Slashdot Mirror
E-Mails from (Over?) The Edge
Every so often a book comes along that speaks directly to a reader, and this is one that spoke directly to me. Nick Woolsey has created a work for our time, but also a work for anyone of any age. Woolsey is in his mid-20s, Canadian, and painfully honest. "E-mails" details his experiences over a period of time in a variety of places (both mental and physical). It is comprised of e-mails to and from his best friend, accounts of miscellaneous travels, musings, poems, stories, and even conversations had by some men in his head who seem determined to make his life hell. I'm not exactly sure how to even classify these experiences he has, but I believe that spiritual is probably the best word I could offer. Woolsey gives an account of his own realizations about himself, his place in world, personal responsibility, and the responsibility of others. He isn't kidding when he calls himself a "cyber-visionary;" his ideas really are quite visionary (but a bit too complicated for me to explain here - to understand more, go to www.thevenue.org, which details their vision, goals, and plans for the future). Throughout the book, he describes his surge of fairly brilliant ideas, coupled with lack of funds/losing it, and the effect of all of this.
We are invited to follow Woolsey on his various endeavors, ranging from the Yasodhara Ashram to tree planting, and from the Oregon County Fair to launching several communications revolutions. As he meets an assortment of interesting people (some wonderful, others on the brink of insanity), we too experience these individuals, and are even reminded occasionally of people we know ourselves. At times Woolsey may feel like he's going to lose it, and we worry that he will as well, but somehow he manages to make it, and thank goodness he did.
Woolsey articulates his personal troubles and the sorrows of his generation with honesty, sincerity, and simplicity. He is a sympathetic and forthright voice during a time when it seems like most twenty-somethings are publishing whiny monologues about an excess of sex, drugs, and mental illness. Although all of these elements are present in the book, Woolsey maintains dignity and humor despite the struggles he faces. His honesty about mental illness is particularly striking; rather than dwelling on the pain at hand, he trudges on, hard as it may be, until there's a little bit of light. In modern culture, this sort of attitude is nearly extinct, so to read about a real live person who didn't immediately check himself into a hospital, go on psychiatric drugs, or commit suicide, is a very refreshing perspective. Woolsey turns to prayer, meditation, some fantastic friends, and himself - doing the polar opposite of what so many other people his age do when life presents adversity.
I'll agree that Woolsey's struggles are similar to those of much of his generation - uncertainty, doubt, fear of the future, depression - and also similar to many other people in the general population. However, his unique voice sets him apart, giving the reader hope rather than wanting to disappear into oblivion. He's humorous and wise beyond his years (at least I think so, not that I've attained those years - but he certainly seems wise to me). Though the prose itself is somewhat scattered (as illustrated in the section after a particularly awful discussion with Becky, his sometime-girlfriend, about three-quarters of the way through the book), there is something refreshing and strangely comforting about his style, which flips between e-mails, journal-ish entries, musings, conversations, and rants. For his subject matter and in this era, his voice is right on. We live in an age where technology is being incorporated into virtually every sector, so why not have e-mails in books? Why not embrace the technology and implement it into other areas?
In short, anyone should read this book, but particularly people struggling with their lives, their futures, uncertainty, and general doubt. Woolsey offers hope to those of us who think that we really will spend our lives wandering from place to place, never quite sure of where we're supposed to be or what we're supposed to be doing. His attitude is so positive, even when you're certain it really can't get any worse for him, and you can't help but wish you'd been one of those people to help him out along the way. His honesty and humor in relating the story of his own experiences bring flat-out laughter and a great deal of sympathy, and anyone can connect with his search for meaning in a pretty crazy (but sometimes pretty surprisingly fantastic) world.
Property of Miss Erin @Bluescript
The most important thing is to not stop questioning -Albert Einstein-
Listen to a recording on MP3.com.
Pick this up at TheVenue.
I'd have to agree with you on different grounds. When I hit back to return from the page, I found I was trapped there.
Please quit playing with the back button. It's mine, and if I want to use it, I will, dammit. Too bad, it might have been a good book...
I think they ARE making it free, or quazi copy-lefted, anyway. Read the copyright at the beginning of the first two chapters.
It's because they have a 0 second HTTP refresh tag...PEOPLE SHOULD NOT DO THIS IT IS ANNOYING.
Well, some people who go over the edge write a book about it, and some people start posting shit all over Slashdot. There is a difference... I am waiting for the Slashdot troll that could be characterized as a sympathetic forthright voice, possessing honesty, sincerity and simplicity.
OK, I'll take the plunge. I read the first two chapters.
Maybe it gets better after the first two chapters, but they seemed to me like the ramblings of a guy with no direction in life. I mean, "do we each see the same color" is not particularly earth-shattering, highly original philosophy. I guess I find people with laser-focus direction much more interesting, because (agree or disagree), I can learn something from their point of view.
It might be just me, since I've never been able to relate to the shallow, coffee-house, ponytail, "Whoa man, I never thought about the sky being orange!" crowd.
