Reviews

On Anarchism by Noam Chomsky

gijs's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

3,5 stars; politics really is not one of my main interests, but Chomsky has some original insights, one of them is recognizing society as a complex dynamic system; no grand a priori political ideology will yield favorable long term results; instead employ a trial-error-succeed tinkering (or heuristic) approach; a far more sane tactic when decision making is called for in situations with incomplete information.

millenium's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

4+

Ενδιαφέρον και διαφωτιστικό βιβλίο για τον αναρχισμό και για τη δημοκρατία κατά μία έννοια.

Θεωρώ πώς διαβάζοντας το έμαθα και κάτι.Ο Chomsky δεν με απογοήτευσε και αυτή τη φορά.

hagbard_celine's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I'll have to read more Chomsky to know if i'm persuaded by this book's arguments.

noodal's review

Go to review page

3.0

A quick read, though very dense. I think I will need to revisit this book once I am more familiar with anarchism and have read Guérin's Anarchism.

hades9stages's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

This book touches on important themes, yet it struggles to maintain a consistent flow, resulting in a somewhat disjointed read. While Chomsky’s passion for anarchism is evident, the lack of comprehensive exploration hinder its impact. It's an adequate introduction but lacks the depth needed to make a lasting impression, I’m not sure if I would recommend this to anyone who would want to read this for a specific reason.

matthewptaylor's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative slow-paced

2.0

0hannah0banana0's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

* I read this right after the Epstein list was published

Felt very slow paced and I truly only enjoyed one of the 5 chapters as each chapter is an excerpt from other texts. 

I only loved the writing on one page of the 140 so don’t read it if you are seeking his great linguistics. 

Some things were repeated and i am sure there is a lot that was left out (because of the format of the book), so contradictios in his argumentative pattern become very clear.

sailorpunk's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

"I think you are an anarchist and you don't know it yet. Not in the classic way but in a Chomsky way. You should read this."

After having read this collection, I can tell that the statement above is not only one of the smartest/most accurate observations about my person, but quite flattering as well. The "Chomsky way" is the result of a deep knowledge of many areas of study and it is explained in his essays and interviews in the most accessible way. I am familiar with most of the topics and the academic way of presenting them but I am sure that almost no one would have problems in understanding the point. Agreeing or not is another matter, but I personally do and although he manages to explain himself way better than I ever could, his opinion reflects mine so accurately that it's almost scary. The opinions are quite often repeated towards the end, but I guess it is inevitable being this not an organic essay.

I could spend hours typing and quoting, but I think that if someone is interested about an enlightening point of view about how our world works, should simply read all of it.

thednfdarling's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative medium-paced

4.25

paper_goat's review

Go to review page

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5