A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SORTS
Reading has always been a source of great inspiration for the founders.
These books have been a profound influence on many recent creative endeavours
and so we are sharing some of the titles, for anyone who might find them
intriguing. Momme Brodersen Walter Benjamin - A Biography Verso Providing useful information for those trying to understand Benjamin's
work is not an easy task, but Brodersen does that in this book. Interesting
and well written. One particular photo caption provides more insight than
most articles or books I've read. benjamin is here. he is working on an essay on baudelaire. there
are good things in it, he demonstrates how literature was distorted after
1848 by the notion of an immanent ahistorical epoch. the victory at versailles
of the bourgeoisie over the commune was pre-empted. people became accustomed
to evil. it was given the form of a flower. this is useful reading. oddly
enough an eccentric idea enabled benjamin to write it. he assumes something
that he calls an "aura", which is connected with dreaming (day
dreaming). he says: when you feel someone's gaze alight upon you, even
on your back, you respond (!). the expectation that whatever you look at
is looking at you creates the aura. apparently this has started to disintegrate
in recent times, along with rites and rituals. benjamin discovered this
while analysing films where the aura is destroyed by the capacity of works
of art to be reproduced. all very mystical, despite his anti-mystical attitudes.
this is the way in which the materialistic approach to history is adapted!
it is pretty horrifying. Bertolt Brecht George Johnson Fire in the Mind Vintage Subtitled "science, faith, and the search for order," this
could be a deadly dull didactic diatribe, but it is not. Johnson uses the
stage of northern New Mexico as his setting to draw parallels between Tewa
Indians, Los Alamos Lab, the Catholic Penitentes and The Santa Fe Institute
(among others) , comparing the different routes they have taken in search
of answers to the BIG questions. Simply written and understandable, even
when discussing the abstract theories of modern physics. And his excursions
into the abstract realms opened up in his journey, the areas not purely
scientific or religious, are quite entertaining. Alexander Nehamas The Art of Living University
of California Press Philosophy is important. More than a theory it can be a practice, a
way of living. Nehamas uses the figure of Socrates as a touchstone, observing
how many great philosophers through the ages have returned to Plato's mentor
for inspiration. It is ironic that Socrates wrote nothing himself. He showed
through example a mode of life lost upon so many. What is a person? What
does it take to lead a worthwhile life? Thomas Ligotti In a Foreign Town, In a Foreign
Land A slender slice of horror , this small volume haunts in new ways, in
quiet ways. Four stories which describe various episodes in a "town
near the northern border." Subliminal, autumnal, wonderful. Accompanied
by a Current93 CD. and older favourites... Wolfgang Schivelbusch The Railway Journey
University of California Press Wolfgang Schivelbusch Disenchanted Night
University of California Press These two books are wonderfully written and thoroughly researched. They
deal, in turn, with the development of the railroad and its impact on the
way we move through the world; and "the industrialization of light
in the Nineteenth Century." Schivelbusch expresses his ideas clearly
and his comments range beyond the specific topics of the titles. Christoph Asendorf Batteries of Life University
of California Press Perhaps not as easy to read as the Schivelbusch books, but still very
well presented. I particularly liked the author's use of period material
to make his points clear regarding modernity and our changing perception
of the world we live in. Tom Conley Film Hieroglyphs University of
Minnesota Press Get out your dictionary and notepad because this book is not an easy
read. Having said that, after reading Film Hieroglyphs and watching
the movies that he uses as models, I have never seen a film the same way
again. And I mean that in a good way. Paul Virilio The Aesthetics of Disappearance
Semiotext(e) I don't pretend to understand everything that Virilio writes about,
but I am definitely intrigued by what I have read. This book benefits from
brevity, which brings focus to the intensity of his writing. Full of rich
and juicy ideas. Jerry Mander Four Arguments for the Elimination
of Television Quill My reaction, like many people I shared this book with was, "this
was published in 1977?!?" Wow! Nothing like some rational arguments
and scientific information to open up a new avenue of thinking. Brilliant
and strangely never mentioned.
loRES......
yellow snow
words......
sounds......
pictures......
reviews