BookWyrm

rra reviewed Ways of Seeing by John Berger

John Berger, et al: Ways of Seeing (Hardcover, 1972, British Broadcasting Corp)

How do we see the world around us? The Penguin on Design series includes the …

You probably already know it but you'll want to read it nontheless.

4 stars

A central art-school reference that I actually never read during art school. Too busy making stuff, I guess.

Finally reading it more than a decade after I got it assigned, I find it striking how the ideas it has about images are so normalized that they do not even seem remarkable but rather cliché. It goes to show how early 2010s West-European art institutions live and breathe Berger et al.'s (as well as Beaudrillard, Mulvey, de Beauvoir's) perspectives on classic painting and visual culture.

The visual essays are particularly interesting, but the penguin pocket version butchers their lay-out.

Thanks to @vanderZwan@vis.social for borrowing it to me!

rra rated Jävla karlar: 4 stars

Andrev Walden: Jävla karlar (Swedish language, 2023, Polaris)

Jävla karlar by Andrev Walden

rra rated Green Mars: 3 stars

Kim Stanley Robinson, Kim Stanley Robinson: Green Mars (Paperback, 1995, Bantam Books)

Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, Kim Stanley Robinson (Mars (2))

In the Nebula Award winning Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson began his critically acclaimed epic saga of the colonization of …

rra rated När vi var samer: 5 stars

Mats Jonsson: När vi var samer (Hardcover, Swedish language, Ordfront förlag)

När vi var samer by Mats Jonsson

När Mats farfar dör öppnar familjen för första gången den förslutna och förbjudna svepask som alltid funnits i farfaderns hem. …

rra finished reading Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (Mars (2))

In the Nebula Award winning Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson began his critically acclaimed epic …

Its ok? Last 30% was really a slog to go through. Personally I think these novels are just a bit too long and repetitive. But of course last 20 pages grip you and you pick up the next one..

rra finished reading När vi var samer by Mats Jonsson

När Mats farfar dör öppnar familjen för första gången den förslutna och förbjudna svepask som …

Ambitious graphic novel on the complex history of Sapmi/Swedish relations. Really enjoyable and informative. Happy to see that my Swedish is now good enough to follow.

rra started reading När vi var samer by Mats Jonsson

När Mats farfar dör öppnar familjen för första gången den förslutna och förbjudna svepask som …

As my Swedish improves, I finally get around to actually read this graphic novel

rra reviewed The Nutmeg's Curse by Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh: The Nutmeg's Curse (Paperback, 2021, John Murray)

The history of the nutmeg is one of conquest and exploitation – of both human …

Do read it.

5 stars

An incredibly rich work on colonialism and climate change. Using the story of the nutmeg and the colonization of Indonesia's Banda islands, the author zooms in and out of specific places and historical moments to describe how colonialism, racism, and climate change are intimately entwined. In this work, spices, oceans, volcanos, animals, and plants are not passive subjects of colonialism, instead they take an active role and compel people and other animals to act in specific ways. With this emphasis on the more-than-human, the author demonstrates how far-flung places and different historical epochs that might seem far apart are connected more thoroughly than we think. Ultimately, the book makes a case for telling new stories about climate change, away from the view of CC as a technical / economic challenge. The book has a fantastic list of references and a very rich bibliography for those that want to dig further. …

An incredibly rich work on colonialism and climate change. Using the story of the nutmeg and the colonization of Indonesia's Banda islands, the author zooms in and out of specific places and historical moments to describe how colonialism, racism, and climate change are intimately entwined. In this work, spices, oceans, volcanos, animals, and plants are not passive subjects of colonialism, instead they take an active role and compel people and other animals to act in specific ways. With this emphasis on the more-than-human, the author demonstrates how far-flung places and different historical epochs that might seem far apart are connected more thoroughly than we think. Ultimately, the book makes a case for telling new stories about climate change, away from the view of CC as a technical / economic challenge. The book has a fantastic list of references and a very rich bibliography for those that want to dig further.

Will have to read it again.