About:
Contrapposto by Dave Eggers follows Cricket and Olympia, two artists, whose lives intertwined from childhood to old age. Mr. Eggers is published writer, editor and publisher.
- 432 pages
- Publisher : Knopf
- Print length : 432 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0593803507
My rating for Contrapposto - 5
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More books by Dave Eggers*
Thoughts:
This book has a lot going for it, from human interaction to critics of the art world, and the disconnect of the media and public from the person. The novel looks at the absurdity of the art world and is wonderfully researched.
Contrapposto, is the technique to represent a human standing with most of the weight on one leg (as I learned). The imbalance of the pose mirrors the systematic imbalance in one's life. Trying to balance ourselves in a world where problems have a bizarre tendency not to disappear when you run away, and looking for hope that's not based on delusions and lies.
I associate this concept with the technology of load balancing, distributing incoming network traffic to multiple servers to make sure one isn't overloaded. If one part of your body, or life, takes up all the burdens it will fail. However, if the system, whichever one it is, is dynamic the immense structural stress will be managed and shifted between the heavy lifting and the response to it.
Both Olympia and Cricket find themselves aging, their bodies aren't what they used to be but their minds are still pushing for peak performance. This isn't a feature, but a persistent bug, the mind wants to sprint while the knees are slowing down. They aren't upgrading, but re-platforming into a role their body system wasn't designed to handle. The human body also has a "shelf-life"
One of the interesting questions the Contrapposto by Dave Eggers explores, for a bit, is what happens to people when their figures become public and they lose the rights to their own likeness. The transition from being a person to a "product", or even a "meme" is terrifying. Where does one's individuality ends and the public property begins?
This is a reminder to us all that if you don't account for the physical limitations of the host/body/machine, the entire application is going to crash at some point. The book is peppered with original sketches made by Cricket (but actually drawn by the authors), which were a nice surprise and certainly added to the story.
Synopsis:
Young Rob "Cricket" Dibs met Olympia Argyros in grade school, she was two years old and seemed wiser and grown up. Olympia bullies Cricket to deface a playground, recognizing his talent for drawing.
As the years pass, both of their lives intersect in and out of the art world. While never lovers for long, they are both willing to drop everything and come to each other's aid when called upon.
Buy Contrapposto from Amazon.com*
More books by Dave Eggers*
"If our bodies are the 'hardware' and our lives are the 'software,' which 'bug' has been the most difficult for you to patch as the years go by?"
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I got this book for free
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on books
