NUMBER: 66TITLE: Public Opinion
AUTHOR: Walter Lippmann
STARTED: September 22, 2005
FINISHED: October 2, 2005
PAGES: 262
GENRE: Non-Fiction
FIRST SENTENCE: Walter Lippmann deliberately gave this book a bland title because its contents are so explosive. [from the forward]
SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] In what is widely considered the most influential book ever written by Walter Lippmann, the late journalist and social critic provides a fundamental treatise on the nature of human information and communication. As Michael Curtis indicates in his introduction to this edition. Public Opinion qualifies as a classic by virtue of its systematic brilliance and literary grace. The work is divided into eight parts, covering such varied issues as stereotypes, image making, and organized intelligence. The study begins with an analysis of "the world outside and the pictures in our heads," a leitmotif that starts with issues of censorship and privacy, speed, words, and clarity, and ends with a careful survey of the modern newspaper. The work is a showcase for Lippmann's vast erudition. He easily integrated the historical, psychological, and philosophical literature of his day, and in every instance showed how relevant intellectual formations were to the ordinary operations of everyday life. Public Opinion is of enduring significance for communications scholars, historians, sociologists, and political scientists.
REASON FOR READING: Assigned in MDIA 530: The Rhetoric of Propaganda.
THOUGHTS: I should state first that remember very little of this book. That is not a good sign... seeing as how we have to discuss it in class tomorrow. The writing was dry and slow and, because it was written in the early 1920s, I've encountered many of its arguments before.
That being said, I think that Lippmann made some remarkable points about how we perceive the so-called "public opinion." His chapter on stereotypes was fantastic. He may have been stating things that most people already new, but the fact that he took the time to think out why people stereotype put a whole new spin on the issue for me.
Since I could only focus on parts of this book, most of the content comes to me in waves. As a media studies and politics major, this book was right up my alley. I might try to read it again one day, when I can concentrate more on the content.
MISCELLANEOUS: Polling data is a sham.
KEEP/SHARE/CRINGE(?): Will probably get sold back.
RATING: 4/10 [An "okay" book, but I don't recommend it]
CR: A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
RN: Tons of stuff for school.
Comments