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leaton01's review
3.0
de Botton's work offers up an interesting take on the news. It is both critical and prescriptive about the full potential of news. He identifies many of the shortcomings of news that can be seen across the world. He starts each chapter with a clip from some news source and proceeds to explore just the story is representative or invokes the issues that he is discussing in that chapter. He then moves into explaining how there are certain retrievable elements within the story and solid reasons why the "news" covers certain topics (such as celebrities) but teases out exactly how news should address such subjects for the purpose of serving the public good.
If you enjoyed this review, feel free to check out my other reviews and writings at By Any Other Nerd/
If you enjoyed this review, feel free to check out my other reviews and writings at By Any Other Nerd/
skoob21's review
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Should be read by EVERYONE. Especially if you think it doesn't apply to you.
vsbedford's review
2.0
I may have read too much of Mr. de Botton's work too quickly but I was left unsatisfied with this. Perhaps because the concept is too broad?
devinayo's review
3.0
It could have been much shorter. The early part of the book is interesting (world news and politics), but the later parts (starting from economy) are boring, stretching for pages, and feel forced. I only finish the book because it short and for the sake of finishing it. If it were a web page it would have been abandoned in the middle.
I hate how the author keeps telling me about myself based on what I read on the news. This is completely unnecessary and generalizing.
There's one sentence that is very infuriating, when speaking on celebrity and fame.
"The exaggerated need for approval that drove them to be famous in the first place………"
This phrase implies that one becomes a performer or celebrity due to a need for approval, which I think is demeaning and judgemental, and affected how I read the rest of the book.
I hate how the author keeps telling me about myself based on what I read on the news. This is completely unnecessary and generalizing.
There's one sentence that is very infuriating, when speaking on celebrity and fame.
"The exaggerated need for approval that drove them to be famous in the first place………"
This phrase implies that one becomes a performer or celebrity due to a need for approval, which I think is demeaning and judgemental, and affected how I read the rest of the book.
brizreading's review
3.0
An okay, but not great, pop philosophy book from Alain de Botton, premiere pop philosopher for the posh. I always kinda enjoy, kinda get exasperated by de Botton's books: he has some inspired moments of interpreting philosophy for contemporary audiences. He also has a bunch of moments that feel like a pile o' privileged, naive bricks.
This book is, well, like the others. First, to his credit, he wrote this Before The Madness (i.e. before fake news was accused of ruining American democracy ho ho), and so much of the book feels like it was beamed from an alternative universe of pastoral English innocence. But that ain't his fault. Second, to his detriment, the book's a bit blathery - with the final chapters feeling rushed and even a bit half-assed. I have higher standards than this!
Maybe the best chapter was the bit about 'received wisdom'; he lists some of Flaubert's annoyances at newspaper-driven 'received wisdom' (which were all REALLY GOOD), and then speculated on some modern received wisdom too. All of them felt incisive and true.
This book is, well, like the others. First, to his credit, he wrote this Before The Madness (i.e. before fake news was accused of ruining American democracy ho ho), and so much of the book feels like it was beamed from an alternative universe of pastoral English innocence. But that ain't his fault. Second, to his detriment, the book's a bit blathery - with the final chapters feeling rushed and even a bit half-assed. I have higher standards than this!
Maybe the best chapter was the bit about 'received wisdom'; he lists some of Flaubert's annoyances at newspaper-driven 'received wisdom' (which were all REALLY GOOD), and then speculated on some modern received wisdom too. All of them felt incisive and true.
libellus's review
3.0
The News by Alain de Botton
February 2017-May 2017
3/5
*Read as part of my International Baccalaureate Mass Communications’ high level English class
After reading What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund (5/5), I had high hopes for The News. It’s in the same style of introspection on what makes news the way it is and how the perspective of the consumer is affected by what we see when we read the news. However, The News fell flat to me. It was repetitive and personally did not teach me anything that I did not already knew. I am lucky enough to be aware of the fake news around me and the many biases of the news media. I do understand that not everyone is aware of the situation, but I think that anyone who reads news from a credible source would not learn anything new or useful. To be fair, the fact that I read this book over such a long time necessarily negatively impacted my opinion of this book. However, I must say that the chapter on celebrity culture was very interesting. Celebrity culture is something that most people just accept as part of their daily life since Kylie Jenner and Taylor Swift’s faces are stapled on every billboard and carefully crafted Instagram feeds. Most people, especially my generation doesn’t realize the negative impacts of celebrity culture, or they do realize it but never act on it. Honestly, I would not recommend this book to anyone. If you are looking for a deep analysis of news, I am sure there are better books out there to satisfy your curiosity.
Further recommendations:
Same subject: --
Same genre: What we see when we read by Peter Mendelsund
Wild card: More than this by Patrick Ness
February 2017-May 2017
3/5
*Read as part of my International Baccalaureate Mass Communications’ high level English class
After reading What We See When We Read by Peter Mendelsund (5/5), I had high hopes for The News. It’s in the same style of introspection on what makes news the way it is and how the perspective of the consumer is affected by what we see when we read the news. However, The News fell flat to me. It was repetitive and personally did not teach me anything that I did not already knew. I am lucky enough to be aware of the fake news around me and the many biases of the news media. I do understand that not everyone is aware of the situation, but I think that anyone who reads news from a credible source would not learn anything new or useful. To be fair, the fact that I read this book over such a long time necessarily negatively impacted my opinion of this book. However, I must say that the chapter on celebrity culture was very interesting. Celebrity culture is something that most people just accept as part of their daily life since Kylie Jenner and Taylor Swift’s faces are stapled on every billboard and carefully crafted Instagram feeds. Most people, especially my generation doesn’t realize the negative impacts of celebrity culture, or they do realize it but never act on it. Honestly, I would not recommend this book to anyone. If you are looking for a deep analysis of news, I am sure there are better books out there to satisfy your curiosity.
Further recommendations:
Same subject: --
Same genre: What we see when we read by Peter Mendelsund
Wild card: More than this by Patrick Ness
orangejenny's review
4.0
A persuasive argument for stoicism in the face of high-volume, high-drama news. The voice is a mix of gloom and optimism ("few things are truly amazing and very little is absolutely terrible"), the polar opposite of hysteria: "Rome fell, but 600 years later everything was almost back to normal again." The author re-frames and re-purposes particular sections of news: foreign affairs, economics, weather, etc. Most sections also include his recommendations for improving that type of news, which generally center around writing it in some way that allows readers to better handle and appreciate their own quotidian lives. The writing is unnecessarily ambiguous at points, but also contains charming imagery. Difficult weather is described as "an enforced meteorological Sabbath." The content misses the mark a few times, such as maintaining that lack of childhood love correlates exactly with desire for fame, though these are contained blunders. This particular edition - hardcover, with substantial whitespace, touches of red text, and images of varying relevance - and the briefness of individual sections make the book an aesthetically pleasing read, easy to pick up for a few pages and then set back down, refreshed.
mjkoo2020's review
3.0
Enjoyed reading how the author sees news and journalism. I would say this is a great essay, but I cannot agree with his idea about letting novelists, essayists or other writers to add some
'humanism' to news reporting. Botton's suggestion reminded me of the book and the play "The Life Span of a Fact."
'humanism' to news reporting. Botton's suggestion reminded me of the book and the play "The Life Span of a Fact."
robyn_wang's review
4.0
3.7 stars.
It's really hard to say something about this book.
neither boring nor intersting
It's really hard to say something about this book.
neither boring nor intersting