galateadoesbooks's review against another edition

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5.0

An exceptionally tragic, triumphant laugh at absurdity.

This is not at all a guide, not even a history of Dada (not even a history of Dada pre-WW2)

what it is, is a deep, deep dive into the effects of war and oppression, and the human response to it, set within the context of WW1, starting from a fictional chess match between two people who might have met in real life, expanding from that into a deeper and deeper web of context, detail, beauty, and tragedy.

This isn't very Dada, but I sincerely enjoyed it very much. Learned a bit of history too.

Also, the physical book has an aspect ratio of 2:1, which I found neat. It was like reading the world's most interesting flyer.

af93a3b5's review

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3.0

Things that are Dada: Punk, the unconscious, Discordianism, the internet, hippies, nonsense.

Things that are Leninist: order, the conscious collective ego, bureaucracy, History, nonsense.

Who really won the chess game: the materialists/capitalists who sold them the chess set.
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