In The Metro by Marc Augé

In The Metro Reviews

• 
  Arman

  امتیاز: 3.5 و حتی 4 و جاهایی 3
  
  تشکر از دوست عزیزی که زحمت معرفی کتاب و قرص دادن طولانی مدتش رو کشید.
• 
  Emad Eldein

  لم أكن متأكد ما الذي كنت اتوقعه، تحديداً ، من هذا الكتاب (انتولوجي في المترو) . جل ما كنت اعرفه انه كتاب بالغ الصِغر عظيم الشهرة لأستاذ علم الاجتماع والانثروبولوجيا الفرنسي (مارك أوجيه) يتكلم عن مترو الانفاق بعتبارة نموذج لفضاء ثقافي معاصر … وما أن بدات القرأة،، ومن الصفحات الاولى أدركة اني فتحت صندوق ثمين مليء بجواهر الفكر والثقافة الرفيعة… يتداخل فيه الشعري بالحجاج العقلي ، والسرد الروائي بالمفهوم العلمي ، والإنشاء الأرسطي بالإستدلال المنطقي… بحيث نقف أمام أثر هجين تسقط فيه الحدود بين العقلاني واللا عقلاني ، التاريخي واللاتاريخي ، الذاتي والموضوعي ، بين الذاكرة الفردية والذاكرة الجماعية و بينهما معاً وبين التاريخ الذي لا يرحم… لم يرسم أوجية فقط تفاصيل الحياة اليومية بل رسم رعب الحياة اليومية الصارم البارد القاسي.. هذا الكتاب من الكتب التي تثبت ان العلوم الإجتماعية هي الافضل في دراسة الانسان المعاصر
• 
  aurora

  متروی پاریس.
  فکر می‌کنم هرکتابی که راجع این دو کلمه، با هم یا بی‌هم، ببینم، در نگاه اول بخوام بخونم‌ش.
  مترو جایی که باندهای کوتاه مدت بین مردم شکل می‌گیره، مسیرها و داستان‌ها مختلف پیش میاد، میشه زنجیر تخیل رو ول کرد یا آویزون کرد به دیگران تا اون رو با خودشون ببرن، نظم مبهمی در شلوغی/خلوتی ساعت‌های مختلف شبانه‌روز و روزهای هفته رو می‌بینیم، تاریکی شیشه‌ها موقعی که توی تونل هستیم، قطارهایی که صبح از فرودگاه حرکت می‌کنن و همونطور که کم‌کم خط رو که پایین (یا بالا و.. ، گیر قراردادهای جغرافیایی نباشیم) میان پر می‌شن، دست‌فروش‌ها، سنگینی فضای زیرِزمین، ترس سوار شدن اشتباه، دویدن (اشتباه و خطرناک) توی راه‌پله‌ها، شرط‌بندی کوچیکی که ‹آیا قطار جلوی پای من باز می‌شه؟›، تصور پریدن روی ریل، کش اومدن مسیر و القای حس نرسیدن و ...
  کتاب سخت‌خوانی بود. مخصوصا برای مخاطبی که یک شیشه‌ی قطور و مات فرهنگی بهش اجازه نمی‌ده اون‌طور که دل‌ش می‌خواد ببینه؛ تفاوت‌های زیاد (از شکل شبکه، قدمت، ایستگاه‌ها بگیر تا به متکدیان، نوازنده‌های مترو، تبلیغات در و دیوار و ..)، استعاره‌ها غیرملموس و ادبیات متفاوت. تا جایی که کتاب رو حداقل دو مرتبه خوندم تا بفهمم از چه چیزی صحبت می‌کنه، اما باز هم گاها ناموفق بودم اما حسرت می‌خورم که کاش می‌تونستم کتاب رو بفهمم.
• 
  Léo Henry

  Ce livre est extrêmement ambivalent.
  À vrai dire, mais c’est bien de ma faute, je m’attendais à une étude sociologique ou anthropologique du métro.
  Au lieu de cela, ce livre se présente plutôt comme une invitation à l’étude du métro, proposant des pistes de réflexion, interessantes certes, mais n’étant que des pistes. Il n’y pas a pas d’étude et d’observation réelles à proprement parlé.
  Enfin, je trouve le style très inhabituel pour un ouvrage se voulant scientifique. Je ne suis pas contre un peu de style dans la littérature scientifique, au contraire, mais là, on atteint un point critique, dépassant les limites. Cette volonté de bien écrire rend le propos de l’auteur plus compliqué à comprendre, laissant une place trop importante à l’interprétation personnelle, et conduit à estomper le scientisme de l’ouvrage.
• 
  Eärendilen

