A collection of Weschler's short essays on "convergences" he's noticed. Some interesting connections, to be sure. ( )

After the first couple of essays I was forced to conclude that Weschler has an over-active imagination. It's an interesting imagination and he sees lots of interesting connections, but I'm more inclined to credit other reasons to the convergences than he does, such a fundamentals of human aesthetics that we don't understand, not to mention pure coincidence. ( )

Once Weschler started seeing relationships between images from disparate sources, he started seeing such relationships, and others (between stories and images, stories and stories, etc.) everywhere. He began to write these 'convergences' up over the years in a series of essays which eventually were collected and published by the good folks at McSweeney's.

Some of the connections seem a bit of a stretch and, at first, simply coincidence. Many may be coincidence, but the characteristics that tie these images and stories together are often numerous and repeated across centuries, leading Weschler (and this reader) to conclude that there are, at least, certain characteristics shared by these tools for passing on human experience which contribute, at least in part, to their power and timelessness.

The first essay, related to 9/11, is a bit too easy, since the emotional impact of this recent event remains strong in most, if not all, of us. But that doesn't minimize the value of what Weschler has to show us in these images (and their stories). After the first three essays, I was sold on the premise and felt that I was reading a book that provided a very special way of looking at the world and its images. Like any collection of essays not originally written as a single work, there are some which don't stand up quite as well as others, but overall, these are a fine collection of observations on today, history, art, image, and how humans percieve their world and the events that surround us.

Highly recommended.

Os.

Really fascinating series of essays about how artists unconsciously echo each other in the images they use. Lots of great illustrations.
My favorite was the photo of the welder guy next to the painting of Mars (the god, not the planet). ( )

For photographers this book can be an inspiration. These essays that make unusual visual connections based on a wide education and awareness, especially in the visual arts lead the way to seeing with an open mind and encouragment to feed that mind with the study of everything, but especially politics and art history.