Tesla A Portrait with Masks (Audible Audio Edition) L J Ganser Vladimir Pistalo John Jeffries translator Bogdan Rakic translator Audible Studios Books
Download As PDF : Tesla A Portrait with Masks (Audible Audio Edition) L J Ganser Vladimir Pistalo John Jeffries translator Bogdan Rakic translator Audible Studios Books
An electric novel of the extraordinary life of one of the 20th century's most prodigious and colorful inventors
Nikola Tesla was a man forever misunderstood. From his boyhood in what is present-day Croatia, where his father, a Serbian Orthodox priest, dismissed his talents, to his tumultuous years in New York City, where his heated rivalry with Thomas Edison yielded triumphs and failures, Tesla was both demonized and lionized. Tesla captures the whirlwind years of the dawn of the electrical age, when his flair for showmanship kept him in the public eye. For every successful invention - the alternating-current electrical system and wireless communication among them - there were hundreds of others. But what of the man behind the image? Vladimir Pistalo reveals the inner life of a man haunted by the loss of his older brother, a man who struggled with flashes of madness and brilliance whose mistrust of institutional support led him to financial ruin. Tesla A Portrait with Masks is an impassioned account of a visionary whose influence is still felt today.
Tesla A Portrait with Masks (Audible Audio Edition) L J Ganser Vladimir Pistalo John Jeffries translator Bogdan Rakic translator Audible Studios Books
This is a lyrical and poetic tribute to Nikola Tesla. It is quite unlike the fast-paced, 'page-turner' type novels that fill shelves. In fact it may be more like prose poetry or the "literate" novels of past times, with erudite references to Classical literature, gods and goddesses, Serbian folklore and the cafes of Paris and Prague. In some places it describes factual events (such as the War of the Currents); in other places, it lapses into poetic fabulism. It refers to Tesla as "our hero" and "Don Quixote". It addresses the "dear Reader".A great deal of space is devoted to the early years of Tesla's life in Serbia, before he became a famous inventor. Lavish prose describes Tesla's childhood friends, his miserable year of poverty in New York, his skirt-chasing friends, the mansions and acoutrements of the rich and powerful. An equally large section paints a hallucinatory portrait of Tesla's visions, fascination with cosmic forces, delusions of grandeur, his breakdown and lonely old age. Rather than blaming "bankers" or "powerful interests", this author spins the story as one of a man whose greatest project failed because he could not reach out to others and connect with practical reality.
If the Dear Reader is not familiar with Tesla's life, this is not the first book to read. Definitely it will not go into any detail about Tesla's science or how his inventions work. But if you are fascinated with Nikola Tesla as a mythic, mysterious and tragic figure, this is a wonderful book to add to your collection.
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Tesla A Portrait with Masks (Audible Audio Edition) L J Ganser Vladimir Pistalo John Jeffries translator Bogdan Rakic translator Audible Studios Books Reviews
I have a large appetite for Nikola Tesla these days. This is an interesting book and which mixes facts with fiction. The author is gifted
at creating visual pictures in words. We both enjoyed this book very much.
Good read. I would recommend one reads Tesla's autobiography first or some other works on the Internet as this would help reader distinguish what is true in the book and what is fiction.
Perhaps the truest image of Nikolai Tesla's yet written. Certainly an important facet to understand his life. I loved the poetic and sensitive insights, though I found Pistalo's imagery often more about himself than the way scientific inventors actually experience the curious world. Totally worth reading.
Nikola Tesla was born in Serbia, the younger son of an Orthodox priest. His older brother, Dane, was the star of the family. Nikola was jealous and blamed himself when his brother was killed in an accident. According to author, Vladimir Pistalo, Tesla was haunted, literally sometimes, by his brother for the rest of his life.
When Dane died, Nikola’s father expected Nikola to take Dane’s place and become a priest, but Nikola was always interested in science. Nikola attends college, but leaves early to work in Edison’s Paris laboratory, and from there in New York where Edison offers him $50,000 to work on 24 electrical motors. Pistalo claims Tesla had already formulated his ideas on alternating current. When Edison reneges on his contract, Tesla quits; ultimately, when he can’t find a job, he ends up a ditch digger, ironically working for Edison. Okay, here’s the problem I have with this kind of book, a literary novelist’s version of Tesla’s life. Believe it or not, Telsa works with the brother of a man who manages Western Union. He’s heard of Tesla, and he hires him to run their lab. He also eventually arranges a meeting between George Westinghouse and the scientist. As you may know, Westinghouse financed Tesla alternating current laboratory; Tesla eventually got the contract to light up Niagara Falls and the World Exposition in Chicago. Somewhere in there Westinghouse was in danger of bankruptcy and Tesla surrendered his patents for much less than they were worth.
