Michael Pollan – The Omnivore’s Dilemma (1)
This book was a magnificent ride. Starting out with a depressing description of the industrial food system, and the great river of corn flowing across the American continent, he proceeds to look at what he calls the industrial organic food system, the coopting of sustainability values by unsustainable big agriculture, and finally homes in on local growing and foraging. The section on Polyface farm in Virginia, with its insight into the biology of grazing, is truly inspiring, especially when contrasted with the nightmarish images of factory farming and CAFOs. The section on foraging and hunting touched me, too, but probably more for it’s Northern California flavor than for its content. As Pollan himself points out, foraging and hunting aren’t viable strategies for feeding a population any more, but reading about mushrooms in Berkeley, pig hunts in Sonoma and morels in the Sierra made me profoundly homesick.
There is a hole in the world like a great black pit, and the vermin of the world inhabit it. Not entirely taken with the beginning of the venture – the opening credits looked less than good, and Todd’s song to his knives seemed drawn out and overacted to the verge of embarrassment – but from judge’s failed shave on in I enjoyed every last drop of it. And of dripping there is aplenty, of course.
I found this a somewhat strange book. The central neuroscientific idea put forth is a fascinating one. When we separate feeling from emotion by declaring the former to be the inner state and the latter to be the outward expression of that state, we find complex interactions between the two, and a convincing argument can be made, that feeling in essence is a mapping of internal body states, and that the sinking feeling int he gut, the racing heart, the tenseness in the chest, aren’t side effects of feelings, they are in a sense what feelings are. They are their substance. 
A fascinating glimpse into a way of life both far removed from mainstream culture and morals, and very close to them at the same time. A well written drama, an audacious subject, and an even handed and balanced presentation of the subject make this a delightful foray into the foundations of human social mores, by example rather than by lecture. A tremendous cast, a gripping cliffhanger. Season two, here I come.
Would you? Or wouldn’t you? And are the artificial plot settings the question arises in only superficially important or does it change the quality of your answer that you may never be in a situation that’s remotely close to the one depicted in this movie? In other words, is the moral conundrum this movie seems to present only applicable within its own stylized universe? If even within that universe, the kathartic act falls short, and everybody seems more upset after it than before, should these people have trusted their instincts? And am I falling into Park’s trap, asking all these questions instead of just enjoying a wildly original ride?
A wonderfully inventive collection of stories, and again a work of Science Fiction as it should be written, with regards not only for the abstract gimmicky idea or the strange and attractive world, but for the mundane experiences of both the characters and the readers in such a situation, and well rounded and balanced characters. Or so they should be, but somehow they fail to make me care about them. Maybe that’s my fault.
Quirky, drab, touching and depressing, all at the same time, this is the story of a father slowly dying, and his estranged children struggling to find their place in what unfolds. I’m not entirely sure of its quality objectively – I suspect it’s rather good, if you must know -, for it hit close to home for me on a personal level. Having been in a similar situation just recently, I found myself both relating to the characters’ confusion, and back in my own bewildered state at the same time. And when we left the theater, I heard an old gentleman tell his wife “that was really sad”, in a broken voice, which was both sweeter and sadder than anything within the movie, and that’s in spite of that Lenya song and the ending.
A delightful and touching comedy, with a lovely soundtrack, and wonderfully understated moments of dry humor, mixed with the emotionally touching story of trauma overcome and love found in the most unlikely of places, Jersey. I’ll go to southern Newark soon, looking for the infinite abyss and the old leaky boat guarding it, not to move in with the young couple, but to also stand on top of the excavator and shout at the unknown.
To the reader interested in love, sex and animal and human happiness, though rare a beast such a reader might be, this book holds a treasure trove of observations, deliberations and insights. Always keeping in mind the obvious question – how does all this relate to us? – the authors lead us on a walk through animal species, to look for evolutionary reasons and pressure for or against monogamy, and revealing it to be quite uncommon even among species long thought to be faithful mates for life. As it turns out, the fact that affairs need to be concealed from the adulterer’s mate implies automatic and almost perfect concealment from the researcher ape hiding in a camouflaged tent, who after all is much less adept that the animals involved in detecting suspicious behaviour.