Read this: Great art by bad people and the comfort of things
Hello again. As promised, I will continue sharing what I’m reading and watching, every now and then. There is too much good stuff out there (even with all the nonsense) and I figured that word of mouth still counts as something these days if we don’t want our recommendations to be ruled by the few companies who can pay enough for Google AdSense. So here we go.
Monsters. What Do We Do With Great Art By Bad People? by Claire Dederer
The art vs. the artist battle is as old as art itself - and it’s not just about art. Are we allowed to appreciate something even if we know the person who made it has afflicted suffering unto others, sometimes repeatedly? The issue is complex and an apt discussion in our times. Something we have to come to terms with, sometimes multiple times a day, as we choose which movies to watch, which books to read, which politicians to listen to. Initially I was unsure if the memoir style of the book was what I was expecting out of the topic, but Claire Dederer convinced me. It is, in the end, a deeply personal question, and her contribution to it is meaningful, well-written und doesn’t lack humor, fortunately. No moral high grounds here, I swear.
The Battles of Tolkien by David Day
Saying that you’re a Tolkien fan and then only having read the Lord of the Rings (and possibly even without the appendices, gasp) is kind of like calling yourself a chef and only making one dish, ever. The world Tolkien created is vast and full of references to real-world mythologies, something which I only fully learned to appreciate once I started to read books about Tolkien, aside from everything he has written himself. The Battles of Tolkien is one in a larger collection of monographies by David Day, focusing on different aspects of Tolkien’s creations. The books are beautifully illustrated by many different artists and the binding itself is decent too. It is worth pointing out that David Day is not officially affiliated with the Tolkien Society and has been criticized for some of the details he’s been including in his dictionaries, for instance. But as with each book I read, I take things with a grain of salt anyway. This read was definitely worth it and the books have been a global success ever since they came out.
The Comfort of Things by Daniel Miller
In 2008, Daniel Miller and his research partner did something a lot of people would like to do but, for social norms, can’t usually - they went along a London street and basically looked into people’s homes and asked questions about their stuff (with their permission obviously). This resulted in a lot of material for anthropological research, as well as in this book, which portrays thirty of those houses they visited, whether they were inhabited by singles or families, stuffed with memories or eerily empty. This unusual book teaches you a lot about people, their relationship to their belongings and the way life goes. With all of its real-life stories about heartbreak, immigration, family bliss and personal quirks, this book is as authentic as it gets. Loved it.
In other news, I am doing well - I’m working on my psychology degree (two thirds officially done now), planning for the imminent future (will hopefully be able to give an update in a few weeks) and finishing up my full re-read of all of my diaries in consecutive order (15.000 pages, chrm). More on that maybe in a little bit, since keeping a diary for more than two decades at this point has taught me a thing or two as well. See you around.