The Granta Book of Reportage

Rating:
Summary: Good Description and the Problem of Journalism
Review: This is both a good book because it is very well-written book and a worrisome book for exactly the same reason. I wouldn't bring this up but for the fact that it has already been brought up by several of the pieces contained in this anthology. The concern of several (perhaps all) of these pieces is about the control of information, and especially about the potential of what is called "transparent" language to conceal abuses of power. Two of the pieces are centered on Britain, and the potential problem is brought into high relief in those pieces. Of course, a great many people these days are familiar with the arguments of the radical continental tradition, especially Adorno's work. The difficulty has been to practice these arguments while still holding down a decent job, but perhaps these pieces, particularly Marilynne Robinson's piece on the Sellafield nuclear power plant, offer a way out of that difficulty. Perhaps what could be done is to attack the means of information production, like the legal machinery that enables Britain at least to keep power hidden. It appears to me that such an idea might have some hope, and maybe young leftists reading this could go out, read this book, and cut out a career attacking this end of the problem. For those reading this sort of book purely for the enjoyment of it, as well, the book has a great deal of interest, since it is filled with vivid, if sometimes uncomfortable, description. It certainly adds to our store of knowledge of some strange, and some not-so-strange, lands.