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marcy_kelleher's review against another edition
5.0
I think this is one of the most brilliant books I've ever read. Percy does a great job of pointing out the weird inconsistencies in the human self. He asks the very best questions. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to write, is interested in the problem of the self, or who just wants to have a good laugh at the good ol' human race.
roostercrows3's review against another edition
4.0
While at times a little dense, I thought this was a very thought provoking examination of the state of modern man. There were several times where I was wowed by Percy’s framing of his insights. The discussion of semiotics was a bit over my head, but this will definitely be a book I chew in for a while.
lookhome's review against another edition
4.0
Percy's Lost in the Cosmos is a strangely formatted and oddly sequenced book.
That being said it is an intriguing entry in the self-help boom of the 80s and though I haven't personally read the books Percy alludes to, from hearsay, I believe it's safe to assume self-help books follow a certain formula.
Percy's novel raises important questions and though it doesn't always answer them, it creates a situation where the reader seeks and often finds symbols, symbolism, signs and ultimately meaning in his/her/their everyday surroundings.
Broken into 3 segments, Percy's novel works best when it explores semiotics.
If you like Barthes' study of semiotics, this is a nice refresher and Percy's graphs easily illustrate the difference between the signifier and the signified.
There's some pretty intriguing space oriented situational/character sketches as well.
An enjoyable read overall.
That being said it is an intriguing entry in the self-help boom of the 80s and though I haven't personally read the books Percy alludes to, from hearsay, I believe it's safe to assume self-help books follow a certain formula.
Percy's novel raises important questions and though it doesn't always answer them, it creates a situation where the reader seeks and often finds symbols, symbolism, signs and ultimately meaning in his/her/their everyday surroundings.
Broken into 3 segments, Percy's novel works best when it explores semiotics.
If you like Barthes' study of semiotics, this is a nice refresher and Percy's graphs easily illustrate the difference between the signifier and the signified.
There's some pretty intriguing space oriented situational/character sketches as well.
An enjoyable read overall.
impreader's review against another edition
4.0
Mind-maker, mocker, meddler. Like being dropped upside down, and furious -- until the realization hits that the dropper meant you to see the way the world had curved, off a deep end; you'd never have seen it from right-side up, flaneur-strolling along.
abbyyyedge's review against another edition
2.0
at the end of the day, racism and aberrant sexism over shine any sort of humor or philosophical assertions.
Just read kierkegaard and nietzsche and save yourself the trouble, honestly.
You can really tell that when he was writing this, he never, not in a million years, imagined that the reader of his book could possibly be a woman.
Just not really worth it, not when so many other books exist.
Just read kierkegaard and nietzsche and save yourself the trouble, honestly.
You can really tell that when he was writing this, he never, not in a million years, imagined that the reader of his book could possibly be a woman.
Just not really worth it, not when so many other books exist.
buggy's review against another edition
2.0
2.5
Actually enjoyed this book a lot, and might even revisit it. It made me laugh and consistently surprised me. I would recommend skipping the middle part of the book, which was a slog and felt like a different book entirely. It's a product of its time and was often cringe inducing. But this book offered some interesting reflective exercises that I genuinely enjoyed.. Hard to rate.
Actually enjoyed this book a lot, and might even revisit it. It made me laugh and consistently surprised me. I would recommend skipping the middle part of the book, which was a slog and felt like a different book entirely. It's a product of its time and was often cringe inducing. But this book offered some interesting reflective exercises that I genuinely enjoyed.. Hard to rate.
blairrose22's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
danibeliveau's review against another edition
4.0
I wasn't entirely convinced by the relevance or necessity of the use of semiotics, but Lost in the Cosmos was an enjoyable read nonetheless. Sometimes comforting, sometimes challenging, and sometimes a little of both, Percy ultimately seems to call for a reaffirmation our pre-modern, traditional roots for the recovery and rehabilitation of the "lost," post-modern self. We have difficulty seeing that our selves are, in fact, in crisis, but a book like Percy's helps to open the reader's eyes to the issues and nuances of his or her own self-understanding.
renatasnacks's review against another edition
2.0
Going to be honest here: I think this was just over my head. I have a feeling I should take Philosophy 101 and then re-read it. Also there was a part in the middle that he said you should skip if you weren't interested in semiotics, and I don't really know what semiotics is, so I totally skipped it.
The book poses as a personality quiz in the form of multiple choice questions, which are really just thought experiments. These were usually at least somewhat interesting and thought-provoking, especially the last few. OK as I think about the end of the book maybe it's a 2.5 star book for me. I don't know. I think it's well-written but just not the type of soul searching I prefer. OH ALSO this book is labelled a "satire" of self-help books but it's totally not a satire. I mean it has funny moments and kind of a wry tone, but it's definitely a self-help book.
The book poses as a personality quiz in the form of multiple choice questions, which are really just thought experiments. These were usually at least somewhat interesting and thought-provoking, especially the last few. OK as I think about the end of the book maybe it's a 2.5 star book for me. I don't know. I think it's well-written but just not the type of soul searching I prefer. OH ALSO this book is labelled a "satire" of self-help books but it's totally not a satire. I mean it has funny moments and kind of a wry tone, but it's definitely a self-help book.
adamantium's review against another edition
5.0
What a strange, unclassifiable, brilliant book. I can't think of a thing to compare it to. I need some time to sit with it before I declare it the best thing I've ever read, but it blew me away.