frogwithlittlehammer's reviews
254 reviews

Pisti, 80 rue de Belleville by Estelle Hoy

funny

5.0

Reading this was like the mirror scene from La Haine. But sometimes you ought to stop looking in the mirror you know? Even if it’s giving spectacular.

CAPS LOCK: How Capitalism Took Hold of Graphic Design, and How to Escape from It by Ruben Pater

informative reflective

4.75

WOW now that’s what I call design. I don’t mean that aesthetically. I just mean, I finally understand what design is, and why it has always spoken to me even though I’m a person of little taste or skills for the visual. 

Design and language are what makes the world go round, and also are, in my opinion, the two biggest industries that have transformed the world to the current mess of affairs it is today. It’s not tech, it’s not economics, not even psychology. Design and language are the most rudimentary forms of communication, that have frankensteined to unbelievably far-reaching proportions—building borders, widening wealth disparities, invoking international conflicts, swaying elections, accelerating surveillance, deepening the nature of business ontology and therefore essentializing the guys circle jerking in advertising… AND A LOT MORE (evidently they have created a breed of downright narcissists as well, if the inflated sense of self importance wasn’t clear already.) 

I deeply enjoyed the first couple parts of the book, about the history of design, and how it has always been a mode of documenting (largely in an exclusionary and classist manner) and scribing and claiming boundaries. It is a big impetus for the transition into credit, the differentiating between legal and “illegal” nationals, the creation of the creative class (and precariats), of course commodity fetishism, and basically invented the idea of tourism.  Yeah, there were other large players that contributed to all of the above listed paradigm shifts, but you really do have to admit that communication through images (design) and words (language) are at the foundation. 

As the book progressed, the editing errors amassed and the books became more tailored for designers; what they can do to combat capitalism, firms they can be inspired by, how designers can utilize hacking, how unique and difficult (haha ok) of a time that designers have as laborers. But even these sections made me reflect about man’s lot in life, so much so that I read a bit of Ecclesiastes to really get the noggin churning. 

Anyway, really great collection of images, logos, campaigns, quotes, thinkers, thoughts, etc., which made for a really digestible and digestive reading experience. I am intrigued by other design theory books, as the few I have read have my full marks. They also make me feel like a modern girl, can’t explain why! 

Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism by Benedict Anderson

challenging informative

3.75

Has screen capitalism surpassed print capitalism in its impact on our ideas of nationhood? That is the question I’m left with. 

Anderson spends a lot of his time drawing examples from a truly diverse group of societies, to relay his point of how the act of writing down vernacular and then printing it created this false idea of community and a nation. Religion comes into play a lot as well, but I focused on that less (both because it’s not my area of interest and also seems to serve as more of an extension to his principal point.) 

I liked his musings on long-distance nationalism, and I learned a lot about Creole history. I’d been seeking this book for a while, because I’ve been thinking about what causes people to want to live and die for their country. This is exactly the question that Anderson asks as well, and in the end he waxes a bit romantic, or maybe just hauntingly, that there’s probably not a comprehensive answer. He is sympathetic, and for that reason the book was a curious read, not the scathing one I was expecting (and hoping) for.

Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de l'inégalité parmi les hommes / Discours sur les sciences et les arts by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

challenging

3.25

Je suis adepte du ni l’état de nature pur ni corrompu. Je te suis! Haha. Bon bah je sais pas ce que j’attendais. j’ai bien aimé une citation « il vend le matin son lit de Coton, et vient pleurer le soir pour le racheter, faute d'avoir prevû qu'il en auroit besoin pour la nuit prochaine. » Ça ne dit rien, mais c’est jolie, n’est pas? 

Passion simple by Annie Ernaux

4.0

L’étranger mais pour des femmes.  

Le Joueur d'Échecs by Stefan Zweig

4.25

C’était mieux quand il s’agissait davantage d’échecs et moins sur la guerre. Mais bon, je suppose que les échecs est un jeu de la guerre en fin de compte. 

Conversations entre amis by Sally Rooney

5.0

Ouaaaais c’est cette période de l’année les gars gros bisous 

Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber

informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

Bruh he yassssssified the academic paper. He was straddling the line between pop psychology and crowd sourced testimonial anthropology and for once I feel preference for the former. I really think Graeber is brilliant but maybe not the best at long form. Or maybe I just couldn’t relate bc I’ve never had a bs job 💅🏼 I do like him in that he always attempts to give at least some conclusion chapter addressing what can be done, possible material solutions, etc., as little water that they hold. 

Also… NOT here for the Vonnegut slander. And c’mon was no one supervising my man the narrator he mispronounced every other proper noun bless his heart. 

Le Testament Français by Andreï Makine

emotional reflective slow-paced

3.75

Je trouve que les Français ont une façon de créer des œuvres (surtout des lectures) qui sont plus grandes que la vie. J’ai vachement eu du mal avec celui ci, mais j’espère le relire à l’avenir pour en profiter même plus.

Anyone for gulli-danda? by Gabriele Annan, David Runciman, Amia Srinivasan, Benjamin Markovits, Karl Miller, Terry Castle, Tariq Ali, Heathcote Williams, Jane Holland, Marjorie Garber

funny informative reflective

4.0

I’m not sure why I find sport so sexy in its complexities. Perhaps because it’s a veritable spectacle rather than a game. There also exists a rather amusing obsession with some round bit or ovish bob or invisible line; assigning incredible importance to something that becomes a pile of flap once deflated and all that Barthesian jazz. Maybe they’re so sexy because sports have the power to move and break down even the most odious of men. The rawness of the game, the down bad desire to win, well it’s just too seductive for anyone to resist. 

My favorite essay was about doping, because I was always a staunch believer in that if you were willing to do it, why should you be punished for wanting it the most? Barthes would say that it’s tempting fate, basically interfering with god’s plan/esprit. Which is fitting anyway because sports are a religion—though at the same time they can be socialist (as one essay points out, associations such as the NBA and NFL redistribute the wealth aka talent to the teams who have the greatest need.) 

The “did they/didn’t they” element of doping is also part of the mythification of sport. Sports have a natural gift of creating narratives out of nothing, first made evident to me in Don DeLillo’s teleological tome, Underworld. So that’s pretty sexy too. I’m rambling now but it’s because I’m trying to figure out  why I adore sports culture so much, even though I rarely partake. What I do know for certain though is I miss playing tennis with my friends 😓