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The Doubter's Companion: A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense
"How are citizens to enter into a public debate if the concepts which define our society and decide the manner in which we are governed are open neither to understanding nor to questioning?"According to bestselling novelist and essayist John Ralston Saul, the ramifications of asking this question are enormous. We live in an era of specialization, where decision makers, adm...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
January 15th 2002
by Free Press
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This book is the closest thing I've got to a central religious text. It's the book I go to for inspiration and calm. The reason I do so is that the book is heretical.
Let me explain that. In my opinion, most people believe things. Not because they've studied them or thought about them but because those ideas are part of their environment. Their support of those ideas is reflexive, and not always wise and good. So challenging these things is an act of heresy.
Mr. Saul wrote this dictionary to look...more
Let me explain that. In my opinion, most people believe things. Not because they've studied them or thought about them but because those ideas are part of their environment. Their support of those ideas is reflexive, and not always wise and good. So challenging these things is an act of heresy.
Mr. Saul wrote this dictionary to look...more
This is a damned interesting and amusing book.
It's a dictionary in the same vein as Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary. It ruminates on the meaning of words and phrases rather than sets the meaning in stone. The author makes it very clear that this is his opinion and not The Truth.
Here's an example:
ERROR Error is the result of a particular human strength: the ability to act in an unprogrammed, that is illogical, that is conscious, manner, by thinking and communicating unconventional thoughts. To er...more
It's a dictionary in the same vein as Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary. It ruminates on the meaning of words and phrases rather than sets the meaning in stone. The author makes it very clear that this is his opinion and not The Truth.
Here's an example:
ERROR Error is the result of a particular human strength: the ability to act in an unprogrammed, that is illogical, that is conscious, manner, by thinking and communicating unconventional thoughts. To er...more
Hilarious, cynical and apt.
Jan 20, 2008
Colin
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone who likes a fresh point of view
In case the subtitle left any doubt, this book is delivered in a dictionary format. It's not the kind of book I read cover-to-cover, but one I dip into from time-to-time, just to read a few entries. The definitions are simultaneously acts of political and social protest, and acts of radical clarity (in a time when mere clarity is far too radical). Hilarious at times, cutting at other times, and always sharp, this book defines "strong authorial point-of-view."
My wife was concerned, when she bought it for me as a birthday present, that this would turn out to be some kind of Daily Mail-esque grumpy old men nonsense about how everyone except the author is some kind of namby pamby idiot.
In fact, this book is more of the opposite. The central theme of this book is balance and the importance of doubt, and the perils of not having any. Covers a wide range of subjects, from capitalism to dessert.
In fact, this book is more of the opposite. The central theme of this book is balance and the importance of doubt, and the perils of not having any. Covers a wide range of subjects, from capitalism to dessert.
Fun to read but not worth the money
Sep 21, 2007
Leftbanker
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
yo mama
Shelves:
economics
A brilliant dictionary, à la Voltaire, by the most astute thinker on all things political, economic, and cultural that I have read in my lifetime. My favorite definition is how he calls the Big Mac the communion wafer of capitalism. Reading Saul can be very frustrating because he challenges so many truths that I once held...unchallengeable.
Imagine Keats's negative capability being put to practical political and economic use. Too bad we Americans don't read Canadian writers, because if this book were as omnipresent as Freakonomics hereabouts, the world would be an entirely different place. Essential.
A great compendium of non-normative definitions of key words used often.
Not exactly a book to read from the first page to the last, but an enjoyable index.
Some of the definitions are redundant and vague, but all in all The Doubter's Companion is a great supplement to the most common buzz words.
Not exactly a book to read from the first page to the last, but an enjoyable index.
Some of the definitions are redundant and vague, but all in all The Doubter's Companion is a great supplement to the most common buzz words.
Liberate yourself from the tyranny of language!
Not that reading this book will do that but it is great fun. A dictionary of modern political and social terms without the usual bullshit.... It's a different set of bullshit.
Not that reading this book will do that but it is great fun. A dictionary of modern political and social terms without the usual bullshit.... It's a different set of bullshit.
Mar 12, 2008
Robin
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
People who don't like to question authority
This book was pretty much preaching to the choir, but it does reinforce that words have so many meanings and those meanings can be changed if we want to change them.
Couldn't really get into it.
A delight!
May 17, 2013
Js Gladstone
marked it as to-read
May 11, 2013
Valerie
marked it as to-read
May 06, 2013
Joe Kilmartin
marked it as to-read
Apr 24, 2013
Kristine Stamps
marked it as to-read
Apr 12, 2013
Neeuqdrazil
marked it as to-read
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John Ralston Saul is a Canadian author, essayist, and President of International PEN. As an essayist, Saul is particularly known for his commentaries on the nature of individualism, citizenship and the public good; the failures of manager-, or more precisely technocrat-, led societies; the confusion between leadership and managerialism; military strategy, in particular irregular warfare; the role...more
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