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livbness's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
pageglue's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
5.0
After just a few pages into this book, I had decided that Teju Cole was an auto-buy author for me. Known and Strange Things is an essay collection divided into 4 sections: Reading Things (book and poetry reviews), Seeing Things (art, photography and film reviews and observations), Being There (travel writing/essays on political situations in certain places), and an Epilogue.
Cole is a wickedly good writer. Every single essay ranged from good to very excellent. He is also a photographer, and his educational background is in art history. He was born in America but grew up in Nigeria: “I was born American, but I also had to learn to become American… My understanding of American experience has mostly been from the point of view of a recent African immigrant.” He writes with keen insight and compassion, and he has an impressively broad and deep knowledge of literature and art which he draws from and incorporates into his writing with the fluid grace of a rower’s oar. Cole and I have very different tastes in books and media, but I loved reading what he was interested in and why. His reviews left me thinking, ‘I don’t think I’d enjoy that book/movie, but man that was a great review.’ I loved most his writings on photography and on the artist as curator. He also introduced me to a lot of great artists/photographers and their work has really stayed with me.
Cole is a wickedly good writer. Every single essay ranged from good to very excellent. He is also a photographer, and his educational background is in art history. He was born in America but grew up in Nigeria: “I was born American, but I also had to learn to become American… My understanding of American experience has mostly been from the point of view of a recent African immigrant.” He writes with keen insight and compassion, and he has an impressively broad and deep knowledge of literature and art which he draws from and incorporates into his writing with the fluid grace of a rower’s oar. Cole and I have very different tastes in books and media, but I loved reading what he was interested in and why. His reviews left me thinking, ‘I don’t think I’d enjoy that book/movie, but man that was a great review.’ I loved most his writings on photography and on the artist as curator. He also introduced me to a lot of great artists/photographers and their work has really stayed with me.
failedimitator's review against another edition
3.0
I liked "Reading Things". "Seeing Things" was a bit difficult for me to read because I don't know nearly enough about photography and art history, and I felt the writing itself didn't have anything else to carry me through. But "Being There" was incredible and if the book was just that, I'd give it five stars easy.
fluentinsilence's review against another edition
4.0
lang wilde ik dit drie sterren geven. deel I, Dingen lezen is best de moeite waarde maar de teksten zijn me eigenlijk te kort (vaak maar twee-en-een-halve pagina o.i.d.). deel II (Dingen zien) begint sterk met het stuk ‘Naamloos meer’ maar bevat veel teksten die niet mijn interesse hebben (fotografie-related), en wederom te kort van stuk zijn.
Teju Cole is in zijn essay op z'n best als hij niet per sé duidt, maar gewoon aanwezig is en observeert, bijvoorbeeld wanneer hij Sebalds graf bezoekt. (of ideeën uitwerkt, overigens. dan wel zijn eigen ideeën.) in deel III van dit boek, getiteld Aanwezig zijn is Cole dan ook op z'n best. hij schrijft dan over Kony 2012, Nigeria, zijn tegenstrijdige gevoelens rondom de president-verkiezingen in 2008, toen Obama voor 't eerst werd verkozen.
ook schrijft hij over de Amerikaans-Mexicaanse grens waar veel mensen omkomen bij een enorme muur die volgens Cole om strategische redenen niet af is (hoop/ wanhoop). hij vertelt wat er gebeurt met mensen die elders verdwijnen en hier bij die grens naamloos verschijnen, onherkenbaar vaak ook, soms kan men niet eens vaststellen of het om een man of vrouw gaat. Cole beschrijft vervolgens de begraafplaatsen, die waar de locals ten ruste worden gelegd: een groen paradijs vol altijdgroene bomen die veel schaduw bieden, & de begraafplaats voor de gevonden wanhopigen, een beeld dat me niet loslaat: een stoffig veld waar zich afval ophoopt, weinig groen, kleine, jonge bomen.
Cole vraagt zich zelf ergens af: Hoeveel dingen zien we allemaal niet, tenzij ons erover wordt verteld? ja. dat is dan ook waarom veel van zijn verhalen in het derde deel me zo aanspreken, waarom dit boek toch vier sterren moet geven. dit zijn verhalen die er toe doen.
kortom: zeer blij dit gelezen te hebben.
(het is overigens niet waar dat er over Virginia Woolf wordt geschreven. ze komt twee keer voorbij: één keer wordt de eerste zin van haar Mrs. Dalloway overgenomen en in een ander essay leest Cole Woolfs dagboeken. dat is het. teleurstellend, aangezien Woolf volgens de blurb een onderwerp is in dit boek.)
