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The Codex
Call it The Flattening Effect. The process by which mystery is leached from life, and replaced by weary literalism. Age is the primary culprit, abetted by desensitizing technology, and the reductive shove of science. At a certain point, thought becomes synapse, talk becomes tweet, and all Netflix movies seem to merit three stars. Gradually the world recedes from your touch, until the only things that still feel real are sex and video games.Such, at any rate, is the case for Oliver Broudy, when he stumbles upon the most grotesque instance of flattening imaginable. An object so dense, and so uniquely revealing of our times, that it is itself a kind of mystery. Forthwith, Broudy sets out for the Czech Republic to confront the object—along with its aging creator. To him is put the final Once life’s mystery has faded, can you ever get it back again?"Lyrical, provocative, the mysterious Codex stays with you long after you've turned the last page." —Jennifer 8. Lee, author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles
- GenresPhilosophyNonfiction
42 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 5, 2011
23 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Oliver Broudy
10 books4 followersOliver Broudy cut his teeth writing short stories, which have been published in a variety of literary journals. In 2005, after a five-year stint as an editor at The Paris Review, he switched to writing non-fiction. Since then he has focused on writing for magazines. His work has taken him to China, Afghanistan, New Zealand, and elsewhere. He has written about anarchy in Missouri, a kung fu master in Humboldt, and football in Dallas. In 2009, his dissection of a fatal car crash for Men's Health was a finalist for the National Magazine Awards. Since then, he has begun to pursue more independent projects, beginning with The Saint, which was voted a top-ten Single of 2011, and most recently The Convert, which was voted a top-ten Single of 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 28, 2012
I started this with no idea what it was about, and was pleasantly surprised. Though the subject matter wont be of interest to everyone, the philosophical ideas discussed are universal.
Several passages took my breath away and had to be read over again for my mind to fully comprehend them, not because they were complex but because they were so beautifully simple that I couldn't process them right away.
A surprising and thought provoking read.
Buy it here...
Several passages took my breath away and had to be read over again for my mind to fully comprehend them, not because they were complex but because they were so beautifully simple that I couldn't process them right away.
A surprising and thought provoking read.
Buy it here...
July 25, 2012
The subject matter is not to my liking but WOW can Broudy write. I was motivated enough to look up his website and catch a link to his article Dead Man Driving at Men's Health. It was so scary it changed how I drive.
Broudy obviously cares about his craft, each of his sentences are crafted for thought and effect. Read this if you are not afraid of a modern explicit examination of the most female of external body parts and how some people are surgically modifying them. Read his Men's Health piece if not, but read Broudy and look out for anything new by him. He's a rare find.
Broudy obviously cares about his craft, each of his sentences are crafted for thought and effect. Read this if you are not afraid of a modern explicit examination of the most female of external body parts and how some people are surgically modifying them. Read his Men's Health piece if not, but read Broudy and look out for anything new by him. He's a rare find.
April 30, 2012
Much ado about nothing.
I enjoy the Kindle Singles format, and I've read several now. It's a good way to read personal essays in a short to medium length. This, however, is not one of those essays.
Broudy came across, to me, as world-weary and narcissistic, surprisingly dismissive of the modern world and simultaneously dulled by its sensory overload. There were long passages expounding on his personal theories on loniness, isolation, modernity, sexuality, and so on, which are of moderate interest, but his tendency to turn self-reflection outward - to assume that what he experiences is a universal rather than a personal revelation, comes across as pedantic and condescending.
As for subject matter, he keeps the reader in the dark for a long time as to the contents of the mysterious book that he is seeking, one that could exist 'only in the modern era' but would be banned in any library. This is a little too much build for...
***SPOILER****
...a book of drawings of vaginas to serve as models for a Czech plastic surgeon specializing in such things. The 92-year old man who produces the pictures is moderately more interesting, but not enough so that it was a particularly compelling reveal.
I guess I was thinking of the Voynich manuscript, or Henry Darger, or something along those lines. Drawings of the female sex don't seem particularly scandalous to me, nor do I find the subject of genital plastic surgery to be nearly as fascinating as the author does.
