The Lonely City Adventures in the Art of Being Alone) [Pdf New] ñ Olivia Laing

Summary è PDF, DOC, TXT or eBook ☆ Olivia Laing

Download ↠ The Lonely City Adventures in the Art of Being Alone ´ PDF, DOC, TXT or eBook Olivia Laing ☆ 0 Download Summary è PDF, DOC, TXT or eBook ☆ Olivia Laing What does it mean to be lonely How do we live if we're not intimately engaged with another human being How do we connect with other people Does technology draw us closer together or trap us behind screensWhen Olivia Laing moved to New York City in her mid thi. What does it feel like to be lonely It feels like being hungry like being hungry when everyone around you is readying for a feastAs a person who spends a fair amount of time by himself I was drawn to the subject matter of this book I would say that I m very comfortable in my own company but there are periods of isolation that I don t always enjoy God I m making myself sound like a total recluse here To be clear I am blessed with lots of terrific friends but as an introvert I always need plenty of personal space However I also live in a large city nowadays and to feel an emotional disconnect despite being among the presence of thousands is not uncommonIn this thought provoking study Olivia Laing reflects on a period of intense loneliness which she endured in New York after a break up During this difficult time she turned to art for answers and explored the interpretations of urban isolation created by some notable and other lesser known artists They saw themselves as outsiders amid the city s multitudes and channeled their piercing heartaching loneliness into their workSome of her subjects I found interesting than others Edward Hopper and Andy Warhol s ideas on the theme particularly intrigued me There is a lengthy examination of Hopper s seminal Nighthawks which revealed many new observations that I had not previously considered The others I found less interesting the chapters on David Wojnarowicz and Henry Darger didn t grab me as much Maybe this is down to ignorance on my part as I am less aware of their work The book is part memoir part art appreciation but I actually found Laing s findings and experiences of loneliness compelling than the artists she describes In fact I feel like the study would have been complete if she fully opened up on her side of things Her own thoughts on the seeming contradiction of isolation in a huge bustling city intrigued me most of all and I wanted to know about her personal situation What really happened with the man who left her stranded in New York How did she end up overcoming her exclusion from the world What advice would she give to a person who finds themselves in the same predicament Loneliness is never an easy thing to admit society tends to attach a sense of shame and failure to the condition I believe that Laing is holding back a little about her own experience but I feel this book presents some valuable insights into the subject and the important role that art plays in understanding it

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Download ↠ The Lonely City Adventures in the Art of Being Alone ´ PDF, DOC, TXT or eBook Olivia Laing ☆ 0 Download Summary è PDF, DOC, TXT or eBook ☆ Olivia Laing L's Time Capsules from Henry Darger's hoarding to the depredations of the AIDS crisis Laing conducts an electric dazzling investigation into what it means to be alone illuminating not only the causes of loneliness but also how it might be resisted and redeeme. I will always be lonelyAnd this book just validated that feeling some us have had and still having and will continue to have for the rest of our lives While some may think that it is a weakness artists mentioned in this book which I never knew existed thanks Olivia used loneliness as their means of doing their artworks to its best At the time that technology hasn t reached its peak yet these people turned their pain into something beautiful art Instead of looking for a way to dismiss that particular feeling they ve come to terms with what the society thought was an illness Add to it the pressure of the society that happiness is all there is and that people who experience loneliness on a deeper level has no place to be inIn a city full of people it can also be isolating It has always been a belief that living in a city means having everything which is not always the case Olivia Laing points out how living in big city could just as much make you feel alone despite surrounding with so many people You can be lonely anywhere but there is a particular flavour to the loneliness that comes from living in a city surrounded by millions of people One might think this state was antithetical to urban living to the massed presence of other human beings and yet mere physical proximity is not enough to dispel a sense of internal isolation This book will not tell you how not to be lonely This book will not tell you how to feel less alone And neither this book will tell you how to get rid of that feeling but this book will tell you that loneliness is not a bad thing after all

Download ↠ The Lonely City Adventures in the Art of Being Alone ´ PDF, DOC, TXT or eBook Olivia Laing ☆ 0 Download Summary è PDF, DOC, TXT or eBook ☆ Olivia Laing Rties she found herself inhabiting loneliness on a daily basis Increasingly fascinated by this most shameful of experiences she began to explore the lonely city by way of art Moving fluidly between works and lives from Edward Hopper's Nighthawks to Andy Warho. Not a bad book but not what I was looking for I didn t realize to what extent the book would focus upon sexuality AIDS and abused individuals Even ordinary people people with less serious problems than those studied in this book are troubled by loneliness lack of communication and meaningful contact with othersThe author wanted to get a handle on the loneliness she felt when her partner left her She was in her mid thirties and she felt utterly alone alone in NYC We are told that she was raised in a lesbian family but we are not told the sex of her partner While this is a memoir of sorts it has in fact very little specific information about the author You may ask what sex has to do with all of this I mention sex only because in this book it plays a central role Sex is a key component of the entire book Another book on loneliness might focus on age on one s ethnic background on physical or psychological disabilities and less on sex The author looks at four artists Edward Hopper 1882 1967 Andy Warhol 1928 1987 David Wojnarowicz 1954 1992 and Henry Darger 1892 1973 She states that the loneliness they felt affected their art She does not make the claim that art can be seen as a means to remedying one s feeling of loneliness isolation or alienation Why these four artists Hopper because his paintings reflect a sense of separation between individuals Take one glance at his painting Nighthawks and you see this Here is a link Those he paints are not communicating with one another there are no crowds and we observe through a window Asked if his paintings are meant to express loneliness Hopper s reply was ambiguous Perhaps subconsciously is the most we can get for an answer The other three are LGBT artists thus sharing common ground with the author s own background They all are from urban environments NYC for three and Chicago for Darger Their lives and their art forms are reviewed All share problems relating to sexual physical andor mental disabilities and abuse Yet regardless of the similarities that do exist each one s art is completely different from the others I don t see any revolutionary conclusions that can be drawn from the study except maybe one that society must take an active role toward abolishing sexual discrimination and it must actively work toward helping the weak the mentally disabled the poor and those physically and sexually abused It doesn t say all that much about loneliness though and that is what I thought was to be the central focus of the book For me the book has a political message rather than a philosophical oneThe author ueried how it could be possible to be lonely when living in an urban environment This was for me self evident We all know that one can be alone in the middle of a crowd Just because one has people around it doesn t mean there is communication I cannot say I necessarily agree with all the ideas the author proposes on art on loneliness or on social media I grant that her ideas can be used as a starting point for further discussionsI suppose the book might have engaged me if I had loved the art of the artists described Hopper s I like but the others do little for me A word about the writing the prose the lines If I say the writing is excellent and it is I don t mean that it is lyrical It is instead lucid coherent expressive and utterly clear The audiobook is narrated by Zara Ramm Her reading is fluid What is said flows into your head and you completely understand You feel as though you are thinking the thoughts yourself but the speed is so rapid you get exhausted and it is necessary to take breaks You are left no time to think on your own I prefer a slower speed Let me point out that my view of the narration has not influenced my rating of the book Even if there are commonalities between the different artists the book lacks cohesion It is neither a memoir about the author nor does it provide complete biographies on the four artists and I do not see how this book has helped the author resolve her own sense of loneliness If it has she has not explained how It does make a political statement mentioned above in the third paragraph