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ewg109's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. This was a fascinating book that is impossible to explain. Todd examines the natures of things, places, and experience to try and understand what is real. What makes the actual Mona Lisa better than an exact duplicate? How does place define us and how do we define place? Fascinating stuff. But, the beauty of the book is that its not written in the voice of a sneering intellectual, rather Todd sounds kind of like the idealized Grandpa.
rabbithero's review against another edition
4.0
I was a little surprised by this work. Initially recommended to me, it had been maybe two years until I finally got around to reading it, and in the initial pages I thought that I had made a colossal mistake in taking it up. Richard Todd seemed too smug, the work seemed a little too self-important and dense...all in all, it seemed just a little off base from what I was wanting to be reading.
I was wrong. While not a MAGNIFICENT work, Todd's examination of the authentic (and lack thereof) at the very least deployed a number of really fascinating works in its agenda, leading to a longer personal list of things to read. But beyond that, the way Todd opens up through the course of the text, generates the very sort of authenticity he speaks about. As the pages slip by (it is really quite well written), Todd becomes more personable, becomes the kind of man who you come to like despite your initial misgivings. And the subject matter itself is so unique, so complex to tease out, that Todd's choices for how to address it (media, politicians, the country, nature, love, and more) give a full, wizened perspective on that which we all crave, but can scarcely define.
I was wrong. While not a MAGNIFICENT work, Todd's examination of the authentic (and lack thereof) at the very least deployed a number of really fascinating works in its agenda, leading to a longer personal list of things to read. But beyond that, the way Todd opens up through the course of the text, generates the very sort of authenticity he speaks about. As the pages slip by (it is really quite well written), Todd becomes more personable, becomes the kind of man who you come to like despite your initial misgivings. And the subject matter itself is so unique, so complex to tease out, that Todd's choices for how to address it (media, politicians, the country, nature, love, and more) give a full, wizened perspective on that which we all crave, but can scarcely define.
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