Notes on a Life, by Eleanor Coppola is a compilation of the journal entries from Francis Ford Coppola’s wife. She shares moments from her families’ lives. It is beautifully written and an intimate glimpse behind the scenes of celebrity. It made me want to eat well, drink well and travel more often to far away places. An enjoyable book.
Filed under: Books | Tags: Books, brain, Google, internet, online, Shallows
The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains is a book by Nicolas Carr that provides a history of how our brains process and absorb information delivered in evolving channels from oral storytelling, to the written word, from broadcast media to now through the web. The impetus for the book was a 2008 article in The Atlantic titled “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” So, the premise of the book is the possibility that our continued digital media consumption in bits and bites could be diminishing our capacity to understand and process complex issues the require in-depth information analysis. The conclusion, however, is not that our intelligence is waning, but instead that our faculties are changing, even evolving.
The Brain Changes as It Needs to Change
Through the first few chapters of the book, we learn that our brains are amazingly adept at adapting to these changes. The brain actually re-wires itself to deal with the new experiences: “Evolution has given us a brain that can literally change its mind–over and over again.” Experts quoted in the book support this fact:
“Our neurons are always breaking old connections and forming new ones, and brand-new nerve cells are always being created. ‘The brain,’ observes Olds, ‘has the ability to reprogram itself on the fly, altering the way it functions.’”
“‘If we stop exercising our mental skills,’ writes Doidge, ‘we do not just forget them: the brain map space for those skills is turned over to the skills we practice instead.’”
Are We More or Less Creative as a Result?
Our brains become more accustomed to cursory scanning of data for relevant bits of information; in turn, it becomes more difficult for the brain to focus on long-form, single-source reading. This is not a bad thing, as we are able to gather the same amount of information, but now diversify the sources from which that information comes. However, a question was posed about the stifling of creativity as a result of reduced focused on reading as a meditative act. Many of those quoted in the book felt the opposite was true:
“Friedman told me…that he’s ‘never been more creative’ than he has been recently, and he attributes that ‘to my blog and the ability to review/scan “tons” of information on the web.’”
“Karp has come to believe that reading lots of short, linked snippets online is a more efficient way to expand his mind than reading ’250-page books’…”
“Muses Davis, ‘The Internet may have made me a less patient reader, but I think that in many ways, it has made me smarter. More connections to documents, artifacts, and people means more external influences on my thinking and thus on my writing.’”
Conclusion
History has shown that our brains adapt to the way information is processed: we did it when converting from oral storytelling to the written word and we are doing it as we convert from the written word to the digital word.
Recommendation
Read The Shallows. It is a quick, interesting and relevant read right now.
The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains is a book by Nicolas Carr that provides a history of how our brains process and absorb information delivered in evolving channels from oral storytelling, to the written word, from broadcast media to now through the web. The impetus for the book was a 2008 article in The Atlantic titled “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” So, the premise of the book is the possibility that our continued digital media consumption in bits and bites could be diminishing our capacity to understand and process complex issues the require in-depth information analysis. The conclusion, however, is not that our intelligence is waning, but instead that our faculties are changing, even evolving.
Filed under: Books | Tags: Books, Clinton, Edwards, election, Game Change, McCain, Obama, Palin, politics, president
“Game Change” is the much discussed book by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, released a couple of weeks ago. This behind-the-scenes, intimate look at the 2008 presidential race puts forth the innermost thoughts of the candidates and those that worked on the campaigns. It is from this book that Harry Reid’s statement about Obama’s lack of “negro dialect” sprung into the spotlight of political pundits.
The story reads like novel, but one in which you already know the characters. Shock, intrigue and emotion are peppered throughout the pages. If you were even vaguely interested in the presidential campaigns of 2008, you will enjoy this book.
“The City and The City” by China Mielville is a mystery novel with a peculiar premise. There are two cities, side-by-side, yet separated by a highly guarded border. The city inhabitants are strictly prohibited from interacting with each other across that border. In fact, they must go so far as to “unsee” each other when walking side-by-side down streets that are split between the two cities. Any interaction across the border results in “breach.”
The story is told by Inspector Tyador Borlú, the detective assigned to investigate the death of a woman whose body turns up in his city, Beszel. His investigation leads him to the neighboring city, Ul Qoma, where his life changes forever. Conspiracy is rampant and the plot twists and turns.
The descriptions of the differences between the two cities are intricate and fascinating. The fear of breach among the citizens of both cities is complex and surprising. The people must fight instincts of human interaction to live within the forced worlds of these two opposing cities.