  خیلی حیفه که مجاز و استعاره و هر استفاده‌ای که از خود اسامی ایستگاها کرده‌ رو اونقدری که باید نمی‌فهمیم.. من که دلم خیلی سوخت.
• 
  StephenWoolf

  A une personne qui me demandait ce que je pensais de ce livre, j'ai répondu que j'avais l'impression qu'il ne s'adressait pas à moi. Je n'ai pas les connaissances nécessaires pour l'apprécier à sa juste valeur et, passées les premières pages qui m'ont beaucoup plu (la partie sur la mémoire), j'ai lu par devoir plutôt que par plaisir.
  J'ai l'impression que le style est typiquement français : érudit et whimisical à la fois, nulle volonté de vulgarisation ici. La clarté du propos est sacrifié à l'élégance du style (ça m'a fait penser à un court essai de Rancière que j'avais mis longtemps à finir La Haine de la Démocratie). Ca ne doit pas gêner ses pairs, je suppose.
  La deuxième et troisième partie s'attachent à discuter la notion de "fait social total" théorisé par Mauss puis repris et critiqué par Lévi-Strauss. J'avais entendu parler de cette notion et avais en tête une définition "minimale" de celle-ci, le type qui tient en qq lignes et qui est à destination des étudiants de licence. Je pensais l'avoir comprise -vaguement et imparfaitement mais tout de même-. En fait, non.
  
  Il y a de belles phrases, des réflexions intéressantes. Mais ce n'est pas un livre pour moi.
• 
  Yulietita

  Una pequeño etnografía del viaje en un metro París. Entendible, rápida y poco densa teóricamente. Nuestras vidas se ven atravesadas por los recorridos que hemos hechos en su transcurrir, aquello que observamos en el colectivo mientras estamos yendo al colegio, a cursar, a trabajar, etc. Si bien moverse en un transporte público es una experiencia individual (al pasar por un café nos podemos acordar de por ejemplo, cierta persona con la que merendamos allí, pensamiento que no tiene la persona que viaja a mi lado porque simplemente no comparte el mismo recuerdo que yo) también se trata de una experiencia colectiva al estar normativizada colectivamente (dónde nos podemos sentar, cuándo nos podemos bajar, lo que se puede y no se puede hacer dentro de un colectivo, etc). Además, se trata de una experiencia colectiva porque es en el encuentro con el otro en donde nos definimos, nos rearmamos, nos desconfiguramos; allí determinamos qué somos y qué no somos. El metro adquiere un carácter novelesco porque cuenta historias, es una catarata de narraciones que son encarnadas solo si sus pasajeros lo habitan, ¿Qué sentido tendría un colectivo vacío? Siempre significamos habitando.
  
  "El tren no puede partir sino con las puertas cerradas", el micro representa un micro-mundo al que entramos, el cual si bien tiene sus propias reglas, no se encuentra aislado de las demás instituciones del mundo global. Por el contrario, se encuentra condicionado por las mismas.
• 
  Eärendilen

  or maybe it's just me and the context worth tout les étoiles de la monde or whatever
• 
  Christina

  I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I started reading this, but I found it strangely engrossing. The links Augé weaves between people, culture, society and the subway system of Paris were fascinating.
  
  Though I admit not having the background required to fully comprehend some of the deeper meanings intended by Augé, I found his style both vivid and descriptive enough to draw me in, and leave me wanting to learn more. In fact, more than once I found myself researching elements, simply to satisfy my curiosity. Why WAS a certain station named that way? How are these various elements connected?
  
  Never before has the phrase "métro, boulot, dodo" been laced with so much depth. It was well worth reading, and left me pondering the the intricacies that bind people and places.
• 
  Marco

  I state that I work in the field of public transport in Milan and precisely I work in the underground transport: for this reason perhaps I am not the best person to judge this book.
  However, if this is the ethnology, I'll never read a book about ethnology.
  It has not given me an innovative reasoning or an enlightenment.
  A real disappointment. Read in the Italian translation.
• 
  Minli

  Ethnography of the Parisian metro. This was one of the books that made me love urban ethnography. The metro stops are mostly named after national events or individuals, but the riders of the metro who impose their own meanings onto a certain station.
• 
  Diana

  Mah. Resto perplessa.
  Poco scorrevole e accattivante. Si è un po' ripreso solo nel finale.
• 
  Mai

  This book was interesting but ultimately a bit disappointing. "In the Metro" is a book of reflections on the Parisian metro system and the people who use it, by an ethnologist, hence the original French title "Un ethnologue dans le métro" (An ethnologist in the metro). Contrarily to his anthropological works, this one does not claim to be a scientific work, but despite knowing this beforehand, I still expected a bit more from the book.
  
