Suggestion of the week:
wk20
Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic
by Henry Bergson
Elisa Camozzi’s Comment:
Bergson anylizes both the causes and the consequences of laughter. Why do people laugh? When? People laugh when in presence of episodes in which life shows a sort of indifference toward itself. Usually we laugh when we see other people who trip over something or who behave in mechanical ways similar to puppets. Why? Because laughter is a sort of ‘traffic officer’ which calls life to order. And it has a social duty: to preserve social rules since people laugh at others who break, even involuntarily, the laws imposed by the community in which they live.
A question can remain after reading the book: laughter seems a sort of way to preserve the state of thing in which a person lives. Does it add something to our freedom or maybe the contrary?
wk18
About a boy
by Nick Hornby
Elisa Camozzi’s Comment:
Very deep, nonconformist, sharp analysis of the mechanisms ruling human relationships. This portrait results so real thanks to the use of a kind of exaggeration of some aspects typical of each single character and, at the same time, it reveals some hidden attitudes of each and everyone of us. The whole story is seen through the experiences of the two main characters: Marcus, a 12 years old boy, quite atypical for his age (more similar to an adult if compared to his coetaneous since he is used to reading instead of playing videogames or watching TV and doesn’t know anything about fashion, famous present singers, football players and so on) and Will, a 36 years old man, who doesn’t have to work to earn a living and is more like a boy (he is always up to date on latest fashions and goes on avoiding any kind of duty, role). Though different, they are similar in the sharp and in some way detached, uninvolved look on reality through which they see the experiences life brings them to meet. And in some way they help each other to reach a sort of balance which makes their lives a little more ‘conformist’ but also a little more true…
wk17
The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Umberto M. Meotto’s Comment:
This novel is a challenging reading, actually it won both Nebula and Hugo awards in 1975 not by chance. In the plot Le Guin analyzes even the possible social models for humanity: capitalism, socialism, communism and anarchy. References to what is good and what is bad in all of these systems are the engine of the narration since the main character is a mathematic-physicist who tries to improve his society (free from any form of government). Thanks to his work on a theory of time, that could allow the instantaneous communication among the human populated worlds, he leaves Anarres for Urras and discovers the consumerism…
The ideas on which one can make a deep reflection are many, mainly where clear recalls to everyday’s life are strong. But pay attention to be in the right mood when you decide to read it, otherwise you’ll find it a little bit heavy.
wk16
Rich Dad Poor Dad
by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter
Umberto M. Meotto’s Comment:
“An extraordinary motivational book that at least everyone should read once in the lifetime. Rich Dad Poor Dad is only the first book of a series that Robert Kiyosaki wrote on the argument of financial emancipation. His experiences can help the reader thinking about which style of life he/she wants to choose: the employee, the self-employed, the business owner or the investor. After having read this book investigating in our life becomes the acknowledgement that going to school, getting a degree, finding a good job, buying a house and saving money for children is the best way not to retire soon.”
wk15
Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human brain
by Antonio R. Damasio
Elisa Camozzi’s Comment:
“In this book the reader can find a perfect balance between a deep analysis of human brain behaviour and an easy to understand way of explainig concepts and scientific data to non academic people. In this book mind begins to unveil its enigmas about the relationship between rationality and emotions and, further more, about the way in which both of them can influence human decisional process.”
wk14
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales
by Oliver Sacks
Elisa Camozzi’s Comment:
“Very interesting book about mind mechanisms in presence of deficit/desease. The characteristic I appreciated most is the humanistic approach (typical of Sacks’ works) which makes each single clinical case presented in the book a unique tale.”
