Crowds and Power

Well, if I'd ever once been a cockeyed optimist or a believer in the inherent goodness of humanity, this book would certainly have knocked the foundations out from under me and brought all my idealism crashing down. Fortunately, I guess, I already stand in the after-world of shattered illusions and so Canetti's *Crowds and Power* didn't disturb my uninterruptedly black view of human nature with even the briefest flicker of light. It only gave me another way to look at a bleak landscape. This book is a massive--and for the most part massively entertaining--indictment of the human being at virtually every level of its existence. Whether alone, in packs, or full-sized crowds, our goal is not just survival, but to be the last man standing beside a pile of corpses. No kidding. Crudely put, that's the bottom line, but its how Canetti adds up the facts to arrive at his thesis, or, perhaps more accurately, subtracts all the subterfuges we hide behind, that provides the real fascination of *Crowds and Power.* Somewhat reminiscent at times of Frazer's *Golden Bough,* Canetti's masterpiece explores, in part, ancient as well as more recent, but still `primitive' native cultures to reveal the power principle that drives civilizations and those who rule them. At the same time, he shows how the same ruthless dynamic is at work in modern society and in practically all human relationships. Animal behavior, paranoid schizophrenics, the hidden symbolism in the act of standing up, it's all brought to bear. Canetti's dazzling insights and audacious intellectual leaps, some more convincing than others, are startling, shocking--and maybe even true. The teeth in their smooth rows as mankind's first inspiration for order, weapons, and eventually prisons? Is it possible? We laugh when someone trips and falls because it reminds us--in less `civilized' times--of the fatal stumble of prey. As Canetti succinctly puts it, "Laughter is our physical reaction to the escape of potential food." Supporting ideas and examples for such unsettling observations come from the most unexpected places and yet somehow they all come together through the medium of Canetti's astounding intellect to provide a powerful and plausible view of life that you're going to have to put out of your mind the next time you find yourself at a party, in the office, or in a crowded theater--well, really anywhere you find yourself confronted with other people. You see, they all have one driving passion: to survive you. There's a short cautionary epilogue to the book in which Canetti holds out some scant hope, but you get the sense that he really didn't feel it. At times, *Crowds and Power* becomes mired in its own attempt at comprehensiveness; excerpts from source material, for instance, is either too long or repetitive or both and some of Canetti's theories seem more the result of poetic imagination than philosophical speculation. But these are small caveats beside a work of such monumental scholarship

It requires a deeply individual experience to understand 'Crowds and Power'. According to Canetti, The concept of crowd is ontologically prior to Man; a crowd is not just a bunch of people. In one of the most illuminating books ever written, Canetti takes one through two of the most important traits that have shaped Man's destiny on this planet - the formation of crowds and the facet of power. This is not a book about crowds. Its about Man. What emerges is no mere dry academic treatise, but an absolutely fascinating journey through topics such as the rain dances of the Pueblo Indians, the finger exercises of monkeys, and the hallucinations of alcoholics. The kaliedoscopic journey for the reader includes a vast range of topics from Australian aborigines,pueblo indians, jivaro indians, etruscans to ants, monkeys, kangaroos to Islam, Christianity, Judaism. This is anthropology at its best. The study psychology of crowds in human history: crowd behaviour, crowd symbols, types of crowds, crowd mentalities; the individual vs the crowd, the crowd in contemporary history; there are anecdotes about everything from primitive tribal cultures, ancient African rulers, modern European history etc... For example, in describing the psychology of mass fear as it relates to its twin, the desire to out-survive others, he cites unexpected examples: burial customs in rural India in which a strenuous attempt is made to appease the spirit of the child if it dies a preventable death; the peculiar madness of Roman emperors; and the Viking warriors' tradition of piling up a mound of stones before going into battle. Canetti defines crowd as a cumulation of small units into a large ensemble, causing it to become something entirely different from the units that make it up. He sees nature as the teacher that taught man to behave as a crowd, as a liquid. For example, for the Germans, it is the forest with its innumerable trees, standing vertically, that has inspired the German soul since time primordial in its aspiration to become a marching liquid. For the Arabs, it is the sand of the desert. For the Dutch, it is the threatening sea itself. For the Mongols, the horse.

