The Empire of Things

I'm not yet quite sure what to make of this book. I suppose it could be said that all of life is here - except, curiously enough, for sex. Most states of mind are presented in this collection, in CJ Stone's curiously attractive style that manages to combine cynicism with enthusiasm for his subject, all in one short paragraph.I like the last part best; from when he gets involved in the `Amanae' treatment - an extraordinary thing to do considering that "I've had extensive dealings with a variety of alternative remedies in the past ... in fact, you name me some practice, and I'll see if I haven't engaged with it yet," but "I can't say that I've ever been cured of anything." This one, however, has somehow hit the spot for him.And then he goes travelling off round the world, becoming particularly taken up with watching wild bears in the deepest forests of Transylvania, before coming back home skint and spending a lot of time - which he hadn't done for forty years or so - with his Mum and Dad. It's not clear whether all this really happened in that order, probably not, but it all fits together well and finally brings the book to a meaningful close.Other parts of the book are horrible; not badly written, not at all, but the subject matter is sometimes grim. Do we really need to be unexpectedly presented with graphic details of what happened to Vlad the Impaler's victims? I would advise anyone with a particularly sensitive nature to just skip this section entirely.There are other horror stories too; details of modern political conflicts, but at least there is some point to these - we probably do need to know. CJ is an angry young man now turned fifty-something, so along with the witty and sensitive pieces about his parents, his son, people he's met, places he's been and so on, we also get a couple of horror stories, not to mention a few rants about Thatcherism. That's all par for the course.We are left to decide for ourselves as to whether his political passion is a natural result of growing up in a working class part of Birmingham, or caused by inadvertently watching the TV news whilst on an acid trip, or whether it's his own personal deep-seated anger that can be drawn out and dealt with consciously through - for instance - the Amanae process. Even though I agree with his politics I wanted something more here, something to pull these threads together, something more than an implied assumption that either I do agree or else I'm one of the bad guys.But perhaps that's more than I should ask from a collection of short pieces, mostly magazine articles. Actually I liked nearly all of it, as well as feeling like I was getting to know the author better. I think I've figured out what to make of this book. CJ Stone is very generous with his own life and experience; he gives it to us wholeheartedly. And as a result the reader feels like it's been written for him or her personally, like a letter written home from a brother on his travels. `The Empire of Things' is a very good read.

This is a wonderfully interesting book. It's a collection of C J Stone's writings, both published and unpublished over the past few years. Although it covers a wide range of topics and moods, from righteous anger to melancholic nostalgia and from personal reminiscence to political critique what ties it all together is a suspicion of a culture in which possessions and objects are worshipped and the human beings who bring them to life are often ignored or dehumanised. As you'd expect Stone writes with a great sense of empathy for the people that he encounters, keen to uncover the hidden frailties and strengths of real people's lives that get buried under waves of consumerism and celebrity obsession. If you're looking for a quirky and varied take on life and a very human social history of British society over the past few decades then this book would be a great choice.

CJ Stone comes into things from a different angle. These articles shine like tiny slivers of light illuminating the subtle power of humanity writ personal. He's writing about people who are living in a manner different to the current mainstream of society and these human encounters are not concerned with the diktats of society and custom, they seem beyond that. He seems enamored with people whose quest to devise or live a new mode of community and this approach is what seems to drive his writing. He is not interested in changing the state of the world around him, but to experience it as it is, free from the influence of any preoccupation. A true observer of the alternative life we could all benefit from studying.