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casparb's review
Curious little one which reminds me to read more Hölderlin. I have very real ups and downs with Bifo Berardi here but it's interesting and probably worth the time especially if one has a general understanding of FBB's Deleuzo-Guattarian background. Found his read on Hegel (and to a lesser extent, Baudrillard) pretty crass.
I think it's fair to say that this text loses sight of the poetry aspect during the midsection and has a general look at 21st century politics. Žižekian ring. Reading recent leftish books on politics seems increasingly difficult to me - anything written before 2018 seems quite divorced from the present and I don't think that's just the character of time passing. Anyway, Breathing was published in 2018 and I think evades most of the embarrassing 2017ish breathlessness (pun etc etc) though we do see the usual histrionics about the trump regime and irony which we've all seen before endlessly and it's not unique in the conclusions there. I feel that time was mostly wasted and FBB could have put his energies into something more structurally useful concerning the future but alas.
Probably I came about quite sceptical because Auden was in mind the entire time and I never felt the case for poetry quite came to a conclusion. Not that FBB ought to or even could provide a poetic praxis that could dispel. There are really interesting angles that come about in this text and I feel I'll come back to it some time. I'd read more Berardi.
I think it's fair to say that this text loses sight of the poetry aspect during the midsection and has a general look at 21st century politics. Žižekian ring. Reading recent leftish books on politics seems increasingly difficult to me - anything written before 2018 seems quite divorced from the present and I don't think that's just the character of time passing. Anyway, Breathing was published in 2018 and I think evades most of the embarrassing 2017ish breathlessness (pun etc etc) though we do see the usual histrionics about the trump regime and irony which we've all seen before endlessly and it's not unique in the conclusions there. I feel that time was mostly wasted and FBB could have put his energies into something more structurally useful concerning the future but alas.
Probably I came about quite sceptical because Auden was in mind the entire time and I never felt the case for poetry quite came to a conclusion. Not that FBB ought to or even could provide a poetic praxis that could dispel. There are really interesting angles that come about in this text and I feel I'll come back to it some time. I'd read more Berardi.
atzin's review
5.0
Beautifully written, the book came to me at a time in which it perfectly encapsulated the thoughts that had been coming to me.
taransamarth's review
2.0
i got this when i was sketching out ideas for a prof's book manuscript on breathing and politics and it was extremely unhelpful
jenlowe's review
2.0
This book was already annoying me when I got to the ENTIRE CHAPTER on Franzen's Purity, including this gem: "Reading Franzen's work is the best way to gain insight into what is happening to the American mind, and particularly to the American unconscious, during the reign of Trump." W.T.A.F? Everything about this book appeals to me in theory, but in reality it's too much word salad and overconfidence from someone with an embarrassingly narrow perspective.
noahregained's review
4.0
never read a zizek or a byung-chul han or a mark fisher or a bifo before this, so I've never really been in this film/F.A./digital arts etc. domain of writing.
it's mostly alright, but I enjoyed chapters 6 and 7 on american individuality and its characters (atomization, if you like that term), online dating, etc.
it's mostly alright, but I enjoyed chapters 6 and 7 on american individuality and its characters (atomization, if you like that term), online dating, etc.
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