Rating: 
Summary: More glitz than substance, lots of gletz
Review: I was hoping for a book about diamonds: history, origins, how and why they're cut, the structure of the diamond market, how advertising has created such an insane desire for a rather commonplace item.
"Diamond" is an excellent example of the airport book genre (take two hours to read it once, toss it out), but in the end offers little content and left me completely unsatisfied. Mr. Hart briefly touches on all the subjects I mentioned above, and yet managed to avoid any depth. I can't say that I honestly *learned* anything from reading it; I suppose if you knew absolutely nothing about the subject it might be slightly informative, but otherwise it's very shallow--perhaps, in some ways, just like the subject.
It's true that diamonds have a mysterious, yet entirely artificial, "allure" about them. We can manufacture far prettier and shinier gems very cheaply, yet the industry has managed to maintain the entirely artificial demand for the "real" thing. "Diamond" is ambivalent on the subject: at times critical of the diamond industry and its shenanigans, other times feeding the diamond frenzy through anecdotes and stories of huge diamonds.
I felt the author was a bit of a hypocrite at times. He spends a few pages clearly showing how DeBeers manipulates the diamond market from top to bottom, along with an semi-vague explanation of the Golden ADA fraud, and yet in the last paragraph: "No doubt they [the diamond trade] are a bit corrupted by it." Just "a bit"? Please. It's nothing but corruption, from top to bottom.
Someday I'd like to see a book on the subject that cuts through the baloney and really gets into about the subject. "Diamonds" isn't it.
Rating: 
Summary: loosely strung theme
Review: I'm disappointed by this book. I expected a history of power, influence, and science relating to diamonds, or perhaps an expose on a ruthless and unethical industry. Instead, it reads like a collection of stories from diamond insiders, the kind of stories they would tell to bored outsiders during after-dinner drinks in the parlor.The description on the back cover begins "For centuries, diamonds have symbolized wealth, prestige, and love. But behind those symols lies a world of deceit, monopoly, and war..." But the book handles the substantive topics with kid gloves. It completely ignoring essential historic events like colonial abuses in Africa and King Leopold. You do get agonizingly detailed accounts of how exciting it is to discover a new diamond mine.
Rating:
Summary: I'm disappointed by this book
Review: I'm disappointed by this book. I expected a history of power, influence, and science relating to diamonds, or perhaps an expose on a ruthless and unethical industry. Instead, it reads like a collection of stories from diamond insiders, the kind of stories they would tell to bored outsiders during after-dinner drinks in the parlor. The description on the back cover begins "For centuries, diamonds have symbolized wealth, prestige, and love. But behind those symols lies a world of deceit, monopoly, and war..." But the book handles the substantive topics with kid gloves. It completely ignoring essential historic events like colonial abuses in Africa and King Leopold. You do get agonizingly detailed accounts of how exciting it is to discover a new diamond mine.
Rating: 
Summary: A natural-born focus for human aspiration
Review: I've become a real fan of that most ubiquitous form of covalent elemental carbon, since I've had the good fortune in my progress in years to acquire a few moderately-priced examples thereof and "live with them" in daily life. It is the incredible aesthetic appeal of the actual article of commerce that has propelled me into the recreational study that lead me to Hart's entry into the peripheral commentary. When I find myself "on" to something, I'll usually go cover-to-cover in a couple of days, which was the case here, so maybe I should rate the book a full 5 stars. I guess I could have been spared all the talk about Canada and the various financial intrigues of the many historical personalities in the business, but I was there for my own sight, upon diamonds, in and for themselves, and cannot say I was disappointed. Obsession is clearly the word for these objects, formed by the strange physical chemistry of the inner earth and now-vanished epochs of planet-building, and brought through immense effort to the full light of appreciation by the artisanry of such folks as we read about in chapters 10 and 11, which were my favorites. Anyone who touches the "provenance" of a diamond, from discovery to end-use, must necessarily take a share in just what the item will become in its own unending lifetime, be it the likes of the Tolskowskys to the barest of entry-level polishers in Gujarat, India. I would have liked to have read a little more on the modern-day prospects for maintaining price stability, especially in view of the kind of crushing potential from second-hand goods that must exist, should the population that has been sold on the diamond's perpetuity somehow decide that other, more weighty needs should direct their asset-retention decisions. Every polished stone, it is true, has something of a spiritual transcendance, and while Hart works to show us that the torrent of rough from the world's pipes shows no sign of lessening, he also has some of the diamantaire's reverent respect, of just what potential there is for that individual token, of vanishingly-small weight, that any person of any strength can carry and conceal. It would seem that in the diamond, human nature has formed a perfect bond with nature itself. I have to wonder, too, if the developments in large synthetic gems were simply too new at the time of Hart's writing to give them the kind of attention they deserve. It is, after all, the most colorless of the non-included that draws the greatest price, and what of the likes of General Electric, should they wind up being able to peddle unadulterated tetrahedral carbon by the bushel? Also, Mr. Hart could have treated us to a bit more about the final consumer industry, whereby the millions of polished diamonds see some of their greatest increase in financial clout. "What might now be in the back of the minds of the movers and the shakers?", I was left wondering when I finished the book. Is the fantasy sustainable? Well, for someone bent on building a lucrative enterprise of woefully-temporal currency upon what is for the admiring possessor a true taste of the immortal, the diamond was made to order. My thirst, though slaked for a moment, will continue, for the diamond beckons inexorably forth.
