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nawis's review against another edition
4.0
I expected this book to be more reflective of its subtitle: "Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World" (if you have the 25th Anniv. Ed.), but as a sociological study of the gift cycle recounted via anthropological narratives, medieval church history, myths/fables, and two case-studies devoted to Whitman and Pound, Hyde's book was a complete success.
Hyde suggests that gifts have worth in their perpetual movement and therefore exist in an economy separate from the commodity-driven market, which accounts for the value disparity between arts/pure sciences and business/finance/et al., and any commodification of gifts effectively withdraws them from the gift economy.
I found the first half of the book to be particularly interesting with respect to academic publishing and the accessibility of knowledge (esp. knowledge gained via public/gov funding). Academic pursuits operate within a gift economy similar to that of the arts community, yet most academic publishers charge exorbitant prices for access to their journals (read: commodification). In the new afterward by the author, Hyde touches on the recent open science initiative of PLoS and others, but this could also extend to the arts (e.g., free Pandora/Spotify vs physical media, e-books of public domain books vs print copies, and films uploaded to streaming video sites).
His portrait of Whitman was very compelling (the interspersed passages from Leaves of Grass were absolutely gorgeous and moved Whitman's work higher up on my reading list). The following section on Pound was slightly less successful in my opinion. Re: my critique regarding the subtitle, the first real instance of Hyde addressing "the Modern World" occurs in the conclusion, but the conclusion is quite effective overall.
If you're at all interested in the history of gift-giving and its implications for art and science (among other things), The Gift is highly affecting and will indeed change your outlook on how these two economies (gift and market) operate.
Hyde suggests that gifts have worth in their perpetual movement and therefore exist in an economy separate from the commodity-driven market, which accounts for the value disparity between arts/pure sciences and business/finance/et al., and any commodification of gifts effectively withdraws them from the gift economy.
I found the first half of the book to be particularly interesting with respect to academic publishing and the accessibility of knowledge (esp. knowledge gained via public/gov funding). Academic pursuits operate within a gift economy similar to that of the arts community, yet most academic publishers charge exorbitant prices for access to their journals (read: commodification). In the new afterward by the author, Hyde touches on the recent open science initiative of PLoS and others, but this could also extend to the arts (e.g., free Pandora/Spotify vs physical media, e-books of public domain books vs print copies, and films uploaded to streaming video sites).
His portrait of Whitman was very compelling (the interspersed passages from Leaves of Grass were absolutely gorgeous and moved Whitman's work higher up on my reading list). The following section on Pound was slightly less successful in my opinion. Re: my critique regarding the subtitle, the first real instance of Hyde addressing "the Modern World" occurs in the conclusion, but the conclusion is quite effective overall.
If you're at all interested in the history of gift-giving and its implications for art and science (among other things), The Gift is highly affecting and will indeed change your outlook on how these two economies (gift and market) operate.
sophiafarias's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
rumbledethumps's review against another edition
2.0
Some interesting ideas about art and the marketplace, but overall not for me. Too much talk about creativity being an ineffable gift from the universe or whatever.
sonicdonutflour's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
The first half of the book was a quite interesting history of gift exchange (even if white anthropologists were sited uncritically) but the second half is primarily just an examination of boring white dude poets and lost me a bit.Flf
erin_jones's review against another edition
4.0
How difficult to review this book! I loved it...except for the chapters on Whitman and Pound, which I started and then skipped. (If you quibble with me marking this as "finished" that's fair.) Those felt stylistically and thematically like they didn't fit; at some point in the Whitman chapter I started to feel as though I was reading an English term paper. Perhaps this was my own taste.
But!
All the other chapters!
So many concepts that blew my mind. My favorite was the chapter about the cobbler and the elves, which I thought about for weeks afterward and the main concept behind which will stick with me and my art forever. I loved reading about gift economies and thinking about cultures, including my own, through a lens I never had before. So much here to chew on and, you know? gifts.
But!
All the other chapters!
So many concepts that blew my mind. My favorite was the chapter about the cobbler and the elves, which I thought about for weeks afterward and the main concept behind which will stick with me and my art forever. I loved reading about gift economies and thinking about cultures, including my own, through a lens I never had before. So much here to chew on and, you know? gifts.
deepfreezebatman's review against another edition
2.0
I started off strong with this book.. but by part two I completely lost interest. Some chapters, such as the one on philosophy, were pretty fascinating.. but I'm just not that into poetry.
timmyr's review against another edition
Got through the intro and first chapter. Enjoyed it a great deal, but this book is dense with myths and what I'd consider Jungian deconstruction of those myths. After a certain point, I couldn't hang.
kjboldon's review against another edition
4.0
Useful, but overlong and dated with so.e questionable cultural references ("the Jew of the Old Testament"?). But the question of how art and commerce can coexist , the examples of Whitman and Pound, are worthwhile. I would seriously skim the section on usury, though.