  What you'll find in here: well-written depictions of quotidian life in the Parisian subway, some very insightful observations of and interesting reflections on the metro, introduction to some concepts in anthropology (social fact, total social fact, rituals,...), some methodological suggestions for any young ethnologist/anthropologist who wants to study the metro.
  
  What you will not find: data, any (sort of in-depth) analysis, interviews, anything you would expect in a sociological/ anthropological investigation.
  
  The book is divided into 3 sections: Memories, Solitudes and Correspondences. And my enjoyment of this book went downhill as I read on, "Memories" was definitely the part I enjoyed the most and "Correspondences" the least, so maybe that's what has made this reading experience end on a not so high note for me. But again, this book has a lot of beautiful descriptions and interesting observations and I would still recommend it to anyone who's interested in getting into anthropology.
  
  Here's some quotes from the book:
  
  “The regular traveler on a given line is easily recognized by the elegant and natural economy of his or her way of walking; like an old sailor who calmly descends toward his boat at dawn and appreciates in a glance the billowing waves at the exit of the port, measuring the force of the wind without appearing to touch it, with style, but in a less studied way than a taster sniffing a glass of wine, listening without seeming to heed the waves slapping against the jetty or the clamor of the seagulls gathered on the shore or already scattering over the sea in little avid flocks, the seasoned traveler, especially if he or she is in the prime of life and strongly resists the desire suddenly to burst into the stairs for sheer pleasure, can be recognized in the perfect mastery of his or her movements: in the corridor leading to the platform, the traveler walks swiftly but without rushing; without letting on, all senses are on alert." (p. 6)
  
  “Because it draws us into quotidian humanity, the subway plays the role of a magnifying mirror that invites us to take account of a phenomenon that, without it, we might risk or perhaps try to be unaware of: if the world, in its majority, is getting younger, we are the ones moving away from it. What are still for us current events have already become history for others [...] But that is a fundamental and exemplary experience: at the very moment when our own history catches up with us, that of others escapes us. [...] but from another point of view the inverse takes place: they [young people] leave us where we are, and in confusion we feel that it is they who are making or are going to make history.” (p. 14-15)
  
  "In these anonymous silhouettes, wild and ill-adapted flowers in a "French-style" society (as it is said of gardens), we recognize the limits and signs of our collective identity: these beggars are what we are not, proof that we share with others at least this negativity. [...] they symbolize by way of negation and to the point of dizziness the whole social order, terribly concrete and terribly complete black holes in our daily galaxy. [...] That is probably one of the reasons for the sacred disquiet they arouse. They are an insurmountable, impassable border, a bit like the living dead. And the idea of making an offering to zombies is part of an obvious and immediate desire to stay within our borders…” (p. 48-49)
• 
  MaupassantGuy

  Las informaciones están mal, está constituido por 117 págs. en esta edición. Dicho lo cual, entiendo que la fecha en la que fue publicado no era la más propicia para las traducciones, pero esta es mala hasta llorar. Es literal cuando no tiene que serlo, y el problema es que muchas expresiones, perfectamente normales en francés, complican el texto hasta unos niveles innecesarios cuando son traducidas sin ningún contexto o explicación. Más allá del problema de la editorial, el inicio es muy hermoso, pero se tuerce en disquisiciones que no acaban de llegar a ningún lugar ulterior, se contenta con plantear y jugar con que va a dar con la clave de todo para que luego no sea así. Una lástima, la verdad. Augé es un autor que me encanta, pero este libro tiene reflexiones asintóticas
• 
  A

  باید یه لیست از کتابهایی هم باشه که نمی بایست به فارسی ترجمه کرد
  بله عنوانی دارد که
  آدم رو قلقلک می دهد که بخواند
  و اگر ترجمه نمی شد همه فکر می کردند که وآآآی چه چیزی را از دست داده اند وللللللی ..
  واقعا ترجمه اینگونه کتابها احمقانه ست
  شاید فقط برای سودآوری برای صنعت نشر بوده
  عنوانی جذاب ولی از نظر من واقعا ارزش همان اندک زمانی که برایش گذاشتم نداشت
• 
  Claire

