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Rating: 
Summary: consider it a gift
Review: anti-oedipus is one bear of a book. i have wrestled with it numerous times, only to repeatedly concede defeat somewhere around page one fifty. it was about then that i would realize i was in over my head, my knowledge of lacan and klein (and even freud to some extent) too narrow to be able to grasp its deeper significance. for one must have a sound knowledge of psychoanalysis to understand why the oedipus is something that merits a good fight. nevertheless, this book continued to fascinate, with its staggering range of knowledge and peculiar prose style calling me back time and again over the past few years. i could not leave a bookstore without passing a few moments away in the philosophy section, in hopes of finding something to assist in my study. i made an attempt with brian massumi's "a user's guide," but was left a little disappointed, finding it to be almost as difficult as anti-oedipus itself. thankfully, eugene holland's "an introduction" has proved a perfect fit. he has performed a great service to readers such as myself (i know that you're out there, somewhere) by walking one through step by step, with brief interludes explicating those thinkers who influenced the writing of anti-oedipus (such as spinoza and bataille), and illustrating each of it key concepts in relation to the revolutionary praxis it demands. he is the consumate teacher here, demanding but patient. for these are difficult ideas for the uninitiated, but with persistance this book should open up the thinking of deleuze and guatarri for any thoughtful reader. now that i have read it, i am looking forward to giving massumi's book another try, as well as another go around with the bear itself. thank you mr. holland for this great gift.
Rating:
Summary: consider it a gift
Review: anti-oedipus is one bear of a book. i have wrestled with it numerous times, only to repeatedly concede defeat somewhere around page one fifty. it was about then that i would realize i was in over my head, my knowledge of lacan and klein (and even freud to some extent) too narrow to be able to grasp its deeper significance. for one must have a sound knowledge of psychoanalysis to understand why the oedipus is something that merits a good fight. nevertheless, this book continued to fascinate, with its staggering range of knowledge and peculiar prose style calling me back time and again over the past few years. i could not leave a bookstore without passing a few moments away in the philosophy section, in hopes of finding something to assist in my study. i made an attempt with brian massumi's "a user's guide," but was left a little disappointed, finding it to be almost as difficult as anti-oedipus itself. thankfully, eugene holland's "an introduction" has proved a perfect fit. he has performed a great service to readers such as myself (i know that you're out there, somewhere) by walking one through step by step, with brief interludes explicating those thinkers who influenced the writing of anti-oedipus (such as spinoza and bataille), and illustrating each of it key concepts in relation to the revolutionary praxis it demands. he is the consumate teacher here, demanding but patient. for these are difficult ideas for the uninitiated, but with persistance this book should open up the thinking of deleuze and guatarri for any thoughtful reader. now that i have read it, i am looking forward to giving massumi's book another try, as well as another go around with the bear itself. thank you mr. holland for this great gift.
Rating:
Summary: delivers what it promises
Review: I tried unsuccessfully to read Anti-Oedipus last year. I was baffled and felt completley out of my depth. About a month ago I decided to start reading "towards" this text again, based on the unfamiliar references from my last attempt. So, I have read some secondary liturature on Freud, reread Neitzsche's Beyond Good and Evil, brushed up on Marx and Foucault, and am about to start Dor's introduction to Lacan. Also, I am simultaineously reading this book, and Massumi's users guide. This process is working well for me, and I am begining to understand? whats going on in Anti-Oedipus. Hollands book is challenging, but it does provide a strong foundation to walk across while approaching the primary text. One of the best introductions I have come across.
Rating:
Summary: delivers what it promises
Review: I tried unsuccessfully to read Anti-Oedipus last year. I was baffled and felt completley out of my depth. About a month ago I decided to start reading "towards" this text again, based on the unfamiliar references from my last attempt. So, I have read some secondary liturature on Freud, reread Neitzsche's Beyond Good and Evil, brushed up on Marx and Foucault, and am about to start Dor's introduction to Lacan. Also, I am simultaineously reading this book, and Massumi's users guide. This process is working well for me, and I am begining to understand? whats going on in Anti-Oedipus. Hollands book is challenging, but it does provide a strong foundation to walk across while approaching the primary text. One of the best introductions I have come across.
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