Last year and this year I've been trying to increase my non-fiction reading repertoire (though I cheat a little bit and count memoirs as non-fiction, which is a debatable classification that I take full advantage of) because I prefer fiction to non-fiction. Part of this is because reading is at least a partial escape for me, and I don't really want to read about the real horrible things happening in the world. This is also why I prefer romances and fantasy with at least a mostly happy ending. Part of it is that non-fiction reads differently than fiction, and often the writing style in non-fiction books is one that often leaves me with glazed over eyes even when the topic is interesting. However, I do want to be well-informed and I don't want to push myself into a corner with my reading, so in 2018 and 2019 I've given myself the goal of reading at least one non-fiction (memoirs included) book per month. And for April 2019 I read The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game. Somewhat surprisingly (though I don't know why it would be a surprise as I like board games) the history of Monopoly is fascinating.
You see, the game itself was originally an argument against monopolies and, to some extent, capitalism. I won't go into the whole history but the game of origin was called The Landlord's Game and was invented by Lizzie Magie in 1904. It had two ways to play, monopoly style and non-monopoly style. As the game spread and people put their own spin on the game, including making homemade boards, it became known as the monopoly game, as the monopoly style was the one most used. But I'll let you read the book to get the whole story. ;) While it wasn't my favorite book ever to read, at this point I'm unsure whether a non-fiction book will ever receive that distinction for me, it was very interesting because it went about telling the history of Monopoly through the lens of a game developed in the 1970s (I believe the official date is 1977), Anti-Monopoly. The cool thing is, while I hadn't really noticed such a game before, I actually saw one today at the Labyrinth board game store in Washington D.C. I don't know if it's just because I read this book and so I noticed the game for the first time, or if the game had just never been sold in any of the stores I've purchased games from before, but it was really cool to see the Anti-Monopoly game, especially because this book made the topic so interesting. The Monopolists is written by a journalist, and therefore has a journalistic tone. That is, it tries very hard to be objective even though no human being can be completely objective. That being said, overall I think the book did a fairly good job of not overtly telling us that big corporations are jerks and shouldn't be trusted. It was surely implied, at least it was in my mind, but it wasn't an in-your-face statement. The book also increased my interest in trademark/copyright law (which is something I'll need to deal with at some point as an aspiring author anyway) and how since cases like the Anti-Monopoly case went through laws have changed to better protect the big corporations from their iconic products entering into the public domain. Mickey Mouse anyone? Overall, I enjoyed The Monopolists. I think it was well written, well researched, and the topic was quite interesting. I suggest it for anyone who is interested in the history of games, underdogs winning court cases, commentaries on current economic systems, and enthusiasts of the Monopoly game itself. If you end up reading it, or have a non-fiction book suggestion for me, let me know in the comments! Happy reading!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorThe author is a librarian who reads "too much" (is there such a thing?) and talks just as much. As an aspiring author she gets bogged down by grammar rules when she just wants to forget them to make a sentence flow, but never seems to be able to. She appreciates thoughtful comments and constructive criticism, but internet trolls beware, she's read enough fantasy novels to know how to defeat the monsters. Archives
October 2020
Categories
All
|