John Berger (1926–2017)

John Berger revolucionó nuestra manera de ver el arte, la sociedad y la naturaleza, animándonos a mirar el mundo como si se tratara de la primera vez. Este libro es una buena muestra de ello: variando en tono desde la anécdota tierna hasta el ensayo profundo, el ganador del Premio Booker se pregunta cómo y por qué nos hemos vuelto incapaces de ver realmente a los animales, a los que hemos convertido en muñecos, juguetes y personajes de cuentos infantiles. Berger nos ofrece un diagnóstico, pero también una salida: la solidaridad entre oprimidos, la creación de un lenguaje común y una nueva mirada emancipadora tanto para el que mira como para el que es mirado.

Este volumen recoge los ensayos, algunos inéditos en castellano, que Berger dedicó a nuestra relación con los animales y a diversas luchas sociales en un libro que muestra una vez más la sensibilidad y el compromiso del autor en temas de intensa relevancia actual.… (mere)

Pretty great. Short and doesn't cover much but gives some interesting ideas to think about and what it does talk about (oil paintings, art as class indicators, treatment of women in art, advertising) it gives you a very good idea of. Gives a nice look at ideas surrounding cultural studies and even hints at stuff like semiotics. I also like his somewhat Marxist slant.

The photo essays are a bit confusing - partially it's because the pictures are small so you can't get a good idea of each picture and compare/think through similarities/differences. Like it's cool that they gave you a set of pictures with no words and yeah I pondered on them a bit but I'd have loved to see their opinions too because I'm a complete idiot and that's what I buy books for. I just don't feel they work so well. I felt sometimes that it used a few jargon words without any definition and although it's quite possible to guess what they mean it makes it a bit more off-putting as an introduction than it could be. It's not too bad though, so don't let it put you off reading it.

Ultimately the negatives are no big deal though. It's short and doesn't go into huge detail but that's the nature of an introduction. It has a great incisive style that cuts to the heart of what's going on pretty often. With the caveat mentioned above about the few jargon words, I recommend reading it. It's radical and will give you a lot of ideas.… (mere)