loitering in and around the cemeteries perhaps helping to maintain the structures, perhaps begging, perhaps communing with spirits only they can see
This is a very nicely produced coffee table book, with more prose than is often found in such a publication. Somewhat difficult to pack and read on an airplane, perhaps, but beautiful to be displayed at the home and yes, read and examined.
Postscript: I acquired this book in 2001. I have to wonder just what effects Hurricane Katrina may have had on the cemeteries of New Orleans since publication.
RATING: 4 1/2 stars. Going to round up to 5 stars on this one.
Robert Florence, along with his photographer brother Mason, attempted to provide some insight into the history of New Orleans by exploring its unique cemeteries. Their architecture, their rules, the sometimes unique neighbors, and the times when the various cemeteries were established, all contribute to telling the story of the much larger city built by and for the living. This is augmented by offering a few sidebars into some of the characters that might be found loitering in and around the cemeteries perhaps helping to maintain the structures, perhaps begging, perhaps communing with spirits only they can see
This is a very nicely produced coffee table book, with more prose than is often found in such a publication. Somewhat difficult to pack and read on an airplane, perhaps, but beautiful to be displayed at the home and yes, read and examined.
Postscript: I acquired this book in 2001. I have to wonder just what effects Hurricane Katrina may have had on the cemeteries of New Orleans since publication.
RATING: 4 1/2 stars. Going to round up to 5 stars on this one.
