(Book #33) Peter Eisenman - House of Cards

A few weeks ago, I was looking through the massive architectural books collection at the Brand Library in Glendale, and found architect Peter Eisenman's book 'House of Cards'. I was very excited to discover this book, as it is extremely rare and even looking for it online proves fruitless or too expensive. The book documents Eisenman's syntaxical processes of designing six residences over the course of a decade (mid 60's through 70's). We are presented with a great many sketches, diagrams, studies, models and photographs that reenact the sequence of design of these pieces of architecture. Most of the book is comprised of these images, however there were 3 different essays spliced together to form a layered commentary of, by and against Eisenman's use of syntax in design. The writings were varied in their content, with the piece by the architect himself providing an added layer of meaning to the methodology. It was also stressed that the primary content of the book was the architecture itself, which had to be "read" in its own fashion.

As students of architecture, we are effectively taught how to read a building; Architecture "speaks" and there is something inherent and special that can be understood by experiencing it firsthand. If we cannot understand a space in person, we are left to infer the design intent from images in books. 'House of Cards' makes it clear that these homes are almost entirely about process, a logic or pattern that is established by Eisenman and the forms blossom from sketched out ideas to fully fleshed out structures. It is understandable that this generative approach would not appeal to many designers, however it does align with some of my personal design sentiments. Having finally read this book, I found it a great resource and would love to eventually find another copy for my personal collection. Alas, for now I will have to remain content in returning it to the shelves of the Brand Library and sharing it with everyone else.

(Book #32) Stephen Hawking - A Brief History of Time

A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking, is a book for those that are interested in the science of the cosmos but are non-scientists themselves. Throughout the book, Hawking manages to take some of the more mind boggling aspects of physics, such as relativity and quantum mechanics, and break them down into a language that inquisitive mind can follow (mostly). Sure, any reader could get a bit lost in some of the concepts, but Hawking manages to keep the discourse grounded in a way that the content can be brought to the masses very much in the tradition of Carl Sagan. Hawking clearly has such an incredible understanding of these immense subjects that the book could have easily strayed into the overly technical and speculative. Having only read segments of this book previously, It was refreshing to reengage and follow through with the subject matter and grasp some of the more complicated temporal concepts. The book acknowledges the fact that our understanding of the universe is constantly evolving and that some of the theories written about may someday seem as antiquated and inaccurate as "the world is flat". With Hawking originally having written this in the late 80's, one cannot help but think about how much more has already been explored and understood just in the last 20 years. We are left with a sense of wonder about new discoveries on the horizon and what these advances would mean for the human species as a whole.

(Book #31) Herman Hesse - Siddhartha

I initially picked up Herman Hesse's 'Siddhartha', with the belief that it was a story about the Buddha and that it would provide a little more insight into that religion. I was surprised to find out that it was not so much a story about the Buddha or even the Buddhist religion (even though he is encountered), but more of a cross section through a multitude of Eastern traditions, beliefs and worldviews. The story embodies many classic narrative devices, but this quest for Truth was something more unclear and intangible than the typical "Hero's Journey". We follow the titular character, Siddhartha, wise beyond his years even at the outset of the story, through a variety of encounters and relationships throughout his life as he searches for self fulfillment. It is a lonely journey and one that we all share to some capacity. As with many stories there are twists, turns and distractions from the initial goal and the character often forgets what it was he was looking for to begin with. It is ultimately discovered it in the most unlikely of places and we are left with the real question of what one does once it is found. On the whole, 'Siddhartha' contained a good deal of theological nourishment for any reader to chew on.

(Book #29) Black Elk Speaks & (Book #30) Shit My Dad Says

Once again, I have gotten a bit behind on the write-ups for the books I have read. This year has been plowing along at an incredible pace, and when combined with other activities and obligations, it has resulted in a sense of urgency to get these books done. The writing aspect of this challenge also takes up a fair amount of time when done thoroughly. Ultimately the goal is the reading and not necessarily the writing, which was more of an afterthought and a device to help process what I have read and collect my thoughts and opinions on the subject matter. This is not to say that I won't be doing the writings, but there will likely be more concise blurbs and less essays unless, of course, the urge to gush, rant or vent is overwhelming!

Twenty-ninth up is a book called 'Black Elk Speaks' and recalls the personal experiences of a holy man of the Sioux Indian tribe. This was not a lengthy book, but was dense with many rich narratives and traditions of this particular tribe in the period after the Civil War through the notorious and unsettling massacre at Wounded Knee. Knowing only a little of these events, it was still a very fascinating and humbling read, particularly that knowing many of the ideas and details given in these stories were typically told through the art of verbal storytelling. The fact that the stories and experiences of Black Elk were allowed to be collected and written down by a man named John G. Neilhardt is a testament to the trust and respect that these two had for each other and the embodiment of a people they sought to preserve.

