kiramke's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Excellent and thought-provoking. It's an older collection but as we're discussing culture, history and science, that doesn't affect the discourse. Provided, of course, you're engaging with it.
mvuijlst's review against another edition
3.0
Bij het herlezen is het toch minder dan ik het me herinnerde: telkens hetzelfde formuletje, met niet echt een lijn erin. Maar toch: zeer goed, en een uitstekend boek om op het toilet te leggen en daar te lezen: een essay kan in twee, ahem, keer, gelezen zijn.
benedorm's review
5.0
A stunning collection of essays. Even the least of them are consistently engaging, and several of them are true masterworks, moving seamlessly between seemingly disparate subjects, highlighting the previously unseen thread that connects them.
And then there's what I consider to be the centerpiece of the volume, "Four Antelopes of the Apocalypse." Simultaneously a fascinating detective story, a heartbreaking elegy for every lost thing destroyed by humanity, and a hymn for curators, archivists, librarians, and everyone else whose job is remembering, it's one of the most brilliant essays of any kind that I've ever read. The volume would be worthwhile if there was nothing else good in it.
But there's so much that's beautiful here. I felt educated, entertained, and even inspired reading it.
And then there's what I consider to be the centerpiece of the volume, "Four Antelopes of the Apocalypse." Simultaneously a fascinating detective story, a heartbreaking elegy for every lost thing destroyed by humanity, and a hymn for curators, archivists, librarians, and everyone else whose job is remembering, it's one of the most brilliant essays of any kind that I've ever read. The volume would be worthwhile if there was nothing else good in it.
But there's so much that's beautiful here. I felt educated, entertained, and even inspired reading it.
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