Scan barcode
patchworkbunny's review against another edition
4.0
It’s an eye-opening look at a country many of us wouldn’t hesitate to go to on our summer holidays. Perhaps it is a little one-sided but it’s a side we don’t really get to hear about. My heart goes out the people of Greece whose lives have been ruined by economics and the innocent who are blamed in the backlash. It’s also quite critical of traditional press, both in Greece and at home, looking at the natural evolution of reporting in the digital age but Laurie also explains how it’s hard making a living as an independent journalist. Sometimes she is not welcomed on either side of the picket line.
Of course, what sets Discordia apart from other pieces of journalism is Molly’s wonderful illustrations. The ink and pencil drawings are the perfect medium for ebooks, something that the eInk renders well. I will admit to reading it on my iPad for the subtleties of colour but really, they don’t need to be seen in colour to be appreciated. They are a mix of sketches on ruled notebooks, made on the spot, and more considered drawings done from photos and memories. Laurie’s text and Molly’s drawings were done independently of each other but they fit together seamlessly, drawn from the same experiences.
I’m not sure if it was a compatibility issue or a formatting error with the ePUB but there were some duplicate images. This could be on purpose, but the illustrations are placed at relevant points in the text, and where the duplicates appeared they just didn’t seem to correspond. I would be interested to know if anyone noticed this on the Kindle version.
blatanville's review against another edition
4.0
tsharris's review against another edition
5.0
danielwestheide's review against another edition
5.0
"Discordia" is a highly informative and compelling read. Penny's writing is really captivating and the result of getting very close with people, making even initially tight-lipped collocutors open up. To be very clear, "Discordia" is not about merely reporting and informing, but is to a large extent commentary and certainly also a call to action: Penny is just as angry with the status quo she is writing about as the people that are getting a chance to speak in "Discordia". Sometimes, she digresses a little from the core message of the book, but not as much as to risk losing the thread completely.
I did not like much of what I had to read in this book, but that's the whole point, of course. There are a lot of personal stories in here that are really upsetting, even more so knowing that these are no isolated cases. Other parts of the book are plain frightening: The increasing influence of the Nazis in a country suffering from its imposed austerity programme and the utter impotence when faced with a police that is looking away at best sound all too much like Weimar Republic 2.0. Why most of the media say nothing about this development is beyond me.
"Discordia" is a must-read not only for people who like to think they know all about the Greek crisis. The agility enabled by the digital-only publication is one of the crucial quality of this book: This is not a chronicle of what happened back in the days, but a very relevant piece of journalism here and now. At the same time it is much more extensive, better researched and edited than a typical blog article can be. This agility also made it possible to include a coda about the arrestment of Molly Crabapple during the Occupy Wall Street one year anniversary, which happened less than two weeks before the book's release.
periodicreader's review against another edition
4.0
janedallaway's review against another edition
4.0
It was an interesting read, a good combination of observation and experience.
Worth a read.
janedallaway's review
4.0
It was an interesting read, a good combination of observation and experience.
Worth a read.
olrandir's review
4.0
kurenai's review
4.0
They don't know that we start the mania.
- Amanda Palmer, Map of Tasmania
I thought this was a good insight into what happened/is happening in Greece. Laurie Penny has a way for words that keeps us, the reader, interested and engaged and Molly Crabapple's artwork is a wonderful addition.
My main problem had nothing to do with the content and everything to do with the text size. I bought and read this on Kindle Cloud through the internet rather than through my actual Kindle in the hopes that the images would be of much better quality. However, I had to oscillate between huge, regular, and mini-note sized text. Really hard to read!!
Otherwise than that I have nothing to complain about.