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The End Of Absence: Reclaiming What We've Lost In A World Of Constant Connection (2014)

by Michael Harris(Favorite Author)

3.58 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1591846935 (ISBN13: 9781591846932)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Current

review 1: Eh..... I don't know what I wanted to get out of this book, but I found it rather dull. No offense to the author, but it seemed like you could have read the chapters in any random order because nothing seemed to build off of what you read in a previous chapter. I understand that the author wasn't writing a novel, but I still think some sort of story line would have made this more enjoyable. I guess after reading this book I am thankful that as an adult I still have active hobbies that have pretty much kept me from resorting to social media and the Internet as a hobby.
review 2: The subtitle is "Reclaiming What We've Lost ..." Imo, the book deals little with reclaiming, and much more with what society has gained but also what has been lost through technology as... more it morphs (and in some cases, totally redefines) every aspect of our lives. It's a great book and I'll be giving selected family members a copy of their own. End Of Absence is easily the most interesting thing I've read this year and I want to share it with those I love. The main premise, imo, is that we who lived before constant connectivity are changed irrevocably by technology. But we "old-timers" at least have memory of Life when phones were stationary, before Google and LinkedIn, before selfies, and online "dating services" for a multitudinous variety of seekers. There is now a generation sharing the earth who will never know what it is to live an unconnected life. The unanswerable questions are: In what unfathomable ways will society change as a result? How are the brains of individual humans adapting? Where does this path lead? The author opts for a month of living without phone and email. I think it's safe to say that the month was a challenge for him. He hopes for an awakening, an epiphany. On the 29th day of his "ordeal," he writes "It is possible to abstain. To know full well the hefty glamour of the world's shining face and then, for a time, step away." He quotes Seneca, "Men's greatest achievements are the products of their seclusion." There's a nod to Thoreau and his Walden.The epilogue begins with "'The end of absence' is a disobliging subject - precisely because it looks, to the casual eye, like a lovely collection of gains."I believe we could all benefit from reading this book if only to stop and ponder, for a minute, what this "lovely collection of gains" might mean for us as individuals, as well as for a generation who will know nothing else. He offers a "pseudoprescrption" the essence of which is "Experiment. Live a little. And remember that fear of absence is the surest sign that absence is direly needed." He also offers a fun and enlightening glossary of terms for the new connected age. Definitely a five-star book, imo. This rating comes from a great-grandmother who staunchly resists technology, who rarely carries a cell phone (sans camera, etc.), who has embraced only a fraction of the "constant connection" and actively rejected the remainder. I've texted only the briefest messages perhaps a half dozen times. But this book isn't meant only for me. It's a fun romp though all the delightful, quirky, educational, helpful tools that are available to us at the push of a button. less

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