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May 12
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Harlan
is currently reading:
Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel (Paperback)
by Jonathan Safran Foer
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April 22
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Harlan
gave
to:
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (Paperback)
by Neil Postman
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recommended for: cynics, ludites, people who read books at coffee shops to look smart
read in April, 2008
Harlan said:
"Originally written in 1985 on the the threat of america's death by television and republished in 2005 "more relevant than ever - exploring the corrosive effectives of electronic media". I don't watch much TV but I spend more time than most ...more
Originally written in 1985 on the the threat of america's death by television and republished in 2005 "more relevant than ever - exploring the corrosive effectives of electronic media". I don't watch much TV but I spend more time than most in front of a computer so the modern tagline was hard to resist. Unfortunately it doesn't offer much beyond the rather simple argument that we would all be a bit better off if we just didn't watch so much TV.
In straightforward fashion, Postman posits the big blanket - television (and 'micro-computers') are profoundly different mediums than print and radio, television is singularly ill-fit to engage our mental capacities, and even the most solemn broadcasts lose any sense of context or gravity through jump cuts with soundtracks. The medium affects the message, and no matter what you're trying to say, it's worse for the brain if it's on TV. Once he lays the ground rules, Postman hits more specific subjects, including TV's destruction of politics and public discourse, the news, attention spans, and Sesame Street's fostering of harmful educational expectations (namely, that learning is fun).
Maybe I just don't watch enough TV for all this to be worrying. Postman's arguments struck me as simplistic and superficial, rarely backed by evidence, and excessively cynical. Somewhat ironically, his brief and airy looks at complicated topics makes 'Amusing Ourselves' as easy to read as a sitcom is to watch. Which isn't to say I don't agree with him on a fair number of general points - I just think his own polemic leans towards entertainment rather than education, proof that the medium in and of itself is not the deciding factor. I wonder if Postman would find a way to blame fluff fiction on TV, or if he thinks Grisham novels are indeed quite serious because they're printed on paper.
Postman is at his most interesting on 2 subjects - modern discourse as compared to the age of Lincoln-Douglass debates (simply put, people don't talk like they write anymore, and over-produced -TV commercials have replaced extended oratory as the most effective communicative outreach), and Huxley's and Orwell's views in relation to our present state. Rather than Orwell's vision of a menacing and all-seeing Big Brother, Huxley hits closer to the mark. Today's TV audiences are willingly captivated by the closed circle of celebrity worship, emulation, and entertainment offered as news for entertainment to be emulated. There's no Big Brother watching us to make sure we do what they say, because we're all watching the same images and doing our best to copy them. There is no conspiracy to control our thoughts because it's been made so easy to stop thinking. Unfortunately the book is 23 years old so we don't get a very thorough examination of our gleeful acceptance of Facebook's total information awareness initiative, but I doubt Postman would do that subject justice either.
In a nutshell, Postman's frequent references to the genius of one Marshall McLuhan on the subject make me wish I had read his book instead, because while the topic is interesting and not without merit 'Amusing' feels like something I could write myself if I got really pissed off about commercials....less
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April 21
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Harlan
gave
to:
House of Leaves (Paperback)
by Mark Z. Danielewski (Goodreads author!)
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read in April, 2008
Harlan said:
"It's a little bit like a pop-up book for grownups. Smart, funny, scary, optimistic, depressing, impossible to finish, impossible to stop, ultimately disturbing but the effect didn't stick with me very long.
I really don't have a clue how to review...more
It's a little bit like a pop-up book for grownups. Smart, funny, scary, optimistic, depressing, impossible to finish, impossible to stop, ultimately disturbing but the effect didn't stick with me very long.
I really don't have a clue how to review this. Sometimes 'House of Leaves' gets so boring and dull I just can't stand it, but then a bit later on you realize that the boring part was there less for the content and more for the state of being bored. Not so the next part seems exciting by comparison, but rather just for the awareness and being of bored, just like other parts pounded my heart in a way that books just don't do to me. It's hard to explain, but 'House of Leaves' is an experience rather than just something you read.
If you're the type of person who thinks that four straight pages of footnotes is clever, especially when it has nothing to do with the content it is in theory expounding on, House of Leaves is for you. If you think physically turning the book in circles, and holding it up to mirrors, and flipping pages back and forth and back and forth sounds like an entertaining way to pass the time, it's for you. I felt like a fool at the coffeeshop more than once, but also got a few knowing glances, but all of that is secondary to a book that strives and succeeds in exploring being human in a world that is most definitely not what we think it is, even though it is.