(fragment: https://winterlief.blogspot.nl/2016/09/naamloos-meer-teju-cole.html)
Teju Cole is in zijn essay op z'n best als hij niet per sé duidt, maar gewoon aanwezig is en observeert, bijvoorbeeld wanneer hij Sebalds graf bezoekt. (of ideeën uitwerkt, overigens. dan wel zijn eigen ideeën.) in deel III van dit boek, getiteld Aanwezig zijn is Cole dan ook op z'n best. hij schrijft dan over Kony 2012, Nigeria, zijn tegenstrijdige gevoelens rondom de president-verkiezingen in 2008, toen Obama voor 't eerst werd verkozen.
ook schrijft hij over de Amerikaans-Mexicaanse grens waar veel mensen omkomen bij een enorme muur die volgens Cole om strategische redenen niet af is (hoop/ wanhoop). hij vertelt wat er gebeurt met mensen die elders verdwijnen en hier bij die grens naamloos verschijnen, onherkenbaar vaak ook, soms kan men niet eens vaststellen of het om een man of vrouw gaat. Cole beschrijft vervolgens de begraafplaatsen, die waar de locals ten ruste worden gelegd: een groen paradijs vol altijdgroene bomen die veel schaduw bieden, & de begraafplaats voor de gevonden wanhopigen, een beeld dat me niet loslaat: een stoffig veld waar zich afval ophoopt, weinig groen, kleine, jonge bomen.
Cole vraagt zich zelf ergens af: Hoeveel dingen zien we allemaal niet, tenzij ons erover wordt verteld? ja. dat is dan ook waarom veel van zijn verhalen in het derde deel me zo aanspreken, waarom dit boek toch vier sterren moet geven. dit zijn verhalen die er toe doen.
kortom: zeer blij dit gelezen te hebben.
(het is overigens niet waar dat er over Virginia Woolf wordt geschreven. ze komt twee keer voorbij: één keer wordt de eerste zin van haar Mrs. Dalloway overgenomen en in een ander essay leest Cole Woolfs dagboeken. dat is het. teleurstellend, aangezien Woolf volgens de blurb een onderwerp is in dit boek.)
(fragment: https://winterlief.blogspot.nl/2016/09/naamloos-meer-teju-cole.html)
shallihavemydwarf's review against another edition
3.0
I had a lot of the same feelings about this book that I did about Neil Gaiman's View from the Cheap Seats. Both books attempt to package disperate or homeless essays, many of which probably should have just stayed on the author's blog. Cole waves a hand to purposefulness in his preface, but to very little noticeable effect.
Cole is unquestionably a more intelligent writer than Gaiman, and a few of these essays were quite good. I particularly enjoyed the one on Julius Caesar. If you happen to have a well-rounded background in photography, this book may be a great fit for you. So many of the included essays are photography related, that I wonder why Cole didn't simply choose to write a book on that topic, especially given his background in art history.
Cole is unquestionably a more intelligent writer than Gaiman, and a few of these essays were quite good. I particularly enjoyed the one on Julius Caesar. If you happen to have a well-rounded background in photography, this book may be a great fit for you. So many of the included essays are photography related, that I wonder why Cole didn't simply choose to write a book on that topic, especially given his background in art history.
mugren's review against another edition
1.0
The topics in this book weren't for me, nor was his style of writing.
poetics's review against another edition
4.0
cole touches on a wide breadth of topics in this essay collection. from the personal to art, current cultural/socio-political events, traveling and photography; he really does have an essay for almost every topic you'd think a writer might write about. some essays were difficult for me only in that i had no reference point for what he was talking about (certain art or artists), but i still enjoyed his style of writing. cole writes in a way that is clear and easy to understand, while still leaving room for the reader to have even more questions, or the urge to seek out more information. he pulls you in to whatever is being discussed and you feel yourself becoming truly invested in the topic at hand. there were also plenty of bits that were profound in their subtly and straightforwardness. as cole said in his essay, "the white savior industrial complex", (and i'm paraphrasing) some things you need to speech about directly and plainly. call a spade, a spade as it were.
so, i will definitely be returning to this collection from time to time as there is something deeply comforting about some of his pieces, certainly the more personal ones.
so, i will definitely be returning to this collection from time to time as there is something deeply comforting about some of his pieces, certainly the more personal ones.
shirleenr's review against another edition
5.0
Nov 15 2017
tba
_____________
nov 9 2017
i am determined to finish this book by Dec. 31, 2017!! i abandoned it in 2016. the essays in the final third appeal to me much more strongly. or maybe i needes a rest from art and literary reviews one after another
thus far these politically edged essays hook me in, they are more streamlined. like Cole's night in NYC at 125th and ACP Blvd 7th Ave on Nov 4 2008 night Obama won the presidency. or reasons he sees Obama as a more representative of late 20 c immigrant story presidency than first African American . or Ebola, Nigerian government.
tba
_____________
nov 9 2017
i am determined to finish this book by Dec. 31, 2017!! i abandoned it in 2016. the essays in the final third appeal to me much more strongly. or maybe i needes a rest from art and literary reviews one after another
thus far these politically edged essays hook me in, they are more streamlined. like Cole's night in NYC at 125th and ACP Blvd 7th Ave on Nov 4 2008 night Obama won the presidency. or reasons he sees Obama as a more representative of late 20 c immigrant story presidency than first African American . or Ebola, Nigerian government.
luisaredford's review against another edition
5.0
I loved each and every essay in this Teju Cole's collection. Each meanders through his thoughts and life and each one has taught me something. I love creative narrative forms and these essays work in different ways to tell stories about life. It's wonderful.