A dense but worthwhile inquiry into the evolution of Western thought.
A scholar explores the strengths, weaknesses, and pertinence of Western philosophy.
Fann, who is well versed in Chinese history and phonology, illuminates the differences between Western and Eastern philosophy in his debut book. European civilization, the author notes, emerged from an oral tradition, one in which the written word was inferior to speech. But in China, script likely preceded speech and was originally used to communicate with “heaven, spirits, or gods.” Fann dissects the implications of this distinction throughout the volume, which is based on a series of five lectures. The second lecture explores “the privilege granted to phonetic language.” European cultures, bound by geographic proximity and similar linguistic traditions, developed a unified mindset that ultimately enabled slavery and ethnocentrism. The author continues to examine Western thought and culture in the final lectures, looking at the work of such figures as Shakespeare, Flaubert, and French philosopher Michel Foucault. According to Foucault, “Modernity…is the attitude that makes it possible to grasp the ‘heroic’ aspect of the present moment.” The last lecture addresses how individualism has led to overconsumption and what French sociologist Jean Baudrillard calls “the minor proliferation of vaguely obsessional gadgetry” and “symbolic psychodramas.” Fann also suggests that contemporary art, “filled with the presence of money,” has lost its meaning. The only solution, he argues, is to “unlearn and relearn what we know”—remove ourselves from our existing ways of thinking and start again.
Fann shares many rich, thought-provoking insights in this engrossing book. The first lecture, “Words Are Cheap and Expensive,” includes an intriguing description of abstract Chinese concepts. The term qi, the author writes, means breath, matter, and more: “Chinese regard qi as an objective cosmic entity. Humans are part of it, grounded in the larger scheme.” The term is difficult to comprehend within a Western framework, which speaks to the limitations of language. It’s worth noting that readers who are unfamiliar with European philosophical concepts like “trace” and “signifier-representer” may find the material hard to follow. But the author also deftly draws on rock music, the Bible, and modern technology, making some ideas more accessible. After learning about years of cultural history in the volume’s first four essays, readers may crave more observations about the present day. Quoting Foucault, Fann urges readers “not to discover what we are, but to refuse what we are.” Curiously, rather than portray “This Self We Deserve,” the author largely dismisses the self, which he portrays as a construct that has fueled materialism. So how do readers “unlearn” a deeply entrenched, self-absorbed belief system? Developing awareness is a suggestion that people seem to hear over and over again. But Fann’s take is one deeply entrenched in world history. To understand the present, he seems to assert, readers must first expand their scope; only then can they begin to investigate the past.
A dense but worthwhile inquiry into the evolution of Western thought.Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73477-180-0
Page Count: 211
Publisher: Philosophy & Art Collaboratory
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
A top-flight nonfiction debut from a unique artist.
The acclaimed director displays his talents as a film critic.
Tarantino’s collection of essays about the important movies of his formative years is packed with everything needed for a powerful review: facts about the work, context about the creative decisions, and whether or not it was successful. The Oscar-winning director of classic films like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs offers plenty of attitude with his thoughts on movies ranging from Animal House to Bullitt to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to The Big Chill. Whether you agree with his assessments or not, he provides the original reporting and insights only a veteran director would notice, and his engaging style makes it impossible to leave an essay without learning something. The concepts he smashes together in two sentences about Taxi Driver would take a semester of film theory class to unpack. Taxi Driver isn’t a “paraphrased remake” of The Searchers like Bogdanovich’s What’s Up, Doc? is a paraphrased remake of Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby or De Palma’s Dressed To Kill is a paraphrased remake of Hitchcock’s Psycho. But it’s about as close as you can get to a paraphrased remake without actually being one. Robert De Niro’s taxi driving protagonist Travis Bickle is John Wayne’s Ethan Edwards. Like any good critic, Tarantino reveals bits of himself as he discusses the films that are important to him, recalling where he was when he first saw them and what the crowd was like. Perhaps not surprisingly, the author was raised by movie-loving parents who took him along to watch whatever they were watching, even if it included violent or sexual imagery. At the age of 8, he had seen the very adult MASH three times. Suddenly the dark humor of Kill Bill makes much more sense. With this collection, Tarantino offers well-researched love letters to his favorite movies of one of Hollywood’s most ambitious eras.
A top-flight nonfiction debut from a unique artist.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-311258-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 31, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