I don't often have my mind blown, but House of Leaves did it. I like to re-read books, but this one drained me in a way that I have no desire to repeat. Like I said, it's hard to explain....less
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February 05
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Harlan
gave
to:
Foundation (Foundation Series, #2)
by Isaac Asimov
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my rating:
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read in January, 2008
Harlan said:
"The far, far future. The great centralized Galactic Empire is crumbling under its own weight, roughly following the path of the Roman Empire towards feudalism and eventual renaissance. It's lighter fare than it sounds, mostly hitting the big points i...more
The far, far future. The great centralized Galactic Empire is crumbling under its own weight, roughly following the path of the Roman Empire towards feudalism and eventual renaissance. It's lighter fare than it sounds, mostly hitting the big points in a short story that spans centuries, antagonists changing with the generations.
"Foundation" starts a tad slow for me, but just a couple chapters in I was hooked. It's an amazing book if only for its progression through periods of peace, chaos, and conflict with hardly a direct mention of any of it - much of the action is not actually on the pages. Surprisingly, this doesn't reduce the pace to a plodding shamble through minute political maneuverings. Generations pass between crises, with developments hinted at but not necessarily explained. Simply put, I had a lot of fun creating the universe in my own head, in a guided yet personal form, without actually putting much effort or conscious thought into it.
I've studied "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," the seminal texts on which the rough process of Foundation's collapsing empire is based, which I think adds a little to my enjoyment. But really, it's not necessary. If anything affected my expectations going in, it's my anti-SciFi bias, more because of the genre's stigma than any deserved disrespect, but Foundation overcomes it by not really being about science fiction. It's about the micro actions within a colossally macro environment, viewed from a scale spanning centuries where the effects of butterfly wings can be observed and measured.
The critic in me finds fault with Foundation's construction of psychohistory, not to mention its 1950s view of the far future's technology and the lack of a single female character interested in more than looking good at the ball, but overall it's a success for what it is. The book is great fun, follows the golden rule that history repeats itself despite our best efforts, and the truly great shapers of humanity have a perspective greater than their own lifetime can possibly encompass....less
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February 04
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Harlan
gave
to:
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (Paperback)
by Haruki Murakami
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my rating:
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read in January, 2008
Harlan said:
"I'm not sure I'll ever finish this book. The same thing happened when I read another Murakami, "Dance, Dance, Dance". There's something enthralling about his books, something about the way normal people leading almost oppressively mundane l...more
I'm not sure I'll ever finish this book. The same thing happened when I read another Murakami, "Dance, Dance, Dance". There's something enthralling about his books, something about the way normal people leading almost oppressively mundane lives get lost in fantastically bizarre twists that regardless often fail to break daily routines. In a way, I think this is a truer look at life than most - crazy stuff happens, lives change, the world keeps turning, the bills get paid, we're all pretty much the same at the end even though everything is different now. I like it.
The problem for me is that the connections to what I can understand stop there. The books just get too weird, too far from reality, and despite my best efforts I find it hard to care. When the rules of the world don't apply anymore to a story that is about strange paths within this world, and the author jumps anywhere he feels like without a second thought to explanations, motivations, or even an apparent purpose beyond a chance to write another weird chapter, I just stop caring.
In other words, life is weird. The world is weird, even when it seems normal. I get it. Move on.
I gave up on Dance, Dance, Dance halfway through, then finished it a year later and thought it was entertaining, even haunting, if overwrought. Maybe the same will happen with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but for now it's back on the shelf....less
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January 12
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Harlan
gave
to:
Dance, Dance, Dance (Paperback)
by Haruki Murakami
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my rating:
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December 28
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Harlan
marked as to-read:
The Starship and the Canoe (Paperback)
by Kenneth Brower
bookshelves:
to-read
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my rating:
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December 27
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Harlan
gave
to:
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto (Paperback)
by Chuck Klosterman
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my rating:
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Harlan said:
"Disappointing. If you liked HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm you'll like Chuck Klosterman, but it seems to be an acquired taste. Klosterman has the talent of presenting the genuinely funny not as jokes to be laughed at, but trophies of his wit for you to a...more
Disappointing. If you liked HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm you'll like Chuck Klosterman, but it seems to be an acquired taste. Klosterman has the talent of presenting the genuinely funny not as jokes to be laughed at, but trophies of his wit for you to admire. Long story short, reading his book made me want to punch him in the face, which on my twisted rating scale is still worth 3/5.
Edit: I've since read "Chuck Klosterman IV", and enjoyed it much more than Cocoapuffs. I guess I was a bit too personal in my criticism....less
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December 25
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Harlan
marked as to-read:
Stumbling on Happiness (Paperback)
by Daniel Gilbert
bookshelves:
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my rating:
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December 23
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Harlan
made a comment on
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War:
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