I followed that up with a quick and humorous read, Justin Halpert's 'Shit My Dad Says'. I got a free copy of this a few weeks ago and thought it would be an entertaining book that would help me catch up in this project. This book was spawned by the Twitter feed of the same name, and was also published in this medium ahead of a further tie-in in the form of a television sitcom. Having already been a follower of the random and often crass nuggets of wisdom from this guy's aging cranky father, this book aimed to flesh out the stories behind some of these one liners and paint a more sympathetic portrait of one of life's characters. I felt it was successful portrayal in that through all of the wacky shit that comes out of this guy's mouth, the reader gets a real sense of who he is as a person and a father, while still getting a good laugh out of it.

(Books #27 & #28) Gustavo Alberto Garcia Vaca - 'The Multiple Entrance' & 'The Hidden Infinities'

A couple weeks ago Jessica and I went the enormous Comic Con in San Diego. One of the less insane things to do at the convention is to check out the many booths of artists who are there to promote themselves and their artwork. While many of the artists focus on actual comics, some do more character and graphic design work. Most all of them are selling samples of their art in the form of prints, books, or sketchbooks and every time we go, we pick up a few. This year was no different and I ended up coming away with a couple small books by an artist I met there named Gustavo Alberto Garcia Vaca.

Vaca's work appealed to me because not only did I appreciate the gestural artwork, but also the photography and the variety of interspersed short stories. 'The Multiple Entrance' was a collection of abstractions of classic pieces from the Science Fiction, Mystery and Horror genres (ex. The Time Machine, Frankenstein, Edgar Allen Poe, etc). These "remixes", as he called them, were sometimes pastiches and sometimes twists on the old tale. Some of them were more recognizable than others, but all of them remained compelling to me to some degree. My biggest criticism about this book was that I wished some of the pieces could have been longer. While I appreciate "flash fiction", the abruptness with which some of them ended was a little overused and made some of the pieces feel more like exercises rather than short stories. Regardless, I still enjoyed reading the reimagined stories and appreciated the juxtaposed graphic work that went with them.

In a similar structure, The Hidden Infinities, placed digital imagery in context with Vaca's original sci-fi stories. The stories in this book also varied in length from a few sentences long to several pages. The imagery, while possibly more abstract than the other book, seemed to actually fit with the text fairly well, so much so that I began to wonder if the image inspired the text, or text inspired the image, or neither. The stories themselves were more chilling glimpses into other worlds and less about character development (Think 2001, not Star Trek).

All in all they were both worth checking out for me personally and could serve as good examples and resources for whenever I eventually decide to compile and distribute my own work.

(Book #26) Stephen King - The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands

For the halfway mark (yes, I'm still a little behind - I blame vacation), I chose to pick up another Stephen King book, the next in line for me in the Dark Tower series, book number three, 'The Waste Lands'. I wasn't sure how long this was going to take me, as this one was shorter than a lot of other King novels, but longer than the first two in the series. In terms of the story, it picks up right where the last Dark Tower book left off and ends abruptly in a suspenseful moment. King, ever the storyteller, has established his core of characters by this point and after finally getting them all together as a cohesive unit really starts to let them begin their mysterious journey. While King is not hiding the fact that he is nodding to such other classic journey stories as 'Lord of the Rings', he references a myriad of other poems, songs and movies to keep the reader rooted to established tropes. While the first book of the series started with a heavy western (as is Wild West) tone, by this third book more sci-fi and fantastical elements have been introduced , overlapped and juxtaposed that the tale has really come into a tone of its own. Like any fantasy book, the reader has to suspend disbelief to account for the anything goes mentality and "deus ex machinas" that are inherent to the genre. In that respect the book was frustrating at times, but most of the characters are human enough to be experiencing the same sense of bewilderment as the reader, making it easy for us to go along for the ride. That being said, it's still an entertaining read that poses some interesting ideas and I'm curious as to where it's heading; however I'll be waiting until after this reading project to pick up the next in the series, due to its length.

Until next time…

(Book #25) Benjamin Hoff - The Tao of Pooh

As far as quick reads go, you can't get much quicker than Benjamin Hoff's 'The Tao of Pooh', unless you consider Lao-tsu's 'Tao Te Ching'. Having never read this, the idea of comparing Taoism to Pooh seemed whimsical and simple enough for me, but I only just now got to reading it. It works well as an introduction of this simple Eastern worldview through the lens of a Western children's story. Hoff succeeds in introducing the reader to the basic principles of the Tao as embodied by Winnie the Pooh, while also making stark comparisons with the other characters' and their respective traits and faults. Amongst the dialogue with the familiar animals, several Chinese folk tales and traditional stories are weaved appropriately with the pastiche. The idea behind all of this is that living in a care and trouble-free manner is not only a comfort, but is a complete Way of experiencing life. While I cannot agree with all of the Taoist principals that have been broken down in this book, it was still a refreshing read that left me a little contemplative of my own temperament and of unnecessary stuff in life.