Reviews

Frozen Desire: The Meaning of Money by James Buchan

robinbsmith's review against another edition

5.0

Initially found the intro a bit quirky and offputting, but so glad I stuck with it. Truly brilliant, not least of which the exceptionally styled prose. Each chapter is a stand alone essay that pierces yet futher past the edifice of money to its profound core. Taken in total, really thorough and builds to an impressive composite, ending with a powerful and poetic ode to humanity and value in its true sense. Full of keen insights, sophistication, subtlety, and more than a few instances of impressive literary analysis. I had to exclaim “holy shit” at many moments during the reading. It left me dazed by its revelations. Dense and allusive (in the best of ways) but also with a great eye for the throughline where another text would get bogged down explaining itself, it paints the whole picture with a lot left to be gleaned from closer inspection of the details. This book and its importance are bound to elude many casual observers. The only critique is a less than generous portrayal of Marx and perhaps some lack of appreciation for his true import, but otherwise, just tremendous. I will be rereading this likely several times.