  Meno interessante del suo fratellino (nel senso che questo è uscito prima de "Un etnologo al bistrot"), forse troppe citazioni "alte" per me.......
• 
  Ana

  Des beaux reflets sur ce qui se voit à travers de la vitre du train, lorsqu'il sort du souterrain.
• 
  アマチュア読者

  
  
  p.108
  另外，地鐵的景觀比起其他景觀，更能提供我們機會和方法，不是去觀察地鐵乘客的一般人格是什麼模樣，而是去體會這些人在面對各式各樣的影像、指令、暗示的時候，他們的反應、拒絕或佯裝無知。因為，無論他們反映的原因為何，我們總是習慣以一種刻板印象去套用整體，把他們均值成平庸的種類，然後依照標準的圖示說，他是消費者，她是誘人的女郎，他們是和善的年輕夫婦，他是邪惡的男人，卻完全說不清楚，究竟刻板印象是反映了現實，還是改造了現實？
• 
  Emma Roulette

  More of a meander through Augé's memoirs set in the Paris Metro than "legit anthropology", whatever that is, but I liked it. The narrative, descriptive, ambling style suits a topic like the subway, which is packed with diverse containers of people, all following their own itineraries, all different from one another in their desires, fears, delusions, epistemologies, yet also the same in some way that Augé finds mystical and impossible to explain. It appealed to the public voyeur in me, the one who rides public transport so she can draw its passengers and wonder about their lives. And come up with imaginary names for the characters, destinations, pasts, narratives. I miss the subway.
  
  I think Augé is trying to pin down that elusive essence of the metro, while simultaneously avoiding all claims to any sort of absolute generalization. You can only pick up traces of the implicit codes of etiquette that passengers follow, only bits and pieces of commonalities among the diverse throngs. And then those generalizations really end up saying more about you than they do about anyone else.
  
  The one thing that Augé got undeniably right (in my opinion) is how he describes the experience of the metro as a collective solitude, a multitude of solitudes in the plural. We are all packed into one train car like sardines, shoulder to shoulder, sharing physical space. But simultaneously we are all immersed in our own worlds and not attempting to socialize with anyone unless it is out of necessity (or if there are lots of delays). We see that this is relevant now more than ever, as the passenger is surrounded by hundreds of people staring intently into their phones, playing Bejeweled or whatever (these are the best subjects to draw!!!). Yet these imposed solitary experiences still comprise a collective social culture. The question is... how to capture it....
• 
  Blackjessamine

  Un libriccino che all'apparenza mi sembrava piuttosto interessante: un'analisi etnologica della metropolitata di Parigi. In effetti si è lasciato leggere con piacere (merito anche della sua brevità), ci ho trovato anche diversi spunti di riflessione interessanti, non si è rivelato troppo pesante né inaccessibile ai non addetti ai lavori (nonostante diversi riferimenti a concetti basilari e pietre miliari di antropologia ed etnologia, è perfettamente possibile tenere il passo con le riflessioni dell'autore pur non avendo conoscenze troppo specifiche in materia).
  Il punto però, secondo me, è che oltre a qualche spunto di riflessione e qualche curiosità interessante questo saggio non va a parare da nessuna parte. Mi è sembrato più che altro un divertissemet, un tentare una strada vagamente originale per ribadire concetti per nulla originali, senza approdare a nessun contenuto innovativo.
• 
  Lysiane

  Well written and enjoyable, presenting Paris' subway history and people's attitudes by sharing an experience. Perhaps I had trouble seeing where this was really going, and coming back often on the same points. A good author and nice book but I stay with an unfinished feeling like there was way more things to tell that he skipped, or maybe that's his way to make us wonder about those...It was nice, not my favourite book of all times but actually apropriate to read in the subway!
• 
  Emilia

  paris.
• 
  Christian Grimaldo

  Un libro que incita a reflexionar acerca del estudio del carácter liminar del transporte público.
• 
  Tammy Hsieh

  Read the Chinese version. Hope to be able to read the French version someday.
  It is definitely a very well-written essay that bridges academic theories and urban observation. Maybe I should read it again when I'm in Paris.