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A carregar... The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory (Haymarket Series)por Norman M. Klein
   Nenhum(a) Ainda não há conversas na Discussão sobre este livro. 2   saliero | Jun 17, 2007 |  sem críticas | adicionar uma crítica
Pertence a SérieHaymarket Series (1998)
Los Angeles is a city which has long thrived on the continual re-creation of own myth. In this highly original work, Norman Klein examines the process of memory erasure in the city. Using a distinctive mixture of fact and fiction, Klein takes us on an "anti-tour" of downtown LA. He investigates the life for Vietnamese immigrants in the City of Dreams, playfully imagines Walter Benjamin as a Los Angeleno, and looks at the way information technology has recreated the city, turning cyberspace into the last suburb. We observe the close up demolition of neighbourhoods by urban planners, TV's misrepresentation of the Rodney King uprising in1992, the effect on public consciousness of earthquakes, fires and racial panic, and the way in which crime novels make LA slums seem like abandoned cities in the Central American jungle. Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
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 Google Books — A carregar...GénerosSistema Decimal de Melvil (DDC)979.494053History and Geography North America Great Basin and West Coast U.S. California Southern Counties City of Los AngelesClassificação da Biblioteca do Congresso dos EUA (LCC)AvaliaçãoMédia: (3.33)
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I was left in no doubt about Klein's feeling for that part of LA - he lives in Anegelino Heights - the first suburb just north of Downtown. Klein brings to life through personal anecdote the vitality and multiculturalism (and problems) of his, and other neighbourhoods.
You get to boo and hiss at the villains who have alienated greater LA from its Downtown, but you also get a sense of Klein's affection, and sense of hope for the city.Davis's view is much bleaker and perhaps nihilistic - he rails against the racism upon which LA is foundered, and upon which the powerful thrive, but I note in passing that he lives in the uppermiddle class enclave of Pasadena. Klein, on the other hand (at least at the time of writing) remains part of the inner urban fabric of the city. I get the feeling that Klein is a supporter of urban renewal, whereas Davis views it as another alienating con on the part of City Hall.
I agree with a previous reviewer that the novella within the book doesn't quite work. I think it contains the seeds of a good story in another genre, but is misplaced here. One problem may be the attempt to speak in a voice for which he has respect, but which is not his.
If you are interested in all things LA, film and fictive noir, the great upheavals and crises of a city such as the Rodney King affair and the LAPD, apocalyptic LA, and more - all of which penetrate the consciousness of many way way beyond the city (through globalised media, which is part of the fabric of LA) , then you will be enthralled by this book. Read it alongside Davis, by all means, but don't neglect it in favour of Davis!
If you like discussion of film and fiction set in LA, there is lots in this book to ponder.
Note: Klein cites Davis in his work. I have not seen Klein cited in any work of Davis (understandable in City of Quartz, which predates Klein's work, but he also does not appear in the index for Davis's later work Ecology of Fear - which at the time of writing this I have not yet read) (