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A review by franchenstein
Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard
3.0
I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, Baudrillard has brilliant insights. The idea of simulation and hyperreality is a powerful tool to interpret the post-modern condition, his essays on how cinema affected the interpretation history, the one on science fiction and the one on reality TV give profound analysis on these topics and how they connect to a grander metaphysical change.
On the other hand, it is written in such a pretentious and verbose way. It is already a short book, but it feels that such a big part of it is filler. His continental post-structuralist style is laden with psychoanalytic jargon and flows in a way that sounds like a mystical oracle high on some sort of hallucinogenic. There are long passages where I really doubt he was saying anything, it reminds me of what Gershom Scholem says about some passages of the Zohar, the mystical magnum opus of kabbalism: they serve no purpose, they have no other meaning other than peeking the curiosity of the reader. That might work for mystical texts, but it is confusing and obnoxious in philosophical texts.
An analytical rewriting of Baudrillard's ideas with clearer definitions and a more logical progression might result in something great.
On the other hand, it is written in such a pretentious and verbose way. It is already a short book, but it feels that such a big part of it is filler. His continental post-structuralist style is laden with psychoanalytic jargon and flows in a way that sounds like a mystical oracle high on some sort of hallucinogenic. There are long passages where I really doubt he was saying anything, it reminds me of what Gershom Scholem says about some passages of the Zohar, the mystical magnum opus of kabbalism: they serve no purpose, they have no other meaning other than peeking the curiosity of the reader. That might work for mystical texts, but it is confusing and obnoxious in philosophical texts.
An analytical rewriting of Baudrillard's ideas with clearer definitions and a more logical progression might result in something great.