Somewhere in between 2 - 3 stars. Picked up the book years ago but left it collect dust on my shelves after a failed attempt at reading it. The first part is worth reading, the mix of science with popular culture, explaining how addiction has been studied and evolved throughout the years is confirming some assumptions I had.
On the other hand, the second part is as boring as a corporate conversation during which people open up about their feelings and feel vulnerable. The author spread the explanation of addiction-inducing design elements over hundred of pages without any clear understanding of why that is necessary. We all know phones make us addicted, we all know the infinite scroll is there to keep us in the loop.
With those non-fiction books, the tone becomes predictable after a couple of pages in.
Reviews and Comments
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stochita reviewed Irresistible by Adam Alter
Welcome to the age of behavioral addiction—an age in which half of the American population …
Review of 'Irresistible' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
stochita rated Netanyahus: 5 stars
stochita reviewed What Hes Poised To Do Stories by Ben Greenman
Review of 'What Hes Poised To Do Stories' on 'Goodreads'
After reading over half of the book, I was wondering why did I keep on coming back to it? I felt that I got the sense of it, what the author was going for and the feelings it was arousing in me were just repeating themselves story after story.
It is not a discouraging review, but rather a personal note on my relationship to the book which I imagined to pick up after work or during work, but during the breaks I often take from work because of the heat that makes it impossible for me to work, and transpose my mind in a fast-paced imaginary world. If I read this book in winter, it would have been different, I am sure, but during the summer, when the time calls for car chases and elevated emotions, the book offers rather space for reflection, self-inquiry and empathy with the characters that …
After reading over half of the book, I was wondering why did I keep on coming back to it? I felt that I got the sense of it, what the author was going for and the feelings it was arousing in me were just repeating themselves story after story.
It is not a discouraging review, but rather a personal note on my relationship to the book which I imagined to pick up after work or during work, but during the breaks I often take from work because of the heat that makes it impossible for me to work, and transpose my mind in a fast-paced imaginary world. If I read this book in winter, it would have been different, I am sure, but during the summer, when the time calls for car chases and elevated emotions, the book offers rather space for reflection, self-inquiry and empathy with the characters that find themselves in situations we, in our Protestant logic, would deem as irrational.
Try being in love and acting with reason. I wonder who can.
stochita rated The Vegetarian: 5 stars
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Translation of Ch'aesikchuŭija (Published 2007 by Ch'angbi)
stochita rated Small Things Like These: 5 stars
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize
"A hypnotic and electrifying Irish tale that transcends country, transcends time." —Lily King, New …
stochita rated When We Cease to Understand the World: 5 stars
When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut, Adrian Nathan West
A fictional examination of the lives of real-life scientists and thinkers whose discoveries resulted in moral consequences beyond their imagining. …
stochita rated Summary of Anne Boyer's the Undying: 5 stars
stochita rated How to Blow up a Pipeline: 3 stars
How to Blow up a Pipeline by Andreas Malm, Andreas Malm
Why resisting climate change means combatting the fossil fuel industry
The science on climate change has been clear for a …
stochita rated Fever Dream: 5 stars
Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin
"A young woman named Amanda lies dying in a rural hospital clinic. A boy named David sits beside her. She's …
stochita rated East of Eden: 5 stars
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden “the first book,” and indeed it has the …
stochita rated The Frolic of the Beasts: 4 stars
The Frolic of the Beasts by 三島由紀夫
The Frolic of the Beasts (Japanese: 獣の戯れ, Hepburn: Kemono no Tawamure) is a 1961 novel by Yukio Mishima. It is …
stochita rated Twilight of Democracy: 2 stars
Franco Berardi: Heroes (2015)
Heroes by Franco Berardi (Verso futures)
"What is the relationship between capitalism and mental health? Through an exhilarating mix of philosophical and psychoanalytical theory and reportage …
stochita reviewed The playboy by Chester Brown
Review of 'The playboy' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Recently got into graphic novels as a way of procrastinating. Instead of going on Facebook, I pick up something, read, and then continue work.
Picked this up for 3 bucks and truly disappointed. While the topics of addiction, pornography and sexual education could have made an incredible story, this book does not even try hard.
I found out that a guy was buying playboys, masturbating, hiding them and sometimes thinking about the magazines. That is it.
Tho, I liked the graphics, that is why I won’t give it only a star.