» Thursday, 27 January A.D. 2011
books I didn't finish
Last year, I read that it was OK to not finish books. I practiced this idea, having resolved many times to buy no more books until I finished reading through the last stack, yet I have watched my book storage needs grow significantly over the years. But I never really absorbed it, insofar as giving myself permission to stop midway through a book, or even to skim it and count it as reading. Getting the majority of my books from the library has made doing this easier: I'm not personally invested in them, so it's OK if I don't finish them.
Like two recent books that I checked out from the library. I skimmed through Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture by Simon Reynolds. Since I'm a fan of electronica in various guises, I thought this book would be an interesting historical read. What it did teach me is that I know very little about electronic music, probably because a) I am not British and b) I don't take “recreational” drugs (part of his thesis is that electronic music is inescapably bound up with drug use, as you might have guessed from the title).
When the major acts with which you are familiar (The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, etc.) are not brought up until the last chapter of the book and are described as electronica watered down for American sensibilities, you know you're in the wrong place. Orbital did receive roughly a page and their iconic song (Halcyon + On + On) did get a mention, so that was a familiar place to hang my hat. Speaking of Orbital, this is a great place to reference a fantastic performance of said song (skip to about 3:30 if you just want the punchline):
Quite a departure from the sublime ethereality of the original, but electronica anthem goodness nonetheless.
On the plus side, I now understand why I don't care for Massive Attack (radically different sub-genre of electronica).
I also buzzed through Endgame, volume II: Resistance by Derrick Jensen. I was pretty sure I wouldn't read the whole thing after flipping through it in the library, but I thought there might still be a nugget or two in there. Wow. I now understand what the capital-L Left looks like.
posted by Nate @ 8:05AM