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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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mastin.alex has commented on (2) products
An Enemy of the People
by
Henrik Johan Ibsen
mastin.alex
, March 12, 2015
Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People is certainly a book that everyone should consider reading. The play is able to mix a variety of drama, humor, and politics together to create a combination that is actually quite good. While somewhat devoid of major development and action, this book can still be an interesting read. The book is centered on Dr. Stockmann, a respectable man worthy of much praise. He discovers that the chief source of the town’s income, the baths, are contaminated and so are producing severe sicknesses for both the people of the town and any visitors that come to experience the profound healing abilities that the baths are said to have. The plot is quite simple, but soon the story devolves into a political argument, pitting liberals against conservatives. This political banter helps to drive the story along, keeping it interesting enough for the reader to stay intrigued. Through this novel, Ibsen comments on both the corruption of politicians, as well as danger of a potentially very stupid majority. Ibsen refers to the freethinking and intelligent minority as those who have “absorbed new and vigorous truths” while maintaining that “the compact majority has not yet been able to come up with them; and there they are fighting for truths that are too newly-born into the world of consciousness to have any considerable number of people on their side as yet.” Ibsen continues to rail on the majority, going so far as to say that the decision to “wish to build the town’s prosperity on a quagmire of falsehood and deceit” came as a result of lack of oxygen. It is clear that Ibsen believes that the true power lies in the minority. Quite surprisingly, is that Ibsen’s argument holds true even through to modern day. Of course, these issues apply not only on a local level, but also on a national scale. We live in a society in which politicians openly accept immense amounts of money in exchange for voting in a particular way. They are entirely focused on pleasing their voting base, and can hardly think outside of the realm of what will keep them in office longest. They serve to maintain their incumbency for as long as they can possibly manage. To this absurd notion, Ibsen says no. He openly denies the power of the majority, and views anyone that follows in suit as an imbecile. Through An Enemy of the People, Ibsen provides his best advice for fighting the compact majority and corrupt politicians��"kick and scream and fight until they cannot possibly deny your attempts any longer; to give up on your fundamental beliefs is to give up on yourself.
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Enemy of the People
by
Arthur Miller
mastin.alex
, March 11, 2015
Ibsen's An Enemy of the People is a somewhat dry read. If you're looking for major plot development and action, this is not for you. While Ibsen makes many good observations about society, it's not until Act III of this play that things actually start to get interesting. The majority of the play leads up to a climax, which in and of itself is not short, but when compared to the rest of the book, is somewhat lacking in the "wow" department. Though, this is not a bad play by any means. Anyone interested in political mayhem and sibling rivalry will likely enjoy this play. For the most part, this book reads fairly quickly. The language is simple and easy to follow, though there are various bits and pieces of useful information in Act I and II that could easily be missed. As a whole, this play keeps the readers attention fairly well. Hopefully you don't mind cliffhangers, though, as this play ends on a major cliffhanger.
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