Meanwhile Tesla builds a laboratory in Colorado Springs where Pistalo claims he discovered wireless electricity; he was able to create thunder and lightning. When J.P. Morgan, who created General Electric, and Bernard Baruch found out, their soul worry was how they could put a meter on Tesla’s process. Essentially Morgan cheated Tesla out of his discovery, due to some Wall Street chicanery. Tesla did build a laboratory in Long Island, but it was eventually torn down to pay off Tesla’s debt. It seems odd that a financier would trade profit for what might have been the answer to the clean energy conundrum. Carbon based fuels as an energy source are never mentioned in connection with Tesla’s process.
As I said above, this is a literary novel, and there’s quite a bit of metaphysical stuff going on. Tesla hires an unhinged young girl, whom he fires. I’m not sure if he fired her for stealing bread or eating on the job, but she tries to kill him, wounding him in the arm. As an older man Tesla is run over by a taxi cab and refuses to go to the hospital. He creates this weird concoction that he claims will let him live forever. Either Tesla was one strange dude or Pistola’s character was. Whichever, now I’m going to have to read a biography to find out if Tesla really did invent wireless electricity. By the way, he also invented a better version of the radio. which Marconi took credit for, and florescent lights. Edison also switched to alternate current, without being sued, because Westinghouse was using his light bulb.
I've always loved Tesla. Like many geniuses, he got a bum rap and was taken advantage of in his lifetime. Some wounds were self inflicted, I'm sure but still. This is a semi-fictional work about his life that is well-researched. It's a fantastic read that I had the good fortune of learning about after hearing an interview with the author on NPR. The man invented the 20th century, for that reason alone, it's worth a read. You won't be disappointed.
This book is great! It tells the fascinating story of a fascinating real person who is little known, but it tells the story like a novel. The book's mystical elements speak to influences of Telsa's religious father and animistic mother, yet it tells the tale of a man who revolutionized science. It tells of time when life and society were much more rough and yet much more human. Instead of laying out bare truths or assumptions, this book presents the story more as life is lived, with complex relationships and events that must be dealt with and wondered about, seen differently through the lens of time. And it shows a man who approached life and the mysteries of the universe in unique ways, who was taken advantage of even as he tried to benefit human kind, whose genius was not particularly appreciated to start with, but who forced his gifts on us anyway and whose brilliance still illuminates today. I will read this again and l want to learn more about Tesla himself (I knew very little before I read this). Pistalo's writing is beautiful and makes his story more of a heroic saga than a straight biography. It is a book to be savored. Let's hope more of Pistalo's writings will be translated soon!
This is a lyrical and poetic tribute to Nikola Tesla. It is quite unlike the fast-paced, 'page-turner' type novels that fill shelves. In fact it may be more like prose poetry or the "literate" novels of past times, with erudite references to Classical literature, gods and goddesses, Serbian folklore and the cafes of Paris and Prague. In some places it describes factual events (such as the War of the Currents); in other places, it lapses into poetic fabulism. It refers to Tesla as "our hero" and "Don Quixote". It addresses the "dear Reader".
A great deal of space is devoted to the early years of Tesla's life in Serbia, before he became a famous inventor. Lavish prose describes Tesla's childhood friends, his miserable year of poverty in New York, his skirt-chasing friends, the mansions and acoutrements of the rich and powerful. An equally large section paints a hallucinatory portrait of Tesla's visions, fascination with cosmic forces, delusions of grandeur, his breakdown and lonely old age. Rather than blaming "bankers" or "powerful interests", this author spins the story as one of a man whose greatest project failed because he could not reach out to others and connect with practical reality.
If the Dear Reader is not familiar with Tesla's life, this is not the first book to read. Definitely it will not go into any detail about Tesla's science or how his inventions work. But if you are fascinated with Nikola Tesla as a mythic, mysterious and tragic figure, this is a wonderful book to add to your collection.
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