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Sula

May 19, 2015 / posted in art, images of being-human, life as we know it, love, lyrical-narratives, reviews / No Comments

SulaSula by Toni Morrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Yes, we know that Toni Morrison talks about the deprivations of poverty, racial bigotry and its effects on black communities and especially on women of those communities.

Here in this book however, is an interesting take. The close and endearing friendship of two little girls extend beyond their life choices. One to assimilate into the black community from where she grew. And the other to strike out into the broader world beyond and then return to that community with a broader view. And while Sula returns to become a pariah, acting as scapegoat so as to unify the community that brought her up and hated her, so she also saw beyond it to a code of ethics not born of that community but one that sparked her friendship with her close friend from beyond the grave.

This is a pretty amazing work, as it invites us to get a glimpse of the early to mid 20th century’s economic and social forces in creating this black community as a place, so that the friendship of two little girls in that community could blossom and approach a meaning of its own.

It was confusing at first, to spend so much time with Sula’s maternal lineage. But this allows us to see the vector of her release into the world, and her sublime return as one who understands. In standing apart as an outsider, Sula allows us to nail down the black community in its pain and suffering, to come together in a time of need (dislike of her) and so their reduced vision is unable to withstand the sight of original singularity.

Short book, but well worth the read.

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Animal Liberation

May 19, 2015 / posted in images of being-human, life as we know it, reviews, Theory / No Comments

Animal LiberationAnimal Liberation by Peter Singer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Singer takes ethics seriously. As a philosopher he provides a cut that separates the abstraction from its application. This is a compelling argument. While he shows us, in book form, much of the widely known (and unknown) atrocities that come with how we treat animals, for our gut level, animal reaction, he emphasizes that as human beings we have a choice we can make about how to be in the world. Suffering is suffering, and the cut off between human dignity and animal dignity is one that overlaps. The only difference that would block this overlap would be due to ideological weight we put on valuing humans over animals.

His argument can also rightly be distilled into various levels of agency. Eating vegetables is better for the environment, which means better for humans. Human digestion can survive without animal tissue to digest. Dignity is due to the capacity of the bearer to suffer, and animals do suffer. If we prevent the suffering of other humans due to their capacity to feel and think, there remains very little room for debate to not extend this to animals as well. Truly, our inability to extend this to animals can only be due to how we ourselves are irrational and unwilling to change our habits. Going against the grain is difficult, but if you see only a neutral situation in the face of suffering then you have chosen the side of the oppressors.

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Roads to Oriskany

May 19, 2015 / posted in images of being-human, reviews / No Comments

Roads to OriskanyRoads to Oriskany by Gil Herkimer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Semi-fictionalized, Herkimer tackles a key demographic in the settlement of the Americas by the British — the attempt of the British to utilize cheap German labor to settle the west. The tactic of bringing in cheap labor (slavery or indentured servitude) was common back then.

To make the history more accessible, Herkimer introduces fictitious characaters over three generations. Some of it is interesting. I think it’s quite entertaining. Towards the end, he signals the arrogance of the British officers (their brilliant military strategy, and their lack of seriousness in the war) through the way they treat their men and the amount of resources they devote simply to their own enjoyment. We can’t help but feel that the British deserve to lose, being so bourgeois and corrupt, but Herkimer could have included some maps and more detail about the campaign in the North East around Fort Ticonderoga, as well as the key battle of Oriskany. It’s only afterwards that we get a sense of the importance of this tiny battle in the overall flow of the war. We also could have used more development of the key characters involved. It’s a little too late after the description of the fighting to start to talk about the character of some of the men involved.

I think Herkimer found a very interesting subject matter, although he could have presented it more from the view of the surrounding political and economic context outside the characters points of view. His attempt to stay focused from within his characters force us to lose perspective on what was only later on understood as being significant. Because his characters did not understand the significance, we do not get the full picture until later. Perhaps this could have worked out, if we had a stronger tie to the human element of in the battle… although the key figures of the battle were not the key figures we were invested in (of course not, since they were fictitious).

