Nature fights back, translating Blake, into the astrological weeds.
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jamesjbrownjr.net English professor Teaches and studies rhetoric and digital studies Director of the Rutgers-Camden Digital Studies Center (DiSC): digitalstudies.camden.rutgers.edu
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2023 Reading Goal
21% complete! Jim Brown has read 17 of 80 books.
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Jim Brown finished reading Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, …
In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating …
Murder mystery meets eco-fiction
No rating
In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating …
"And I think it tallies with one of my Theories - my belief that the human psyche evolved in order to defend us against seeing the truth. To prevent us from catching sight of the mechanism. The psyche is our defense system - it make sure we'll never understand what's going on around us. Its main task is to filter information, even though the capabilities of our brains are enormous. For it would be impossible to carry the weight of this knowledge. Because very tiny particle of the world is made of suffering." (225)
— Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (Page 225)
Jim Brown started reading Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, …
Jim Brown finished reading Abolition Geography by Ruth Wilson Gilmore
Abolition Geography by Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Brenna Bhandar, Alberto Toscano
New collection of writings from one of the foremost contemporary critical thinkers on racism, geography and incarceration
Gathering together Ruth …
Jim Brown reviewed Abolition Geography by Ruth Wilson Gilmore
New collection of writings from one of the foremost contemporary critical thinkers on racism, geography …
An extremely useful introduction
No rating
I was familiar with Ruth Wilson Gilmore but primarily because I've seen her cited by others. This book laid out some core concepts for me when it comes to her work on abolition (anti-state state was one of these).
I also appreciated that many of the essays here both describe and enact activist scholarship, describing her work with organizations and other scholars.
There's a lot here, and it spans many years of an incredible career.
Jim Brown finished reading Yonder by Jabari Asim
Jim Brown started reading Embassytown by China Miéville
Embassytown by China Miéville
In the far future, humans have colonized a distant planet, home to the enigmatic Ariekei, sentient beings famed for a …
Jim Brown started reading Yonder by Jabari Asim
Jim Brown finished reading A Spectre, Haunting by China Miéville
A Spectre, Haunting by China Miéville
China Miéville's brilliant reading of the modern world's most controversial and enduring political document: the Communist Manifesto.
In 1848 a …
Jim Brown reviewed A Spectre, Haunting by China Miéville
China Miéville's brilliant reading of the modern world's most controversial and enduring political document: the …
A book about how to read
No rating
A book about how to read, and a wonderful demonstration of the method. This is about the Manifesto, it's history, its debates, its import, but it's also just about how to read generously and rigorously:
“The only reasonable way to read the Manifesto - or anything - is to be as flexible as the text itself.”
“We should strive to read as generously as possible - and to read ruthlessly beyond that generosity’s limits.”
One of the best books I've read, full stop. It made me want to dig back into Miéville's fiction, especially since The City and The City is another favorite of mine.
Jim Brown started reading A Spectre, Haunting by China Miéville
A Spectre, Haunting by China Miéville
China Miéville's brilliant reading of the modern world's most controversial and enduring political document: the Communist Manifesto.
In 1848 a …
Jim Brown finished reading Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Jim Brown reviewed Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
meditative time travel novel
No rating
This started slow for me, but I did eventually get into it. It could easily be staged as a play, and I think the time travel piece is somewhat interesting (though, the author does try to get around the inevitable plot holes of a time travel story with a series of unexplained "rules").