Thank heavens that Lev Manovich wrote an essay in this book (“What is Digital Cinema?"). If he hadn't I think I would have used the first of three strikes. The Digital Dialectic isn't a horrible book, I just feel that some of the writing isn't very seductive. I totally avoided the book for a few weeks. After a great start with discovering Buffalo Heads through the dedication, I found the first essay to be dull. Trying to alleviate the situation I jumped around but dozed off. Manovich was manna from heaven! He is so specific in his writing and gets to the point. His thesis pretty much is that digital cinema is a beautiful bigamous marriage between the photograph, painting and collage. His describing the loop as a function comparable to photography's capturing the decisive moment felt as if my brain had gotten a dusting. His essay seemed to be his book in a nutshell, and I wonder which came first.
I don't think I will read the entire book cover to cover. I've decided to select some essays instead. My next book is more theory so I may do this again instead of using a strike. The next essay will be on ethics and the digital world. Let's see how it goes.
More soon