In a way, I think you can see how the Germanic-European pattern of civilization repeated and transposed itself despite the British attempt at dominating the people who were brought over. The mercantile system from the point of view of this book, didn’t seem to function or play much of a part — perhaps because Oriskany is so far inland, compared to New York or Boston. Instead, we get through these inland settlements the beginnings of a real different identity being borne, one of settlers living their lives for their own self interest, not really bothering much with the Indians or anyone else. This kind of inward introversion is a big inheritance of what made America America, in terms of foreign policy, as Americans turned their attention inward to develop their own infrastructure and lifestyle.

I did like how he included the many varied relations between the settlers, the British and the Indians. I hadn’t realized how many mixed blood individuals were involved.

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Katherine

May 4, 2015 / posted in images of being-human, love, reviews / No Comments

KatherineKatherine by Anya Seton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very strong text. Although I didn’t realize it was a historical romance novel, I still found it to be quite compelling. The characters are lively, and the modality of the descriptions are inline with “old timey-ness”. The language is not too stilted, and the sensibilities are modestly “old timey”.

What I liked about the book was the unexpected development of the character. At first it felt very much like a text acknowledging how women were trapped in a world ruled by men (which in the 13th century England, was so). But eventually it cleared out to become a text about a spiritual coming-of-age. After all, Katherine’s reputation was ruined by her affair. And as the facts of their lives followed, Katherine did come to leave him and then eventually marry.

In this sense, the pacing was quite appropriate, and even if the story was long, it was also compelling in its details and political forecasting. I am not certain that the background actions of the Royal family would have been as important to Katherine as a lover of John of Guant but then again, it gives a sense of legitimacy and romance to the atmosphere.

What I liked the most about this story was the execution preformed by Seton. She set out to write this story within the constraints and pulled it off, with character and plot. The development of Katherine was both expected and unexpected. After all, she did need to come onto her own as her own woman, which she does admirably, in order to be worthy of John of Guant at the end. I do believe as well, that John of Guant did need to also show some worthiness, although he seems more of a foil for Katherine’s development than anything else. How does love fit into this? I think some more spiritual placement of love could have been needed, although Katherine did not become a nun as she did intend when she was sad, and that love remained unresolved until the ending we are waiting for happens.

So in this sense, her growth as a character was appropriate to the story, although I wonder how her re-found luxury sat with her spirituality. I would have liked to hear more of that, as Seton did previously make a big deal of it with her taking it for granted, and admiring all this wealth around her.

Despite never becoming king of queen, we do still find a happy ending, situated for the couple. And that was followed by a nice afterword that sealed the book.

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Children of Dune

May 4, 2015 / posted in dialectics, images of being-human, reviews / No Comments

Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles, #3)Children of Dune by Frank Herbert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book wraps up the trilogy, by critiquing the themes of the previous two Dune books. It does the expected thing of bringing all the characters together, while wrapping up the ending tightly. There is a bit of ridiculousness in Leto’s ability towards the end, and that seems like a deus ex machina, but that’s the only complaint. The ideas were at full force.

In a way, trilogies have to follow the initial good step, the mistaken second step, and the correction of the final step. The system of three follows why we get three lives in video games, why tripods have three legs for stability and why Hegel’s dialectic can be read as a three step process (although its really four steps, with three steps happening twice, overlaid on each other). Leto remarked on the calibration perfectly. We looking inward, at the end of the second book was Paul’s mistake, so the empire rotted. Looking outward, in the first book, with no sense of direction the empire expanded but the individual had no guidance. Paul walked into a self made trap through his error. I am not certain Leto does better, but with his twin sister perhaps that works.

Thus, we have the Preacher’s inward guidance with no external ability. We have Alia’s external ability but a rotten internal force. This bad reflection is corrected by the twin’s movement.

