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A review by alexander0
Graphs, Maps, Trees: Abstract Models for a Literary History by Franco Moretti
3.0
As an opening statement: This is a book for someone who is coming from an area of literary criticism, history, rhetoric, or similar. This book is not meant for someone who is pretty well versed in quantitative social science/information methods. The reason I start here is that if your expectation is that this is going to teach you methods for literary work, you would be wrong. This is an argument to a field that largely dismisses quantitative methods. Anyone who is educated on quantitative methods will see this book as fairly obviously clear.
That said, this book does a good job of putting together some excellent references and cases to argue why literary fields could borrow methods from other more quantitative and mixed methods fields by using references within and important to literary criticism.
Also, it makes for a nice checkpoint for someone who is wanting to work relative to these fields, already knows the methods, but doesn't know the typical methods of literary and rhetorical fields.
That said, this book does a good job of putting together some excellent references and cases to argue why literary fields could borrow methods from other more quantitative and mixed methods fields by using references within and important to literary criticism.
Also, it makes for a nice checkpoint for someone who is wanting to work relative to these fields, already knows the methods, but doesn't know the typical methods of literary and rhetorical fields.