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samvz's review against another edition
2.0
Рада, що ця книжка є з простої причини: незважаючи на всі намагання спростити і замінити мову, цього поки нікому не вдалося. Нам доведеться і далі шукати способи порозуміння, які не есперанто і не емодзі.
periklis's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting concept (+1 star). However, it proves that just because you *can* read something, it doesn't mean that it is necessarily worth reading...
hammo's review against another edition
3.0
Mildly diverting.
It's a story told in icons, and there's really not much beyond that. If I tried to write a story using icons then I expect I would end up with something vaguely similar. Which is to say, Xu Bing completely fails to transcend the medium. There are a couple of passable jokes, but that's about as clever as it gets.
The experience of reading a story in icons is interesting. It was more mentally straining than I expected. Less like reading a picture book and more like solving a rebus puzzle. It rather made me appreciate the existence of words. I also found myself compelled to narrate the action aloud, first in prose and then in song. Perhaps my brain didn't like the word vacuum.
It's a story told in icons, and there's really not much beyond that. If I tried to write a story using icons then I expect I would end up with something vaguely similar. Which is to say, Xu Bing completely fails to transcend the medium. There are a couple of passable jokes, but that's about as clever as it gets.
The experience of reading a story in icons is interesting. It was more mentally straining than I expected. Less like reading a picture book and more like solving a rebus puzzle. It rather made me appreciate the existence of words. I also found myself compelled to narrate the action aloud, first in prose and then in song. Perhaps my brain didn't like the word vacuum.
mugren's review
5.0
I was skeptical at first, thinking it would be difficult to understand the story as it's a book written only using symbols and emojis. However, it's really easy to read. I also laughed a few times.
omnibozo22's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a project where the process is more interesting and important than the content. Decades ago Xu Bing made an art installation called The Book from the Sky. He created thousands of "Chinese" characters that were not real characters. They looked and felt like real characters, but they carried no meaning beyond the elements of their shapes. He printed hundreds of pages of them, in a multitude of formats and filled the installation with iterations of them.
To follow up that project, he conceived of The Book from the Ground. This book has no word text. The story is told entirely through the use of icons and symbols commonly found online. The icons are arranged to tell the mundane story of one day in the life of an average office worker. It could be compared to Joyce's Ulysses. The cover doesn't convey the essence of the approach, so, when I post this on FB I'll include a random page from the book.
I'm working on a student activity that will use one sentence from the book (don't know which one, yet) to demonstrate the power of images, symbolism and metaphor in film. Yeah. Not entirely sure how I'll make that all come together, but getting there.
To follow up that project, he conceived of The Book from the Ground. This book has no word text. The story is told entirely through the use of icons and symbols commonly found online. The icons are arranged to tell the mundane story of one day in the life of an average office worker. It could be compared to Joyce's Ulysses. The cover doesn't convey the essence of the approach, so, when I post this on FB I'll include a random page from the book.
I'm working on a student activity that will use one sentence from the book (don't know which one, yet) to demonstrate the power of images, symbolism and metaphor in film. Yeah. Not entirely sure how I'll make that all come together, but getting there.
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