Typical of Herbert as well, he is able to guide self knowing mysticism as a genetic/spirit reality with the muster of political implication. The characters in their technological empires are less technicians of execution than they are forces requiring self knowledge. In a technological age when we have mastered all the materials (of space, food, shelter, &c) all technology becomes transparent to the core of our inner essence. Since our inner beings guide what technology does, and technology as a tool of the empire is the pure execution of a dictator, so must the elite come to know themselves if they are to be effective rulers. The people around them have less need to know themselves as they are focused outwardly, as technicians and policy implementers. Focused on outward action, this becomes an area where they covet power above them rather than focusing on knowing who they are.

I think this line of reasoning works well for at the top of the technological empire. In this sense, however, this book is less a book about the dune empire than it is for as a guide for inner peace.

Having read this book, the conclusion seems inevitable, although when I started it, it seemed completely without guidance, as in, what could the third book possibly be about? This is a sign of mastery, that Herbert wraps up the potentiality of the text beyond what at least I can see.

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The Theory Mess: Deconstruction in Eclipse

April 29, 2015 / posted in images of being-human, reviews, Theory / No Comments

The Theory Mess: Deconstruction in EclipseThe Theory Mess: Deconstruction in Eclipse by Herman Rapaport
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rapaport draws us a line from Derrida’s deconstruction as received in the United States to the foundation of critical theory. He is quick to show us how various misreadings all compound one another and contribute to the condition of loose readings and theory used for the purposes of exporting political ideology in the name of objectivity.

Rapaport is less interested in providing an analysis of the ideas involved on their own merits than with showing us how misreadings slide from a specific use of deconstruction as a philosophical movement founded on transcendental phenomenology as a basis for propelling us out of routine layers of traditional thought to the projection of social changing ideology about our roles as subjectivities. It’s useful to not misread others, but this of course does not detract from the very real condition inherent in followers of critical theory. We end up repeating routine gestures mis-attributed to thinkers like Derrida and Lacan in the name of progress. We end up constructing a new, if shortly lived tradition of post-colonialism and post-modern subjectivity in which we parrot one another with our own political teleological apparatuses.

Rapaport does however, still see deconstruction as being necessary to help bring critical theory to awareness of its own follies of structured identities and strict dualistic thinking. In a very real way, Rapaport is correct. Only a close, honest reading of the flaws of a given worldview will allow us to step beyond the constraints of our own horizons. This isn’t a promise of a new worldview, this is simply a promise of freedom, the same pursuit of freedom of thought that Derrida sought in introducing deconstruction so long ago.

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Alternatives: The United States Confronts the World

April 29, 2015 / posted in images of being-human, Theory / No Comments

Alternatives: The United States Confronts the WorldAlternatives: The United States Confronts the World by Immanuel Wallerstein
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Here, Wallerstein takes us on a take of his reactions in the critical time from 9/11 until the end of Bush’s term. While some of his predictions did not come true, about Bush not being reelected, his insightful analysis of the United States position from the view of the rest of the world was interesting.

While Wallerstein is definitely against GWB, he does allow us a rich tapestry upon which to reflect how the changing role of the United States in the world was the context in which the hawks in the US government did not recognize.

Less interesting than his own personal opinions is how he sees the relationships of politics, history and economics coming together to create a systemic basis upon which to understand the distortion of the American propaganda machine. Should we however, understand that this is propaganda? How should we understand the United States changing role? The conclusion is unclear but the trajectory is clear. We need to learn how to get along with others, after all, we are stuck in this mess together.

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The Anti-Oedipus Papers

April 29, 2015 / posted in images of being-human, life as we know it, lyrical-narratives, manifesto, reviews, rhizomatic architecture, Theory / No Comments

The Anti-Oedipus PapersThe Anti-Oedipus Papers by Félix Guattari
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In anticipation of re-reading Thousand Plateaus I thought I’d tackle this book. As a reader of Deleuze (I’ve read all his books), I always understood the progression of Deleuze’s thoughts with the turn coming after Logic of Sense. Some of Guattari’s books, such as Chaosomos enforced for me his role in bringing to Deleuze a completely different view. It didn’t help that Guattari did not publish nearly as much nor as systematically. But after reading this book, I fully acknowledge the debt to Deleuze that many do not see. Deleuze is often given credit since he is of an institution (of philosophy) but Guattari’s running amok, his ability to abstractly critique different ideas and view them from vastly different zones really hits home with his letters to Deleuze.

