Brent P. Newhall's Blog
Reviews – Oct 2009

29 Oct 09 – Quick Review of God of Manga: Osamu Tezuka

Just finished this book, and while it's probably more appropriate for Otaku, No Video, I wanted to gush about it here.

God of Manga is a book about Osamu Tezuka, a man who basically created both modern manga (Japanese comics) and anime (Japanese animation). There was a ton of manga before Tezuka; he established that the artform could tell stories appropriate for a wide range of ages. He then took his most popular creation and made a TV animation, Astro Boy, which defined a great deal of the anime's eventual look-and-feel.

God of Manga is 3 things, really:

Tons of great insights, particularly involving Tezuka's "Star System" and repeated gags. The man was an absolute genius, and this is a great testament to his abilities and influence.

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20 Oct 09 – Shop Class as Soulcraft

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Shop Class as Soulcraft is an important book.

It has flaws—significant flaws—but Matthew Crawford's overall themes deserve wide attention.

Shop Class as Soulcraft concerns itself with the dignity of manual labor. It makes a case for the importance of work that repairs and maintains our world, from plumbing to car repair. It defends the kind of knowledge gained through practical experience and apprenticeship, compared to that learned through rote memorization and following "idiot-proof" processes.

This leads to my main beef with the book: he glorifies practical experience and blue-collar work as inherently superior to other kinds. I had moments where I had to put down the book and walk away, I was so frustrated by his insistence that white collar work is inherently inferior to blue collar.

They're important in different ways.

But Crawford's voice needs to be heard. Well worth a read.

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