Book 2 - Post 2
On Tyranny - Graphic Edition
For the second book of the semester, I read On Tyranny - Graphic Edition and have mixed feelings about the short and straightforward read. A major part of my disappointment is my own fault, as I should have researched this book more before choosing it as my second book. The concepts in this are more introductory than I was expecting. I've personally read a decent amount of political theory books, so a lot of what was said in this book was familiar to me. If someone is getting into political theory for the first time though, I could see how this book could be a valuable introductory asset.
Separating the sections of the book into 20 different "lessons" allows the author to demonstrate the main point of their sections well. I do think that the number 20 was chosen arbitrarily though, as some of the points seem as though they were struggling to reach the count. Additionally, the art and illustrations that go along with the text are really appealing to look at. The art style really pops and grabs your attention, perhaps too much. I don't think the graphic edition of this text was really necessary. Occasionally, it detracts from the writing as I instead focus on a disjointed drawing rather than what is being said in the book.
Overall, I think the book discusses a topic that is absolutely necessary to be involved in modern discourse. It provides a good avenue for introductory lessons into the subject, and never feels like a boring slog. The book suffers from trying to be overly topical at certain parts. There is clearly a strong leftward lean, which even though I mostly agree with felt detrimental for the message of the story. With a topic like totalitarianism, it should be noted that it can come from all directions. Pinning all the totalitarian movement of the last two decades onto the "orange man" is a dangerously reductive tactic that stunts the discourse being created by the book. The book encourages its readers to learn more about the subject themselves through other sources. I would agree with this sentiment in order to get a more holistic understanding of the very important topic.
Hi Kevin,
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has not read much on political theories, perhaps this book would be a good introduction for me! It is definitely something I need to be more educated on, and although I do not know what the images look like, I think I would like to see them and maybe they would help me understand the topics.
Thank you,
Zoë
Hi Kevin,
ReplyDeleteI also read On Tyranny and I agree with most of what you have said. It disagreed with the author's choice of being so left-leaning because it distracted from the main topic of the book and made it too polarizing. As someone who has never learned about politics, it was a good introductory for me to hear about certain theories. However, a couple of the chapters were extremely short (2 pages) and I felt like the author repeated a lot of the same ideas.
- Ellie
Hi Kevin,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. Sorry to hear that your experience with the book wasn't ideal, and that the concepts were fairly elementary compared to your knowledge. Also appreciate that you're open about your issue with the author being definitively politically biased, as I agree that bogus perspectives can come from all sorts of backgrounds. I think that I might benefit from the book, given that my knowledge on the subject isn't too developed, though, so thanks for your review as I think I might end up reading the book.
Leon
Hey Kevin,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry your book covered a lot of what you already knew, but I'm glad it wasn't too boring. I always have trouble getting through material that I'm already familiar with. I also loved your point on how totalitarianism doesn't discriminate and can come from anywhere. It's so easy to blame opponents but that eventually conditions us to look the other way if/when someone supposedly aligned to our same values attempts something similar.
Francesca