Filed under: Books | Tags: Audrey Niffenegger, book review, Books, Her Fearful Symmetry, reading, Time Traveler's Wife
“Her Fearful Symmetry” is the second book by Audry Niffenegger, author also of the popular “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” I read this book on a recommendation from a co-worker. His exact words: “This is not the most well-written book I have ever read, but the plot is different and surprising. It takes a lot to surprise me in plot.” This was enough to make me want to read it. (Thanks, KF, for the recommendation.)
This was a completely enjoyable read. Much like “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” the plot is nothing like I have ever experienced before. I was confused much of the time, not sure where this story would be going. I was angry with characters and angry with the outcome. Everyone does not live happily ever after. There is no closure. But, it was a page turner. I was engaged every second I was reading. While this is not a high-level, intellectual read, it is what makes reading fun.
People vs. ghosts, family vs. love, death vs. life, youth vs. age, obligation vs. freedom – it is all present in this book. Read it.
“Sag Harbor” by Colson Whitehead is a novel about an African-American teenager who is an anomaly at his private New York City school and his vacation town of Sag Harbor. The book takes place during one of those summers spent at Sag Harbor. It is a coming-of-age story as key life events happen this summer for Benji: first job, first kiss, “being in charge” of his little brother rather than his best friend, outgrowing the name Benji.
The novel is beautifully written, but my favorite thing about reading it was the nostalgia I felt for my youth and the 1980s. The book is set in 1985 and references from ’80s pop culture abound. These references had me smiling throughout the read: New Coke, mix tapes recorded from the radio, Member’s Only jackets, and The Cosby Show.
I enjoyed reading from the point-of-view of a teenage boy; the self-doubt, social challenges and perception of the world around him are similar to those that teenage girls feel, but with a macho twist. But, Benji is a bit of a nerd (self-proclaimed) and gives all his encounters a humorous edge.
Larry McMurty’s memoir on the buying, selling, and collecting of books is an interesting read, for the most part. The book, titled “Books,” can come across as self-indulgent for Mr. McMurty: he seems to gloat on his place in the book business. However, for someone not at all familiar with that world, it was interesting to learn about that business and gave me a new appreciation for the value of books.
I felt the book was missing something, though. McMurty is of course an accomplished author, and maybe I was wanting to understand better how he wove his writing life into his book collecting life a little more. On the basis of this memoir, one could assume that he spent the majority of his life in the book collecting business. However, looking at McMurty’s body of writing work, we know that not to be true. We also have to assume that the book collecting business might not be lucrative enough for anyone to have a sustainable income from it, knowing McMurty’s writing successes.
Throughout the book, McMurty whines a bit about the decline in appreciation of books and reading, and wonders what might happen to it in this new world of iPods, Blackberries and the like. The problem with this complaint is that he also talks of his non-familiarity with technology: he still uses a typewriter and has never quite mastered changing the ribbon. Books are not going away. We may consume them in different ways, but they are not going away. People who don’t understand and use technology should not complain that its mere presence will be the pitfall of books.
“Books” is a quick read with one page chapters that broke the content into small bites. For someone looking to for a quick understanding book brokering, it is worth the time to read.
“The Savage Detectives” is a novel by Robert Bolano. Originally written in Spanish, the book is lengthy–672 pages–and a bit cumbersome, though entertaining and dynamic in parts. The main part of the story is told through the perspectives of many different characters and jumps around in time from 1975 to sometime in the mid-1990s.
This is the story of two poets, Belano and Lima, who found a group of poets called the Visceral Realists. The first part of the book is told from the pages of a 17-year-old’s journal, in 1975, as he drops out of law school to join this poetry movement and live as a vagabond among their group. With his new friends, he loses his virginity, gets shot at, and ultimately runs away with Belano, Lima and hooker who is being hunted by her pimp.
The second part of the book then shifts to “interviews” with various people who have encountered either Belano, Lima, or both during their travels across the world. These people have been lovers, enemies, friends, and general acquaintences of the two men. The stories move around between the years of 1975 and the mid-1990s. We learn of the adventurous lives these men led and how they are manipulative in ways that can make you both love and hate them. This long second part of the book is difficult and can be excrutiating to get through. While there are gems to be found in this 400-page stretch, it is far too easy to get lost.
The last part of the book circles back to our 17-year-old journalist and picks up where we left off at the beginning: his escape with Belano, Lima and Lupe, the hooker. To be quite honest, I merely skimmed the last 150 pages; by this point I was a bored with the men.
While I appreciate the writing of Bolano in this book, I am not certain that I truly understood the story other than as an adventure book.
Announced today, “Olive Kitteridge” (Ms. Reeves Review below) wins a Pulitzer. It was this book that sparked my desire to start this website. I knew I had good taste.
