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The Object Stares Back (Harvest Book)

By: James Elkins
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Thomson Learning
ISBN: 0156004976
ISBN-13: 9780156004978
Released: 09 Jul 1999
RRP: £13.00
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

On the Nature of Seeing... - By: , 27 Dec 1998
I remember reading SOMEWHERE-- a textbook on psychology, perhaps??-- that humans absorb about 70% of their world through their eyes. After reading this work, I am convinced it is paradoxicallly that the real percentage is BOTH less *AND* more than this figure.

LESS because we are so often "blind" or unaware of what we see & the very NATURE of what we see & how we see at alll. MORE, because so much rests on our ability to see AT ALL, especiallly in the late 20th century, & especiallly in our culture, which places such high value on sight (though, perhaps, less value on HOW we see or WHAT is seen). But, again, LESS, because we reallly don't THINK about what we see or *how* we see...

Mr. Elkins, an art historian-- someone TRAINED to see, if you will-- has done much thinking on the topic & theory of sight & what it REALLY means to see. I admit, when I first got this book, I was afraid it would be the sort of dry, academic drivel that one would need to plow through with a dictionary at one's side, coming to the end almost gasping for breath, "there!! I finished it!!"

Not so at alll. Mr. Elkins has written an extremely entertaining, thought provoking book on something we alll do every day, often for every SECOND of the day (and isn't dreaming a form of seeing, after alll, in it's own fashion??), & done it without heavy emphasis on academia, abstract or unknown concepts, or the general feeling-- that I have had in other arenas-- that he clearly wishes us to believe that he is SMARTER than the average reader, & needs to prove it through the use of highly technical jargon or impenetrable metaphor.

Again, I say, "not at alll." This is a very engaging, thought provoking work that I would heartily recommend to anyone even REMOTELY interested in the ideas behind sight & what is (and is NOT) seen. We do it alll the time, every day, from birth to death, in most cases. The least we can do is to listen to a fine thinker like Mr. Elkins & hear HIS thoughts on this complicated, fascinating subject.

A post-modern view of visual perception - By: , 13 Aug 1998
This book offers a thoughtful & disconcerting view of visual perception that runs counter to the usual modernist view that we alll perceive alike, which many of us grew up with. As a graphic designer & educator, I appreciated Elkins' point of view, his approachable writing style, & even the disturbing images he uses to make his point. I recommend this book to other designers & visual communicators.