Rating: 
Summary: Do yourself a favor: read this book!
Review: It is hard for me to express how much I enjoyed this book. Matthew Hart has shown himself to be a tremendous writer who describes the evolution of the diamond industry in a very captivating way. As one who never took much to geology, Mr. Hart's brilliant prose and the stories themselves made this an excellent book. This book deserves the highest of praises.
Rating:
Summary: A Journey to the Heart of an Obsession!
Review: Like hard, everlasting roses, there are hundreds of shades of red diamonds alone, from "water" pink to vivid red. As Matthew Hart's Diamond: A Journey to the Heart of an Obsession skillfully recounts, gemstone diamonds inhabit a diffuse, subtle palette of hues, as well as displaying such values as weight, shape, and clarity. Similarly, any book that covers the storied history of diamonds will have its own gleam and character, low on some qualities and high on others. Diamond begins with the recent discovery of a "large pink" in a Brazilian riverbed. The find sends miners, dealers, consultants, and investors into a frenzy over a paper packet, the contents of which cause economic and aesthetic ripples as far away as Toronto, Johannesburg, and London. The book then moves through various aspects of diamond lore - the significance of legend in the value of a diamond; the chain of ownership from mine shaft to display case - and on to science, entrepreneurism, and corporate tectonic shifts in the vast diamond trade empires of India, Brazil, and Africa. There is also the sheer romance of the whole enterprise, deftly conveyed in the sections on the spoils of queens and the booty of thieves. Hart wisely avoids those aspects of diamonds that long ago lost their lustre - thankfully, we're spared zircon-like insights into Marilyn Monroe movies - and instead brings passion and thoroughness to such unlikely dramas as the role of helicopters in Northern Canadian mineral exploration and the contemporary pressures on the hermetic, overlord-like De Beers cartel. But straying from the mine face can be a tricky business, particularly when it comes to the links between the diamond industry and official corruption. Hart's considerable political insights into the diamond trade sometimes fail by omission - for example, during a discussion of the role of diamond profits in the agonies of Sierra Leone, readers may wonder why Hart omits a wider look at the century-long exploitation of black African workers in the mines. Still, there's more than enough fire and ice in Diamond to satisfy the connoisseur in all of us.
Rating:
Summary: Discover the Depths of Diamonds
Review: Matthew Hart has produced a very readable contemporary history of diamonds. He focuses on the geology, discovery, mining, and cutting of these valuable gems, stopping, for the most part, before going through the retail door. There are entertaining stories of famous named diamonds, the Hope Diamond, the Centenary Diamond, the Koh-i-Noor and others. Of course, as with any discussion of diamonds, the story of De Beers looms large. However, Hart is able to evaluate this company in the perspective of its role in history and how that is changing today. He also describes how with valuable mines being found in Canada, Russia and Australia, the shift of power is moving away from Africa. Hart is able to capture the excitement of discovering these new mines, as well as the difficulties and pressures that abound in the pursuit of diamonds. As with any recent diamond book, the issue of War Diamonds is explored, but because diamonds are easy to transport and mix, this story is far from over. There has been much in the news about outsourcing of manufacturing of many industries to countries like India. One of the interesting chapters is the one about how India is the largest diamond cutting and polishing country now. The one criticism I have is that the book does not follow a coherent thread but tends to jump around from topic to topic.
Rating:
Summary: Hart's "Diamond" a good read, except for one thing...
Review: Matthew Hart's "Diamond" provided an interesting and entertaining glimpse into the world of the diamond trade. Rather than giving a detailed treatment of the geology of diamonds and the history the diamond business, the author covers these in broad strokes, while highlighting key people and events that have shaped the diamond industry worldwide. More attention is given to recent events (nineties through to present), especially the diamond discoveries in the Canadian Arctic. Overall, it is a very readable book. However, I was quite disappointed by the utter lack of even a passing mention of man-made diamonds. I know there is an interesting story behind the development of the technology for making synthetic diamonds, and the impact they have had on the diamond industry.
Rating:
Summary: Hart's "Diamond" a good read, except for one thing...
Review: Matthew Hart's "Diamond" provided an interesting and entertaining glimpse into the world of the diamond trade. Rather than giving a detailed treatment of the geology of diamonds and the history the diamond business, the author covers these in broad strokes, while highlighting key people and events that have shaped the diamond industry worldwide. More attention is given to recent events (nineties through to present), especially the diamond discoveries in the Canadian Arctic. Overall, it is a very readable book. However, I was quite disappointed by the utter lack of even a passing mention of man-made diamonds. I know there is an interesting story behind the development of the technology for making synthetic diamonds, and the impact they have had on the diamond industry.
Rating:
Summary: An appealing title on many levels
Review: Matthew Hart's Diamond is an appealing title on many levels, blending geology with a survey of the science and history of the diamond. Hart follows the 'diamond trail' around the world, from a great diamond cutter's works to smugglers and businesspeople. An unusual guide to the heart of an obsession.
|
