A Geography of Time: The Temporal Misadventures of a Social Psychologist, or How Every Culture Ke...
In this engaging and spirited book, eminent social psychologist Robert Levine asks us to explore a dimension of our experience that we take for gra...
read full description
reviews
Aug 06, 2011
David
rated it: 
I have never really traveled outside the country. I've been all over the U.S., and somewhat felt I had a grasp of the time differences people had - until I read this book. This book was, quite simply, a huge eye opener. The crux of the book is the idea of how each of us perceive time is very dependent upon the culture we live in. Robert takes a year, and travels the world to study all of this - and the outcome of his travels was a research topic about this.
A large distinction betwe More...
A large distinction betwe More...
Dec 23, 2010
Terry
rated it: 
The book was a pile of anecdotes that were neither systematic nor really detailed. Great, the author knows a lot about how people feel time but the examples, except the excerpts of his life which go way too long, are shallow and in some cases repeated. The writing itself is lackluster with excessive adjectives and reliance on both appeals to authority and appeals to conventional wisdom. I do not get the sense that this book is based on hard scientific work or comes from a hard scientist and t
More...
Jun 19, 2011
Niko
rated it:
I picked this up intrigued by the idea of time, how we conceptualize it, and how much or little we have (or think we have). We recurringly hear people decry our pace of life. We read of the way people in other countries and cultures treat their time differently than we do. The author covered these and other topics that I hadn't considered but found fascinating. Some of his points and conclusions are predictable, others are actually rather unexpected.
By the final pages the book had star More...
By the final pages the book had star More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 06, 2011
Brendan
rated it: 
Levine's book explores the way that different cultures perceive time and how that correlates to a variety of different facets of society. Levine's researchers measured time in 31 cities of varying sizes by timing how fast it took people to walk 60 feet and how long it took postal clerks to sell a stamp and make change. The researchers then compared those numbers to a wide variety of statistical measures to learn what effect the tempo of a place has on the lives of the people who live there.
More...
Jul 14, 2010
DoctorM
rated it:
Not a bad exposition of the idea that different cultures and eras look at time in different ways. Levine can be a bit glib and shallow, and the later parts of the book go off into a cliched account of the need to slow down and smell the roses here in the U.S., but the idea that perceptions of time--- and its value ---are culturally-shaped is worth exploring. [See Pico Iyer's essay "Living on Muezzin Time" for thoughts on life in places where time is divided by events--- the calls to p
More...
Dec 02, 2011
Ami
rated it:
Maybe more of 2 and a half. I diligently read it from cover to cover, even flipping to the bookmark I kept in the endnotes section. The topic itself is fascinating, the experiences of the author interesting, but somehow...somehow...the writing itself was just a titch more engaging than an academic paper in a peer-reviewed journal. I *think* that's what knocked it down this low for me, because I can't imagine any other reason. I will say that every time I opened it, I learned something, and alm
More...
Dec 11, 2010
Dan
rated it: 
I'm typically a sucker for pop science, so I was really excited to read the book. Unfortunately, I don't think Dr. Levine is a particularly good scientist or writer. First, his writing is pretty flat and sober. It doesn't help him that he doesn't seem to be drawing any fascinating conclusions either: Western Europe is fast and South/Central America are slow. Great. New York is fast and LA is laid back. Wow.
I also have a problem with his scientific rigor. He relies very heavily on a More...
I also have a problem with his scientific rigor. He relies very heavily on a More...
Jan 04, 2011
Eric
rated it:
I feel like I should have enjoyed this book more than I did. There were a lot of things that resonated with me, and I half expect that pieces of it will bubble up as time goes on. But I found myself (ironically) racing through it, and feel a little like the gist of the entire book was covered in the first section, with the rest being just expansions that didn't necessarily deepen my understanding any.
Nevertheless, it was a good reminder that I hope will stick with me a long time.
Nevertheless, it was a good reminder that I hope will stick with me a long time.
May 02, 2011
Marissa
rated it:
This book deals with how different cultures interact with time. The author set up an interesting series of tests (e.g. how long does it take to buy one postage stamp at a post office?) and repeated them in cities all over the world and within the United States. The happiest and most useful people balance being busy/keeping to a schedule with not feeling rushed or overwhelmed by how much they have to do in so little time.
