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tedgraham's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting but not entirely satisfying mix of American history, insightful analysis and crochety carping. It's nice to read about how mindless stimulus is destroying our culture and sense of perspective and our critical thinking skills, but...what do we do about it, Ms. Jacoby? Eh?
joshgroven's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
1.0
badly organized unoriginal elitist garbage
kristianawithak's review against another edition
4.0
Oh man! this book starts like something shooting out of a cannon. It totally addresses one of my most recent thoughts, 'do we only interact with what we already believe?'. Jacoby sets out to discuss just that thought. She discusses the term 'intillectual' and how conservatives have turned that into a 'bad word'. Jacoby discusses the use of language to turn serious situations into something we don't feel emotion towards. Years ago we did not use the term 'troops', but rather 'soldiers'. There is an impersonal feel when you hear on the news that "troops died" instead of hearing of the "soldiers" who died while fighting in the war.
I don't think I will agree with everything she says, and that's great, but I'm so excited to learn and hear so many new opinions, plus she seems to come down on Christianity, so I know I will disagree with her in some areas.
As the book progresses it seems to have Jocoby realizing how the world has changed over the course of her life. It is an interesting personal twist to the story, but it seemed a little uncharacteristic from the overall feel of the book.
Here is a list of things Jacoby discusses that made me excited to hear about:
communism
the decline of print culture
decline of reading and the decline of intellectual conversation
'anti-intellectualism'
The difference between the Kennedy campaign and the Kerry campaign. Kerry embraced a more mainstream
Highbrow, Lowbrow, Middlebrow (I used the phrase 'high brow' last night and I realized I wouldn't have said that if I hadn't been reading this book, it was only to Hank, so I didn't come off as terribly pretentious.)
Other great thoughts that made me stop and pause:
Many of the millions of encyclopedias, sold between the 20 and the 50s, were purchased on the installment plan by parents who had never owned a book, but were willing to sacrifice to provide their children with information about the world that had been absent from their own upbringing.
"you'll never walk alone." our need to be connect to things.
Courses in popular culture allow students to continue aiming their mind at low objects.
Watching tv is more like over eating than smoking or drinking, smoking or drinking can be eliminated.
Overall I was really challenged in listening to this book. It made me want to stop watching tv. not get a phone with Internet. to read more, to write more, to talk more. Basically all the things I feel when I am paying close attention to the life I am living, or not living. It was great.
I don't think I will agree with everything she says, and that's great, but I'm so excited to learn and hear so many new opinions, plus she seems to come down on Christianity, so I know I will disagree with her in some areas.
As the book progresses it seems to have Jocoby realizing how the world has changed over the course of her life. It is an interesting personal twist to the story, but it seemed a little uncharacteristic from the overall feel of the book.
Here is a list of things Jacoby discusses that made me excited to hear about:
communism
the decline of print culture
decline of reading and the decline of intellectual conversation
'anti-intellectualism'
The difference between the Kennedy campaign and the Kerry campaign. Kerry embraced a more mainstream
Highbrow, Lowbrow, Middlebrow (I used the phrase 'high brow' last night and I realized I wouldn't have said that if I hadn't been reading this book, it was only to Hank, so I didn't come off as terribly pretentious.)
Other great thoughts that made me stop and pause:
Many of the millions of encyclopedias, sold between the 20 and the 50s, were purchased on the installment plan by parents who had never owned a book, but were willing to sacrifice to provide their children with information about the world that had been absent from their own upbringing.
"you'll never walk alone." our need to be connect to things.
Courses in popular culture allow students to continue aiming their mind at low objects.
Watching tv is more like over eating than smoking or drinking, smoking or drinking can be eliminated.
Overall I was really challenged in listening to this book. It made me want to stop watching tv. not get a phone with Internet. to read more, to write more, to talk more. Basically all the things I feel when I am paying close attention to the life I am living, or not living. It was great.
e_reader77's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up I this book because after this election, I wanted to understand how we as Americans came to have the differing philosophies. Jacoby's book is staggering in its scope and I see it as a primer, a way to begin to dig into the complicated issues of American cultural democracy and philosophies.
I certainly don't agree with all her points, and at times it comes across that she is merely venting about aspects of our culture. But using this book and Jacoby's main points, in conjunction with her extensive bibliography, can point me in the direction of discovery.
35 pages of nots later, and I'm still ruminating on the book. A thought-provoking and intense read.
I certainly don't agree with all her points, and at times it comes across that she is merely venting about aspects of our culture. But using this book and Jacoby's main points, in conjunction with her extensive bibliography, can point me in the direction of discovery.
