Fresh Books

I cleared my reading pile, so it's time for another order. This time, it seems everything I'm getting has been recommended by a visitor to this site!

Chief in the list is Brian Sutton-Smith's The Ambiguity of Play.  It is apparent that my grumbles about the phrase 'rhetorics of play' is a grossly insufficient reason not to read this book, which comes highly recommended by various people whose opinions I respect, including Anne Galloway. I am praying for a paperback with dimensions that will make it convenient to travel with.

Also, Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid and The Beak of the Finch, although I am worried that the latter book isn't going to provide me much in the way of new information, as I am pretty well versed in evolutionary theory.  Once again, I decided not to order Ed Castranova's book. I will read it, but now does not feel like the time. It sits in my 'order later' list, along with various Moorcock minutae I will eventually pick up.

Coming up...

I have no idea if I will have time to get back to more serious blogging in the weeks before GDC, but I have a few things I'm keen to sort out. Firstly, I must clear my Callois backlog - Agon is waiting to go, time permitting, with Ludus ready for the grand finale. I may go on to discuss Caillois' social models at a later point; this is harder to judge. There's also some philosophy pieces I need to sweep out of my mental space. Might even fit one in today.

Have fun!

Comments

[chico]

Joining the club, I am also reading 'The Ambiguity of Play', and so far recommend it immensely. I have also read 'Cybertext' recently and couldn't recommend it more, if you are even remotely interested in computer game studies (and the book is actually one of its pillars).

In the queue are Half-Real and... 21st Century Game Design. I am getting there!

[Darius K.]

My favorite quote from The Ambiguity of Play:

"belief in play as progress [in developing skills] is something that most Westerners cherish, but its relevance to play has been more often assumed than demonstrated. Most educators over the past two hundred years seem to have so needed to represent playful imitation as a form of children's socialization and moral, social, and cognitive growth that they have seen play as being primarily about development rather than enjoyment." (9-10)

[Patrick]

GEB, one of the best books ever written, and constructed with the ontological care of a game. For example, it weighs in at 777 pages, including notes. A must read for any aspiring designer, as its an introduction to zen, system dynamics and archetetchure, computer science, AI, and how art and science feed into each other.