Skip to main content

The Big Sleep - Book Suggestion

Reading has always been a bit of an escape for me. As long as I can remember, I've been obsessed with fiction and the ability to get away from my present and go pretty much anywhere. Even as I am pursuing my Phd, I find that I am constantly buying (odd for someone with a Library degree) the next novel that I want to read. I almost always have a novel on me, I think I really picked the habit up when I moved to New York and realized there is so much time to read throughout the day that you might miss. Taking the train, waiting rooms, random periods when you are in between tasks, etc. So since then, I find that I get through more novels that expected, even though I'm in a period of study that requires a lot of reading.

I've been on a bit of a noir kick. I love the old movies and I've discovered that some of my favorites are based on novels and that the author has written many more. I've always loved The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and found out that Phillip Marlowe, the main character, has a run of novels written by Raymond Chandler. So if you are looking for something to read and want to take a dip into the seedy underbelly of Old Hollywood with a jaded, but still slightly hopeful, Private Investigator then this is something to check out!


Comments

  1. LeeJune 25, 2020 at 1:37 PM

    Thanks for the suggestion! I don't think I could function without a regular dose of fiction. ;)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Culture of Connectivity - Jose Van Dijck - Chapter 6

In this chapter, Van Dijck focuses on YouTube. YouTube started with the intentions of being an alternative to broadcast television. Like Flickr, its origins and its present state do not function the same. Where it used to focus on user generated content, the user is considered more of a consumer now with the intention of watching rather than posting. However, YouTube introduced some new abilities that have had a lasting impact. YouTube introduced the idea of streamed content, the ability to upload video, and combined these with aspects of social networking! YouTube videos are rarely downloaded, viewers do not own the content, but they have access to view the material. Where YouTube differs from Flickr is that in its adaptions of the purpose and focus, Some of the original users of the platform were disgruntled by the changes, but the majority of users supported the change and embraced it as a part of their everyday lives, particularly with their capabilities of meshing almost seamlessl
Post a Comment
Read more

The Culture of Connectivity - Jose Van Dijck - Chapter 7

This chapter focuses on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is much different from the other sites discussed in the book so far, however its inclusion in the top influential actors in the digital landscape is undeniable.  Wikipedia is a "professionally run, volunteer based, nonprofit organization whose goal is the online production of an encyclopedia" (p. 132). It's nonprofit status came about due to the creation and maintenance of the Wikimedia Foundation. The sites is founded on five basic principles, but she never actually lists those 5 principles, but says that neutrality is the most important of them and while the elements that measure the success of the encyclopedia also cause "disenchantment" for those who feel that the focus on neutrality and the bureaucratic structure limits the site. Van Dijck discuses the users of the site and states that crowd management is one of the sites biggest strengths. She points out that it is neither the specialists or the generalists that
Post a Comment
Read more

The Culture of Connectivity - Jose Van Dijck - Chapter 4

Chapter 5 focuses on Twitter. Originally the creators of Twitter were striving to create a utility. A piece of information infrastructure that was an everyday and unnoticeable part of our lives, like electricity or phones. Van Dijck says that this created a paradox in that is "presumes Twitter to be a neutral platform upon which users freely interact, much like the Web itself...indifferent to the contents they exchange" but that "the streams of data are engineered to promote certain uses and users over time" (p.69). Van Dijck says this paradox of "enabling connectedness while engineering connectivity" and "propagating neutrality while securing profitability" show up in every aspect of the platform. This is kind of a trend in all social media platforms as the start out about the user, but need to pay the bills... The Twitter platform has has some pivotal contributions to the culture of connectivity (culture influence tech while tech influences cul
2 comments
Read more