35 pages of nots later, and I'm still ruminating on the book. A thought-provoking and intense read.
whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition
4.0
This book managed to be at once hopeful and depressing to read. Hopeful because it is proof that someone recognized and is talking about the sorry state of the mind in our country, but depressing because it delineates just how far we've strayed from our origins as a nation founded by well-rounded, intellectual greats who hoped for a country populated and governed by equally wholly educated persons. While it has its place as a jeremiad and its element of "preaching to the choir," I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who understands why it is important that people read, and terrifying that so few people do now when compared to the number of those who are able.
slichto3's review against another edition
3.0
It felt like it was split into two portions - a brief history on Americas relationship with intellectuals, knowledge, and science, and the author shaking her fist at changing American culture. The history was extremely effective, and it was illuminating to see how varied and murky life and history are and how history is so malleable in the hands of people trying to make points. The authors feelings on modern American culture were often dull and frustrating. Certainly American culture is changing rapidly, and the desirability of those changes are certainly questionable, but this book doesn't really make a case for why some of these changes are bad.
rodhilton's review against another edition
2.0
For a book that laments the decline of reason in American culture, this book sure does manage to avoid it's use when making arguments.
Essentially the book's real premise is this: Americans are increasingly anti-rational, largely due to the fact that they are reading fewer books. Considering this is coming from a book author, it's hard not to face this argument with some skepticism. Indeed, Jacoby never really provides much in the way of evidence, assuming her claims to be self-evident to the reader.
Much of what she states as unquestionably true are things that, frankly, are questionable, so the fact that she makes no attempt to truly justify her beliefs is troubling.
In the end, Jacoby comes off as an anti-technology luddite, hating technology, television, the internet, and other forms of modernity because they decrease the amount of precious time people spend reading books. She even goes so far as to whine about the decline of reading poetry and fiction, though she makes no evidence whatsoever that these styles of writing contribute in any way to intellectualism.
This book is infuriating to read because there's nothing I hate more than an extremely poor argument in favor of a position with which I agree. Much of what Jacoby says is agreeable, and some of it even intuitive. But she often shifts from the intuitive to the extremist in her belief set, never providing powerful rationale for opinions being espoused from either area.
My 'favorite' part of the book was when Jacoby rambled on about the Harvard president that supposedly claimed that the reason for few female professors could be genetic. Jacoby is infuriated by this claim, and the feminist in her takes over the chapter that discusses this matter. I found this entertaining primarily because it was also discussed in the last book I read, 'Super Crunchers', which explains that the vast majority of people didn't understand the president's real claim because people don't understand the difference between average and standard deviation. Super Crunchers discusses this issue at length, explaining what the president ACTUALLY meant and providing citations of studies which back it up. It turns out there's nothing sexist or demeaning about the statement that the president actually made, but the public's grasp of statistics (Super Cruncher's main focus) is so weak that it has been misunderstood by many.
Having just read that, reading Jacoby rant on about how offended she was by his claim, revealing that she belongs in the "bad at math" category, was nothing short of hilarious.
This book is downright embarassing, I've lost nearly all respect I gained for Jacoby while reading Freethinkers.
Essentially the book's real premise is this: Americans are increasingly anti-rational, largely due to the fact that they are reading fewer books. Considering this is coming from a book author, it's hard not to face this argument with some skepticism. Indeed, Jacoby never really provides much in the way of evidence, assuming her claims to be self-evident to the reader.
Much of what she states as unquestionably true are things that, frankly, are questionable, so the fact that she makes no attempt to truly justify her beliefs is troubling.
In the end, Jacoby comes off as an anti-technology luddite, hating technology, television, the internet, and other forms of modernity because they decrease the amount of precious time people spend reading books. She even goes so far as to whine about the decline of reading poetry and fiction, though she makes no evidence whatsoever that these styles of writing contribute in any way to intellectualism.
This book is infuriating to read because there's nothing I hate more than an extremely poor argument in favor of a position with which I agree. Much of what Jacoby says is agreeable, and some of it even intuitive. But she often shifts from the intuitive to the extremist in her belief set, never providing powerful rationale for opinions being espoused from either area.
My 'favorite' part of the book was when Jacoby rambled on about the Harvard president that supposedly claimed that the reason for few female professors could be genetic. Jacoby is infuriated by this claim, and the feminist in her takes over the chapter that discusses this matter. I found this entertaining primarily because it was also discussed in the last book I read, 'Super Crunchers', which explains that the vast majority of people didn't understand the president's real claim because people don't understand the difference between average and standard deviation. Super Crunchers discusses this issue at length, explaining what the president ACTUALLY meant and providing citations of studies which back it up. It turns out there's nothing sexist or demeaning about the statement that the president actually made, but the public's grasp of statistics (Super Cruncher's main focus) is so weak that it has been misunderstood by many.
Having just read that, reading Jacoby rant on about how offended she was by his claim, revealing that she belongs in the "bad at math" category, was nothing short of hilarious.
This book is downright embarassing, I've lost nearly all respect I gained for Jacoby while reading Freethinkers.