The Barbarians

Resumen del libro

In this insightful book, which reads as an episodic essay, Baricco (Emmaus) addresses the widespread fear at least among intellectuals and academics that we are facing a "cultural apocalypse, " that civilized culture is being sacked by "predators with no culture or history." These are his titular "barbarians." Baricco begins by discussing three specific areas in which he sees the effects of this so-called apocalypse: "Hollywood wine, " with its appealing color and lack of complexity; soccer with a tendency toward "middlingness, " and a book publishing industry driven by "market logic." But, he says and herein lays the main argument of his book these are not, in fact, irrational, culturally destructive changes. Rather, these changes evidence a "mutation, " "a sort of mental and architectural restructuring" that results from a shifting cultural landscape dominated by forces such as Google. Baricco characterizes this mutation as a fundamental change in the "idea of what constitutes experience" and how meaning is made. Though often theoretical, Barrico is an excellent guide and presents each short installment" in a highly conversational, op-ed style. Ultimately the book is an optimistic defense for this mutation, a mutation "that concerns everyone, without exception."

Biografía del autor

x{0026}lt;p x{0026}lt;strong Alessandro Bariccox{0026}lt;/strong (Turín, 1958) es autor de, entre otras obras, las novelas x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Tierras de cristalx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong (Premio Selezione Campiello y Prix Médicis Étranger), x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Océano marx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong (Premio Viareggio), x{0026}lt;em x{0026}lt;strong Sedax{0026}lt;/strong x{0026}lt;/em , x{0026}lt;em x{0026}lt;strong Cityx{0026}lt;/strong x{0026}lt;/em , x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Sin sangrex{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong , x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Esta historiax{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong , x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Emaúsx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong , x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Mr Gwynx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong , x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Tres veces al amanecerx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong y x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em La Esposa jovenx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong , publicadas en Anagrama, al igual que la majestuosa reescritura de x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Homero, Ilíadax{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong , el monólogo teatral x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Novecentox{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong , los ensayos de x{0026}lt;em x{0026}lt;strong Next. Sobre la globalización y el mundo que vienex{0026}lt;/strong x{0026}lt;/em , x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Los bárbaros. Ensayo sobre la mutaciónx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong , x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em The Gamex{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong , x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Lo que estábamos buscando. De la pandemia como criatura míticax{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong y x{0026}lt;em x{0026}lt;strong La vía de la narraciónx{0026}lt;/strong x{0026}lt;/em , las reseñas de x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Una cierta idea de mundox{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong y los artículos de x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em El nuevo Barnumx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong . Baricco dirigió el programa de libros x{0026}lt;em Pickwickx{0026}lt;/em para Rai Tre, que invitó a los italianos a redescubrir el placer de la lectura (Claudio Paglieri), y en 1994 fundó en Turín una escuela de técnicas de escritura llamada Holden (como homenaje a Salinger) que ha tenido, bajo su dirección, un éxito clamoroso. A partir de x{0026}lt;em Sedax{0026}lt;/em , que se ha convertido en un x{0026}lt;em longsellerx{0026}lt;/em ininterrumpido, tanto en Italia como internacionalmente, se consagró como uno de los grandes escritores italianos de las nuevas generaciones. Ha recibido los premios Fondazione Il Campiello en 2020 y Penna dx{0026} x02019;oro en 2022 por el conjunto de su producción.x{0026}lt;/p