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Star Wars: Un ensayo urbano-galáctico
Profesor de geografía en la prestigiosa EHESS de Paris, Alain Musset es también un fanático de la saga Star Wars. Mezclando sus dos pasiones, estudios urbanos y ciencia ficción, su último libro nos permite entrar en el laberinto de una ciudad imaginaria, Coruscant, que no es sino el reflejo abrumador de nuestras megalópolis contemporáneas hundidas en un mundo globalizado. ¡Que la Fuerza nos acompañe!
214 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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24 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 15, 2023
Es un tratado sobre geopolítica en Star Wars :P Sin embargo, aunque trate de una megalópolis imaginaria como Coruscant, el autor realiza un estudio serio sobre las características de este tipo de ciudades, sus problemas de urbanismo, de desplazamiento, la creación de ghettos verticales, haciendo continuas comparaciones con ciudades reales como Nueva York o Ciudad de México, además de realizar comparaciones con otras mega ciudades de ciencia ficción como Trántor o Metropólis. Muy buena. Será publicada en español por Bifurcaciones.
January 12, 2020
Like the author, I am interested in both science fiction and urban development. So when I saw that a Parisian professor of geography and urban studies had written a book analyzing Coruscant, the planetwide city that serves as the capital of the galaxy-spanning Empire in Star Wars, I knew I had to read it.
When I first saw it on the shelf of my local bookstore, I thought maybe the book would be along the lines of The Tao of Pooh or the Dharma of Star Wars or The Physics of Star Trek. These books take academic subjects and explain them for the lay person through the lens of popular culture. Say what you want about such books; I enjoy them, find them interesting and learn things from them.
However, based on the cover and the short blurb on the back, there was an equal chance it would be a more academic examination of urban design theories, which I knew would be more of a challenge, especially reading in Spanish, but I was up for it.
Unfortunately, the book is neither of the above. I find it hard to believe that any serious student of urban design would learn anything from it, and a lay person definitely cannot. Because the author spends most of his time name dropping people whom I suspect are "big names" in the urban design world but never gets around to explaining their theories. And on the scifi side of things, he spends too much time talking about how different authors represented Coruscant at different points in the Star Wars timeline as if these authors had based their fictional accounts on some kind of urban design theories, which I doubt.
I was left feeling that the whole book looked at everything backwards. Instead of starting with an urban design concept or theory, and then picking a few well-chosen examples from Star Wars to exemplify these ideas, the author did the opposite. He droned for pages and pages about how Coruscant was depicted in this comic or that movie or those books, then as almost an afterthought, pointed out how This or That Great Thinker said something similar once about how cities grow, but without really explaining how these éminence grise developed their theories or how they are applied In Real Life.
It wasn’t until the very end, page 157 to be exact, that I felt like the book started making sense. I’m honestly not sure why this chapter (chapter 4) wasn’t the first chapter in the book. In this chapter, the author goes into the background of a few urban design theories and gives a bit of the backstory on some of the experts he’s been quoting throughout the rest of the book.
One thing I did appreciate about the book was its global viewpoint. Since the author is not from the US, he is better able to critique US cities and point out their shortcomings than many American authors might. Also, he includes in his examples cities like Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City and other megalopolises that aren't usually referenced.
Ultimately, like the fictional city it is analyzing, this book falls apart under its own weight and very nearly implodes, only to be saved at the last minute. Definitely would not recommend it to anyone but the most nerdy fangirl/boy who also happens to be an urban design wonk. Oh, and you have to be able to read in French or Spanish—I don’t think this is available in English. So the Venn diagram for target readers for this book is pretty small.
[I read this in its Spanish version, translated by Alejandro Rascovan. The translation was incredibly well done]
When I first saw it on the shelf of my local bookstore, I thought maybe the book would be along the lines of The Tao of Pooh or the Dharma of Star Wars or The Physics of Star Trek. These books take academic subjects and explain them for the lay person through the lens of popular culture. Say what you want about such books; I enjoy them, find them interesting and learn things from them.
However, based on the cover and the short blurb on the back, there was an equal chance it would be a more academic examination of urban design theories, which I knew would be more of a challenge, especially reading in Spanish, but I was up for it.
Unfortunately, the book is neither of the above. I find it hard to believe that any serious student of urban design would learn anything from it, and a lay person definitely cannot. Because the author spends most of his time name dropping people whom I suspect are "big names" in the urban design world but never gets around to explaining their theories. And on the scifi side of things, he spends too much time talking about how different authors represented Coruscant at different points in the Star Wars timeline as if these authors had based their fictional accounts on some kind of urban design theories, which I doubt.
I was left feeling that the whole book looked at everything backwards. Instead of starting with an urban design concept or theory, and then picking a few well-chosen examples from Star Wars to exemplify these ideas, the author did the opposite. He droned for pages and pages about how Coruscant was depicted in this comic or that movie or those books, then as almost an afterthought, pointed out how This or That Great Thinker said something similar once about how cities grow, but without really explaining how these éminence grise developed their theories or how they are applied In Real Life.
It wasn’t until the very end, page 157 to be exact, that I felt like the book started making sense. I’m honestly not sure why this chapter (chapter 4) wasn’t the first chapter in the book. In this chapter, the author goes into the background of a few urban design theories and gives a bit of the backstory on some of the experts he’s been quoting throughout the rest of the book.
One thing I did appreciate about the book was its global viewpoint. Since the author is not from the US, he is better able to critique US cities and point out their shortcomings than many American authors might. Also, he includes in his examples cities like Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City and other megalopolises that aren't usually referenced.
Ultimately, like the fictional city it is analyzing, this book falls apart under its own weight and very nearly implodes, only to be saved at the last minute. Definitely would not recommend it to anyone but the most nerdy fangirl/boy who also happens to be an urban design wonk. Oh, and you have to be able to read in French or Spanish—I don’t think this is available in English. So the Venn diagram for target readers for this book is pretty small.
[I read this in its Spanish version, translated by Alejandro Rascovan. The translation was incredibly well done]
January 26, 2024
Me costó mucho leer porque no acostumbro a relacionarme con libros con este tipo de contenido. A la antropologa le serviría bastante. Es muy interesante como logra analizar la economía, sociedad, urbanismo y funcionamiento de todo un mundo ficticio, haciéndolo más interesante de lo que era. Alain Musset reúne información de más de 40 años de historia en todo tipo de contenido para explicar Coruscant y lo hace de forma espectacular y en cada ángulo posible. Loved it.
December 31, 2020
Cuando Star Wars se cruza con las ciencias sociales y el urbanismo.
Este ensayo mezcla el análisis de toda la obra de la saga con teorías urbanísticas, geográficas, sociológicas y arquitectónicas mostrándonos que el arte imita a la vida y que la ciencia ficción no es más que el reflejo de nuestros problemas y fenómenos sociales.
Para un cientista social fanático de Star Wars, este libro más que recomendado, es una lectura necesaria.
Este ensayo mezcla el análisis de toda la obra de la saga con teorías urbanísticas, geográficas, sociológicas y arquitectónicas mostrándonos que el arte imita a la vida y que la ciencia ficción no es más que el reflejo de nuestros problemas y fenómenos sociales.
Para un cientista social fanático de Star Wars, este libro más que recomendado, es una lectura necesaria.
October 2, 2025
Un interesante ensayo que reflexiona sobre las bases reales y representativas de Coruscant. Desde sus símbolos, estrategias de factibilidad, símiles reales y en otras ficciones. Sin embargo, sentí que a veces el texto se daba vueltas en las mismas ideas, solo que citando a más pensadores, arquitectos, urbanistas, etc.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews