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jpowerj's review against another edition
4.0
Has lots of details about the history of literature that I had NO chance of following (which makes sense, given that most of the essays were printed in comparative literature journals), but besides that it's a super fascinating book that basically lays out tons of "seeds" for research initiatives in the digital humanities, seeds that hopefully grow into full research programs
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
1.0
I think the most damning thing I could say about Moretti's theory is that he doesn't seem to understand that fiction is not real.
Franco Moretti is so interesting. Too bad he's not convincing at all. And he doesn't seem to understand the Marxist terminology he uses (but that's par for the course with Marxists in general). And everything he's "pioneered" is decades if not centuries old. Oh, and then there's the multiple sexual assault allegations, but who cares about that, right?
Franco Moretti is so interesting. Too bad he's not convincing at all. And he doesn't seem to understand the Marxist terminology he uses (but that's par for the course with Marxists in general). And everything he's "pioneered" is decades if not centuries old. Oh, and then there's the multiple sexual assault allegations, but who cares about that, right?
geoffreyjen's review against another edition
5.0
This book was different from what I expected, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have been reading about Literary Cartography and Moretti is often mentionned in that context, but in fact his writing is more a kind of spatial history of literature than a geography or cartography - in fact, I think of him as a Braudel of literature, Braudel being one of his sources of inspiration perhaps. I find many of Moretti's insights into the development of literary markets to be fascinating and brilliant and reading this book changed my understanding of what writing is about in significant ways. Highly recommended, not only to scholars but also to writers!
cythera15's review against another edition
5.0
Finally finished Distant Reading and I am so glad I did! Moretti is a very experimental thinker and, despite all the criticisms he received, his works did begin a new way that literary studies can be done. New World Literature and new literary history (based on network and data).
My favorite essay in the book was "Modern European Literature: A Geographical Sketch." His exploration of how European literature came to be -- both as a group of 'national' literatures and a counterpart of world literature -- was quite enlightening for me. I have been thinking a lot about how we should think about the novel, especially in the global context. Moretti provides an account that seems to recognize the historical influence of the West while also respecting the creativity of non-Western literature. His suggestion that new narrative forms, including detective novels and science fiction, are trying to replace the typical, realist European novels was also an interesting suggestion. It would be great to see if it is true.
Moretti's style is simple but engaging. Many of his sentences are simple and direct but they express complex thoughts. He often uses a word phrase and short paragraphs but they do not take away from the depth of his arguments. I am also constantly amazed at the depth & breadth of his knowledge. He refers to modernist works in Brazil, China, and Japan, as well as to works in Italy, England, and Germany. I wish I could be like him one day!
I probably will end up reading the book again in the future because it has many interesting results, conjectures, suggestions, experiments, and theories. There were many good suggestions about studying the genre of detective novels as well -- something I could use for my classes!
My favorite essay in the book was "Modern European Literature: A Geographical Sketch." His exploration of how European literature came to be -- both as a group of 'national' literatures and a counterpart of world literature -- was quite enlightening for me. I have been thinking a lot about how we should think about the novel, especially in the global context. Moretti provides an account that seems to recognize the historical influence of the West while also respecting the creativity of non-Western literature. His suggestion that new narrative forms, including detective novels and science fiction, are trying to replace the typical, realist European novels was also an interesting suggestion. It would be great to see if it is true.
Moretti's style is simple but engaging. Many of his sentences are simple and direct but they express complex thoughts. He often uses a word phrase and short paragraphs but they do not take away from the depth of his arguments. I am also constantly amazed at the depth & breadth of his knowledge. He refers to modernist works in Brazil, China, and Japan, as well as to works in Italy, England, and Germany. I wish I could be like him one day!
I probably will end up reading the book again in the future because it has many interesting results, conjectures, suggestions, experiments, and theories. There were many good suggestions about studying the genre of detective novels as well -- something I could use for my classes!
lawrenceevalyn's review against another edition
5.0
Always so invigorating to read Moretti; though also frustrating, because I clearly need to keep rethinking my dissertation project. But I will get there eventually!
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