It's hard to judge a book by two chapters, but it just didn't grab me.
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It sounds like an interesting book, and I'm sure many poeple would be able to relate to parts of it, but what I'm curious about is why it struck such a chord with you?
Even well before the Andover deal, you guys must have been aware that Slashdot was a big deal, and that you we're likely to do very well out of it. Apart from the money, I would have imagined that it would have also kept you very busy, and been a lot of fun too (hopefully still is)... So if this is true, then how come when you're rolling merrily along with things looking so rosy, would you be so doubtful of the future?
I just realized I had a brain fart and this review wasn't even written by Hemos, it was written by Erin, whose review interestingly enough resides over at thepope.org
A more intereting question would therefore be what's the deal with the slashdot guys and thepope, since that names seems to come up from time to time...
I'll agree that Woolsey's struggles are similar to those of much of his generation - uncertainty, doubt, fear ...
I just found this quite amusing, Woolsey's struggles seem similar to those experienced on slashdot:).
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D BREAK - CONT repeats
A work of art is more a reflection of the reader/audience rather than that of the artist. Maybe it is because of this that I have a veiw that is a bit different from that of Hemos.
/. I would have to add words like cyberspace, email and visionary into that above piece. (I drew inspirtion from "The Fountain Head" to write that above piece.)
/. seems to have succeded to do that better still by even giving this book a mention on it pages..
Lemme make it a bit more clearer about what I am going to say further by noting:
1. A good author and a good product of literature are different and their sets may seldom intersect.
2. Everyone has the potential for ONE great book, the book about his own life. A good author is one who can go beyond that one book.
Now on to my classification on what a good book is. A book with the only credential that it does not contain the word "e" maybe a piece of classic to some but to me it is just a class one exercise.
A book with the only credential that its content looks something like :
"I saw a man walking...walk, the activity to move your leg, leg, leg- the part of the body used to walk, through the heavy traffic, heavy as heavy as the oil spills that cover some of the oceans of this world, a world we pride to call our own, by the ego that is all prevelant......."
is pure bullshit to me. Oh ya to get a mention on
But I have to agree with Hemos about one thing. The book brings to life the decay and uncertainity facing youth of today. But
Trala La Trala La.. I am thinking..
... "follow me" the wise man said, but he walked behind
Many people think that websites should not redirect quickly, but since mostly you would like to go directly, I think browsers should not keep redirected pages in the history list. Then the BACK button would always work. Probably too much to hope for that Mozilla will correct this? It's not released yet...
Why was this review posted here? Am I missing something? Is he supposed to be the new eProust?
Please, I want no part of this revolution. +++
CNN Entertainment
Some of the responses on this thread have disparaged the book under review as meandering and unfocused. They may be right. I don't know. The problem is that the review was itself so meandering and unfocused that I didn't feel the slightest inclination to look into the book.
What, exactly, does the author of the book do? Miss Erin makes a tantalizing reference to stimulating "communications revolutions", but what, if anything, does that mean? If the book is autobiographical, and I gather that it is, then what is so fascinating about the author's life and pursuits that should compel me to look into it?
The trouble is that the reviewer does not appear to have the slightest idea how to review a book. She has forgotten that the readers of the review have not all read the book, and she produces a rather aimless summary that practically requires us to have read the thing in the first place in order to understand a word of it.
If Slashdot is going to publish reviews, let it at least publish good ones.
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Some keywords for the NSA in the Lord of the Rings universe: One Ring bind find Sauron quest Nazgul freedom
Since this thread is already owned by trolls, I might as well try to see whether the time system works or not. This is posted at 2:03 AM GMT.
This book turns my stomach. I hate wimps and this guy is a grade A certified wimp. He is a femminized limp wristed loser. My suggestion to him is, Hey Bud, do us all a favor and KILL YOURSELF.
Just think about it. Emotional expression == wuss? Yeah, just keep believing that while you listen to Korn and juice up and shrivel your balls away, cretin. Yeah, that's reeeeal healthy. And "femminized"? What are you, writing esperanto? Or just another meathead guido who can't bother to read a goddamned book once in a while? I'll never understand even why a sub-zero IQ psuedo dominant male monkey pissant like you even bothers going on a board that is obviously so over your head that you can barely read a line of text without getting a migraine and turning off the CRT to go purge your pea brain. Heh-heh. I love getting medieval on sucker-ducks like you. You have not the grey matter to retort, so I stand atop your punk ego and eat your dinner. Leave a guy alone, he's just writing what he feels you fscking nimrod. >:^D
The fag needs to be put in the Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island. Somewhere along the way the queer boy lost his manhood. Maybe the USMC can find it for him. If he survives the ordeal, that is. That would really give him something to write about.
Actually, it IS funny. It's also one-up on technical-- it talks about the social issues that drive technology. Linux wouldn't exist without the ideology of the FSF. This book contains lots of FSF-type ideological nuggets that could spawn the next-great-thing if people bothered to read it.