Aug 09, 2010
Paulo
rated it:
Interesting study of how different cultures relate to time -- do they live by "event time" or "flow time." It's interesting to note how, in some cultures, "doing nothing is highly treasured and not seen as merely a break in the action, but as a productive and creative force." The concept of "hurry-sickness' and how we in the US are so afflicted is interesting too.
Jul 09, 2009
Caroline
rated it:
Very interesting book about different concepts of time. I liked the explanations of time in cultures that are so unlike the ones I have lived in, and the historical information about clocks was fascinating. The author introduced me to the difference between clock time and event time, which made me think about the way I manage my own time day to day.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Oct 01, 2009
V
rated it:
This was a fairly easy read that discussed differences in the ways that various cultures perceive time. This topic may sound dry, but the author manages to make it interesting. It is completely approachable for the masses. Any traveler should be aware of these differences and this book certainly would prepare a person to expect the unexpected.
However, I was somewhat disappointed that the book did not go into more depth, consisting in large part of anecdotes from the author's own ex More...
However, I was somewhat disappointed that the book did not go into more depth, consisting in large part of anecdotes from the author's own ex More...
Apr 02, 2009
Michael
rated it: 
Having spent two years in Brazil, I found this book spot-on in its portrayal of the differences in the tempo of time between the United States and Brazil. When I had a chance to pick a book for our neighborhood bookclub, this book was my first choice.
Oct 24, 2009
Juicy juicy juicy ideas. If you've ever had to readjust your personal clock in another country, or another culture, or another context, you probably have had a sense of what this guy is exploring. He proposes teaching Time Literacy along with language skills for visiting other countries. This, of course, offers abundant opportunities to learn about our own time sense - just as travel in a foreign land always teaches us more about ourselves than what we saw. He did a bunch of studies about time a
More...
Dec 19, 2011
Patrick
rated it:
Ce livre raconte le temps, un concept qui est fortement ancré dans nos vies ("le temps c'est de l'argent") mais qui est perçu de manière différente par d'autres peuples. C'est un petit bijou de "choc culturel" qui, au final, permet de mieux comprendre sa propre relation avec le temps. J'ai adoré et je recommande.
Aug 15, 2010
Emily
rated it:
There are some good ancedotes in here, but I found much of the text repetitive. It was less rigourous and theoretical than I was hoping for, but an easy read on an interesting topic.
Aug 05, 2011
Simon
rated it:
Interesting in patches but, being honest, this tries to make a lot of what would be very interesting as just a long essay. A bit wearisome after you've read and got the main points the first time round.
Feb 20, 2011
Sara
rated it:
Great non fiction about time, how cultures keep time, care about time, and what it means to our society.
Apr 10, 2011
Just started this one as part of a book club with friends. Promising so far.
Jun 07, 2010
304.23 L665G -- Craig listed as to-read - title & concept are intriguing.
Nov 25, 2010
Megan
rated it:
Interesting. But radiolab summed it up so well I really didn't need to read the book.
Aug 28, 2008
Djinnjer
rated it:
Perhaps I should be kinder to this book. There are interesting things in here. And yet, when someone uses honor killings as his illustration for cultural relativity... no. Just no. When I want to illustrate that other cultures are different and our way is not the only/natural way? I go to food for examples. There's cultural relativity, and then there's moral relativity.
Aug 31, 2007
lola
rated it:
This book is a composite of lots of different time-topics, and a couple of them are really worth your time: his idea of event time vs clock time, his chapter detailing a time ethnography of Japan, and one on how time zones were standardized in the US. Totally cool. This book is low-maintenance and you can feel free to skip chapters at will.
May 20, 2011
Doug
rated it:
While some references are a little dated, the premise is universal and gives a fun look into how dominated our lives are by the clock by comparison to other cultures and how a little thinking outside the box can relieve you from what you might think is boredom or a hurried life. It'll stick with me, that's for sure.
Oct 12, 2007
Liz
rated it:
Not a novel, but for any curious minds out there, this is a really interesting read I found deep in the basement of the HBLL. I'm glad somebody got to write a book about it. I always wanted to, but I would probably never find the time.
