Being There by Jerzy Kosinski Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Being There
Book Review: The A-Level course review
Summary: 4 Stars
Book Review - `Being There'`Being There' by Jerzy Kosinski London:Black Swan(1983), 1st Bodley Head(1971); 111p.; 21 DM
Chance, the protagonist, an orphan , is socially and emotionally underdeveloped, because he never had any social contacts to the outside world. As he was absolutely occupied by TV and the garden his life changes completely from his little world to reality. Through a coincidence, a car accident, he met EE, a rich wife of a financial businessman, who helped him on his way to become a media model. Because he has never known reality he behaves like he has seen it on TV, an his behaviour seems to be successful.
The book `Being There' catches the reader's attention because of it's interesting topic which is still up to date. The characters in the story are described in a more and more realistic way until the end and thus makes the content more and more plausible. At first the content seems to be totally unrealistic, but when you think about that what the author wants to tell us you'll see that it's only an exaggerated story with true content. The text itself is written in an understandable language so that the book can be read fluently.
Book Review: The Meteoric Holy Fool Strikes Again!
Summary: 5 Stars
Chance is the sixty-something gardener in an old man's estate. He has never left the grounds of the estate in his entire life, being rather slow. Yet, although he's not the brightest proverbial bulb on the proverbial Christmas tree, Chance is pleasant, polite, and anxious not to offend. When he is thrust out into the world, due to the old man's unexpected demise, these traits serve him well. People like him, automatically. People trust him, instinctively. Through a series of extremely unlikely coincidences, Chance finds himself hobnobbing with the president of the U.S., and giving him advice on economic matters, albeit in singularly vague terms. His advise, however, does always seem to contain a sort of metaphorical wisdom, and before he knows what's happening, pundits are falling all over each other to be the one to interpret his oracular utterances.This book claims to be a modern fable, discussing the power of the media to shape our notions of leadership, etc, but I think it speaks to a deeper issue -- the role of outsiders in general, and how we project our hopes and fears onto them. It's also about a certain kind of fear, by which I mean the fear we all experience of having to admit to ourselves that we strongly suspect that nine times out of ten our elected officials are just full-court-bluffing their way through life, and are every bit as clueless and scared as the rest of us. In this case, due to Chance's refreshingly childish innocence, the Emperor not only has no clothes, but he doesn't even understand that people want to BELIEVE that he does.
If anyone's interested in buying a similar sort of story for their children, I'd like to recommend the story "Nazar the Brave," which is in a collection of Armenian folktales called "Once There Was and Was Not," compiled and retold by Virginia Tashjian. It's a great little story, just like "Being There." Two thumbs up.
Book Review: The Meteoric Holy Fool Strikes Again!
Summary: 5 Stars
Chance is the sixty-something gardener in an old man's estate. He has never left the grounds of the estate in his entire life, being rather slow. Yet, although he's not the brightest proverbial bulb on the proverbial Christmas tree, Chance is pleasant, polite, and anxious not to offend. When he is thrust out into the world, due to the old man's unexpected demise, these traits serve him well. People like him, automatically. People trust him, instinctively. Through a series of extremely unlikely coincidences, Chance finds himself hobnobbing with the president of the U.S., and giving him advice on economic matters, albeit in singularly vague terms. His advise, however, does always seem to contain a sort of metaphorical wisdom, and before he knows what's happening, pundits are falling all over each other to be the one to interpret his oracular utterances.This book claims to be a modern fable, discussing the power of the media to shape our notions of leadership, etc, but I think it speaks to a deeper issue -- the role of outsiders in general, and how we project our hopes and fears onto them. It's also about a certain kind of fear, by which I mean the fear we all experience of having to admit to ourselves that we strongly suspect that nine times out of ten our elected officials are just full-court-bluffing their way through life, and are every bit as clueless and scared as the rest of us. In this case, due to Chance's refreshingly childish innocence, the Emperor not only has no clothes, but he doesn't even understand that people want to BELIEVE that he does.
If anyone's interested in buying a similar sort of story for their children, I'd like to recommend the story "Nazar the Brave," which is in a collection of Armenian folktales compiled and retold by Virginia Tashjian. It's a great little story, just like "Being There." Two thumbs up.
Book Review: The chance of modern society
Summary: 5 Stars
I think the novel "Being There" describes well a problem of our modern society. The book has an interesting plot and tension is created all the time. Funny misunderstandings are a leitmotiv throughout the book. Also for young people it is easy to read because the language is not too difficult. Of course the speaking name of the protagonist called "Chance" absolutely fits him. When you read it you have to watch out for many hidden surprises. All in all it is a good book, read it.Book Review: This is the story of Obama mania
Summary: 4 Stars
I luved this movie. After watching this movie I understand Obama mania around the world. Particularly the fascination of Obama by the Europeans.
Peter Sellers portrayed the Obama character so well...It was uncanny.
All Obama fans need to rent and watch this flick.
Amazing!