I’ve always understood Anti-Oedipus as a failed work in the sense that although they reject a metric by which to organize thought they still in interject a methodology (Marxism) by which to organize meaning. Part of this is due to the extension of their rejection of Lacan and psychoanalysis. By rejecting the normalization that psychoanalysis employs, D&G also end up rejecting all normalisations. In this manner they unwittingly step very close to Kant’s “all concepts are regulatory”. While I fully agree with Kant, I think Deleuze’s love of conception forces him to reject Kant’s systematization of thought on aesthetic grounds. In a way, Deleuze’s work ends up being very close to Kant in aesthetic but very different from Kant in method and content.

Again, reading this book allowed me to see that Guattari really pushed Deleuze, who was already pretty out there, to really refocus on how one should approach the problem of multiple-domain knowledges. There are many gems here, to be found. Various extensions of thought that may have gotten lost in Anti-Oedipus, various and of course, a seemingly lack of coherency on the part of Guattari to systematize a presentation that was not rambling. In a way, what Guattari brings to Deleuze is a grasp of normalicy that should be rejected. Guattari allows Deleuze to understand the effects of concepts outside of conception — the role they play on one another and society. In a way Deleuze already understood the way concepts match one another. He does this frequently, and to an extreme, as with Difference and Repetition. But what he failed to include was the political angle that concepts have on people, on subjectivities and logics of peoplehood.

Obviously this book would never have been published if D&G were not as popular as they are. Obviously this is not a complete work on its own because it references other works that you may not have read, that are not included in this volume. Still, if you like the other stuff, this provides another inflection point so that you can begin to understand what Deleuze and Guattari both brought to the table, and how their co-production was a unique synthesis that was necessarily a combination of their personalities, outlooks and backgrounds.

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The Church and the Kingdom

April 29, 2015 / posted in images of being-human, life as we know it, Theory / No Comments

The Church and the KingdomThe Church and the Kingdom by Giorgio Agamben
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Although very short, Agamben realizes the difference between the church and the kingdom can be found within the Catholic church’s ordination of time. Time here, is used to project a position of sacred reverence as a political tool, rather than one utilized to realize the potential spiritual awakening NOW. For Agamben, the projected position of the messiah is not a good thing because it never arrives. This presents a problem even for the church today, as a worldly institution. Obviously Agamben charges the church with not exercising their full role as they see it, and instead letting us dwell in a kind of non-time time, in perpetual waiting.

In a way this book can be read as a call to spiritual awakening, although Agamben does not necessarily go that far.

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Infinite Jest

April 29, 2015 / posted in images of being-human, reviews / No Comments

Infinite JestInfinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

In a big way I did not like this book. While I found many parts of this book to be interesting and amusing, I believe that Wallace manages to present the alienation of his characters through the ironic filter of alienating his reader. I wanted to like it. I thought it would be great. But really, what seems to happen is that people behave in ways that promote their own self interest and in the process of doing so only really enact manipulations of processes that exist. Much of the self discovery and the tennis school training, really only set the stage for me as being anticipation of some kind of material process. Such as how to train. The film. The filming. The conversations about family, about other people. All of this seemed to be an endless insurmountable obstacle to a point where one wrecks oneself on too much pleasure. Sex, or drugs. Alcohol. Smoking pot. Trying to justify what one can do based on some kind of special knowledge of what one is supposed to be doing, which includes appearing to know what one is doing. The institutions involved also are guilty of this.

But maybe the cleverness didn’t inspire me. Didn’t amuse me. Whatever people like about it, I don’t get. So I do intend to re-read this book, later on. Just not now.

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