When a Book Bores You, Pay Attention

[alice malice]

The past thirty years saw a growing academic interest in the
phenomenon of boredom. If initially the analyses were mostly
a-historical, now the historicity of boredom is widely recognised,
though often it is taken as evidence of its permanence as a constant
"quality" of the human condition, expression of a metaphysical malady
inherent to the fact of being human. New trends in the literature
focus on the peculiar relationship between boredom and modernity and
attempt to embrace the new social, cultural and political factors
which provoked the epochal change of modernity and relate them to a
change in the parameters of human experience and the crisis of
subjectivity. The very changes that characterise modernity are the
same that led to the "democratisation" of boredom: modernity and
boredom are shown to be inextricably connected and inseparable. This
volume aims at contributing to the growing body of literature on
boredom with a number of essays which reflect on the connection of
boredom and modernity and focus on particular texts, authors, or
aspects of the phenomenon. The approach is multidisciplinary, in
keeping with the pervasiveness of the phenomenon in our culture and
societies, with essays reflecting on philosophy, literature, film,
media and psychology.

Essays on Boredom and Modernity. (Critical Studies Series)

Barbara Dalle Pezze (Editor), Carlo Salzani (Editor).

On Sun, Jul 6, 2014 at 6:29 AM, alice malice <alicewmalice at gmail.com> wrote:
> I think the scholar has some interesting points but may need to go
> back and read Jameson because Jameson is not really making the point
> the scholar has taken from the excerpt provided. In any event, I
> recall a brief discussion, during BE,  of  Nam June Paik, on important
> example in Jameson of Boredom and how artists use it conceptually.
>
>  http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=undergrad_research
>
> On Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 7:07 PM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I think the almost-scholar may be right about "classic" novels from the
>> past---my experience of some--but contemp
>> Boring novels are often boring because they are boring.
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Jul 4, 2014, at 4:31 PM, Rebecca Lindroos <bekker2 at icloud.com> wrote:
>>
>> Oh wow, and I was just mentioning to someone how Updike is boring to me.
>>
>> On a more interesting level, has anyone but myself read "The Blazing World"
>> by Siri Hustvedt? A romp in something artsy - highly intelligent and
>> entertaining. I really wasn't expecting to enjoy it but took it up on
>> recommendation from a friend. Yikes!
>>
>> Bekah
>>
>> On Jul 4, 2014, at 12:40 PM, Dave Monroe <against.the.dave at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> http://incompetentwriter.com/2014/07/01/when-a-book-bores-you-pay-attention/
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