Maybe it just wasn't my thing.
I enjoy the Kindle Singles format, and I've read several now. It's a good way to read personal essays in a short to medium length. This, however, is not one of those essays.
Broudy came across, to me, as world-weary and narcissistic, surprisingly dismissive of the modern world and simultaneously dulled by its sensory overload. There were long passages expounding on his personal theories on loniness, isolation, modernity, sexuality, and so on, which are of moderate interest, but his tendency to turn self-reflection outward - to assume that what he experiences is a universal rather than a personal revelation, comes across as pedantic and condescending.
As for subject matter, he keeps the reader in the dark for a long time as to the contents of the mysterious book that he is seeking, one that could exist 'only in the modern era' but would be banned in any library. This is a little too much build for...
***SPOILER****
...a book of drawings of vaginas to serve as models for a Czech plastic surgeon specializing in such things. The 92-year old man who produces the pictures is moderately more interesting, but not enough so that it was a particularly compelling reveal.
I guess I was thinking of the Voynich manuscript, or Henry Darger, or something along those lines. Drawings of the female sex don't seem particularly scandalous to me, nor do I find the subject of genital plastic surgery to be nearly as fascinating as the author does.
Maybe it just wasn't my thing.
January 1, 2012
I've always had an interest in the personal essay form. This offering from the Kindle single line definitely falls into the personal part of a personal essay. We are treated to Mr. Browdy's ponderings on, what can only be, a very personal subject. He takes a while to get to the point, 25% of the essay to broach the subject, and then seems, to me, to spend much of his time avoiding it. But the personal essay is meant for meandering thought and he delivers on that. I won't go into the subject much due to my own need to avoid embarrassment and I don't want to spoil it for anyone else. This is brief but kind of fun.
Edit:
Despite my remarks I did enjoy this essay. Even though, for me, the author comes across as having a superiority complex, he poses a question for the rest of us mortals to consider. The title refers to a book that is used by a plastic surgeon in Prague. He spends remarkably little time discussing the book in question. Much of the essay is devoted to his concern that we are loosing our sense of mystery.
Edit:
Despite my remarks I did enjoy this essay. Even though, for me, the author comes across as having a superiority complex, he poses a question for the rest of us mortals to consider. The title refers to a book that is used by a plastic surgeon in Prague. He spends remarkably little time discussing the book in question. Much of the essay is devoted to his concern that we are loosing our sense of mystery.
June 17, 2013
A nicely written single, with some beautiful language and description mingled into a tale of discovery. The downside for me was that the supposed Codex was not all that shocking, or overly surprising, or even that interesting. But I suppose that's the point of this essay; to point out the flattening effect the sale of goods with sex has on society.
In that it works, but also as a fine and apt description of arts functions in a world of apparent ease of information. The last two chapters drive this home with a wonderful vision of what the artist sees: the whole picture, not the subject confined by the boundaries of a frame.
What an intense place the brain of an artist is, full of colour and feeling.
In that it works, but also as a fine and apt description of arts functions in a world of apparent ease of information. The last two chapters drive this home with a wonderful vision of what the artist sees: the whole picture, not the subject confined by the boundaries of a frame.
What an intense place the brain of an artist is, full of colour and feeling.
December 26, 2012
I had no idea what the "codex" would be, and was rather mortified when I realized what this single was really about. But Broudy expresses himself so well - and turns it into a thoughtful philosophical exploration of perception - that I enjoyed the result quite a bit. Not recommended if forthright bodily descriptions are uncomfortable for you.
January 3, 2013
Wonderful short on the modern state of humanity. Broudy has a way with words and a way of capturing the farce of our first-world thoughts. This piece was hilarious, thoughtful, and poignant. I would highly recommend it!
April 16, 2013
Bizarre and enjoyable, consistently surprising.
September 22, 2014
Thought-provoking read!
October 13, 2011
Interesting and thought provoking read
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews