Malte reviewed Humankind by Timothy Morton
Review of 'Humankind' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
WARNING: Not a very generous review. Absolutely sloppy in fact.
This was such a frustrating read. At some times I outright hated the book, and wanted to throw it away (I think it's because I knew, deep down I had to finish it, that it was a nemesis of mine, and the thought of having to go through a hundred more pages of the same stuff was so revolting). I very much doubt if I'm on the same team as Timothy Morton. Aesthetically and viscerally, I don't like this book. Unfortunately, there's no way around it, because so far it is the only one explicitly dealing with a crucial question of our time: How to imagine something like the core of communism in a way that is about more than human relations? (And this is not just a euphemism for some kind of veganism, even if this is a stop …
WARNING: Not a very generous review. Absolutely sloppy in fact.
This was such a frustrating read. At some times I outright hated the book, and wanted to throw it away (I think it's because I knew, deep down I had to finish it, that it was a nemesis of mine, and the thought of having to go through a hundred more pages of the same stuff was so revolting). I very much doubt if I'm on the same team as Timothy Morton. Aesthetically and viscerally, I don't like this book. Unfortunately, there's no way around it, because so far it is the only one explicitly dealing with a crucial question of our time: How to imagine something like the core of communism in a way that is about more than human relations? (And this is not just a euphemism for some kind of veganism, even if this is a stop Morton has taken and is related to it. But if you start to think of communism in terms of attachment instead of equality, which is how the question has been raised most strongly in France recently [e.g. in the ZAD] you inevitably end up with more than human attachments, e.g. the attachment to the place you live, the specific seasonal patterns there, the smell and the flora of the nearby wetland, this building that I squatted two years ago and my life-long dog companion etc. etc.). Morton does deal with these things and for that this book should be applauded. I would not recommend my friends to read it though, because it was so frustrating. I still struggle with describing why it was so frustrating, and one could counter: this is exactly why you need to read this book more, to explore any differences still implicit and turn it into an interesting conflict between two potential positions that are basically in close family ties (not to mention how these two imaginary positions are already a subset of a much larger communist tradition that has tended to exclude the more than human world, so we are really talking about a fierce fight between two very close and marginal positions). And of course, these are the conflicts which are most interesting. Unfortunately, I have a strong feeling, this won't happen. At least, I don't think I will do any work for it, here or elsewhere. I can only hope someone with the stamina and clarity would. This book could definitely be plundered for the many small stories or metaphors that appear through the book, if you ignore the overall idea of the book (which I admittedly still don't get). There's something messy and opportunistic about this book, I wouldn't want to waste too much time. And my gut tells me there's a lack of sincerity in Morton's use of the communist tradition. It reminds me of the constant change of vocabulary and symbols in the many shifting fads of the art industry (of which Morton is a frequent collaborator). I just don't trust this world, sorry.