Canetti's monumental work is at the same time, frightening, awe-inspiring, shocking, numbing, believable & unbelievable . Strange though it may seem, it requires a deeply individual experience to understand 'Crowds and Power'. For, according to Canetti, a crowd is not just a bunch of people. The concept of crowd is ontologically prior to Man. In one of the most illuminating books ever written, Canetti takes one through two of the most important traits that have shaped Man's destiny on this planet - the formation of crowds and the facet of power. Hence, this is not a book about crowds. Its about Man. The kaliedoscopic journey for the reader includes a vast range of topics from Australian aborigines,pueblo indians, jivaro indians, etruscans to ants, monkeys, kangaroos to Islam, Christianity, Judaism. Some aspects of this book might sound unbelievable( like laughing being a substitute for eating..I believe it though)...but I can only quote what Blake wrote in 'Proverbs from Heaven and Hell' - "There is no truth that can be understood and not be believed".Read this book. It could be one of the most important things you might be doing in your life.

That the author won the Nobel may suade the reader one way or another. But as this work is what got him the prize, which to me says the Nobel must be worth something. If you don't know Canetti's work, you won't get the impression from the title that the man is incredibly funny. But he is. And yet his brand of humor comes only from surgical-precise observation of the ordinary. Canetti is the Montaigne of our time, of modernity, bearing all the marks and scars of our age. If Canetti's prose has the disarming rambling style that we associate with Montaigne's, it also has the latter's power to draw out the most unexpectedly profound from the ordinary. Sort of like old fencing masters: they never run, never sweat, are never fancy, but they always beat you to the jugular. All the scholarship,all the discipline is hidden, like the hull of a ship that keeps the whole thing afloat. In this book, without torturing language, Canetti tells you more about the nature of power than Foucault, and more about the nature of crowds than a room full of social psychologists. (That such a feat is possible ought to be a sobering lesson in itself!) Canetti's book is a wonderful mix of the potentially tedious (kangaroo behavior) and the...funky. For example, in describing the psychology of mass fear as it relates to its twin, the desire to out-survive others, he cites unexpected examples: burial customs in rural India in which a strenuous attempt is made to appease the spirit of the child if it dies a preventable death; the peculiar madness of Roman emperors; and the Viking warriors' tradition of piling up a mound of stones before going into battle. Each warrior brings a stone and adds to the pile. After battle, each warrior removes one stone, thus leaving a mound of stones that would represent the dead. Contemplating by the fire the remaining mound was immensely satisfying to the survivors, apparently. Canetti's notion of the crowd is never just a bunch of people. Canetti defines crowd as a cumulation of small units into a large ensemble, causing it to become something entirely different from the units that make it up. He sees nature as the teacher that taught man to behave as a crowd, as a liquid. For example, for the Germans, it is the forest with its innumerable trees, standing vertically, that has inspired the German soul since time primordial in its aspiration to become a marching liquid. For the Arabs, it is the sand of the desert. For the Dutch, it is the threatening sea itself. For the Mongols, the wind. Etc. Canetti's prose is muscular, never bloated. Given that he was a man of letters, and not an anthropologist, it may be of some significance that his lifelong project -- it took him some 30 years to write this book -- was shaped by his lifelong preference for a world as envisioned by the ancient Greeks and the ancient Chinese in matters literary, moral, and philosophical. His science is the science of a man confident in his experience and aristocratic power of

Over twenty years in the making, this book is a must read for anybody who's ever been disturbed by destructive crowd behavior or the horror of tyrannical rulers. Insights into crowd psychology and the pathology of power are supplied through a wealth of material from such diverse subjects as anthropology, psychology, biology, religion, and literature. However, what emerges is no mere dry academic treatise, but an absolutely fascinating journey through topics such as the rain dances of the Pueblo Indians, the finger exercises of monkeys, and the hallucinations of alcoholics. Even if you find yourself disagreeing with some of the author's conclusions, you will still find yourself looking at the world in new ways. For example, I will never watch the public actions of an orchestra conductor without trying to glean insights into the nature of power. In short, this is one of those rare books which makes old, dull things you've known for years suddenly stand up in a whole new dimension.