Each one is multifaceted, complex, and rich, delving deeper and deeper into the life of Jonas, the one-time superAgain, these books defy description.
Each one is multifaceted, complex, and rich, delving deeper and deeper into the life of Jonas, the one-time superstar of the Norwegian TV series, "Thinking Big", the genius, the magical penis, the Winner (book one, with tragedy), the Loser (book two, with hope), and book three, which I'll call the Revelation.
Not too different from "The Discoverer", I'm sure, but at least my title actually pokes at a theme that growls at me. Not a dragon, like in the second book, but a loving daughter who finally realizes who - and what - her father actually was.
And he was all of these things. Every book was accurate but they told the story of Jonas in wildly different ways.
This one is far from being dark like the first or especially the second. It looked to the future. It focused on forgiveness. On discovery, beauty, genius, and all the tiny interconnected pieces of a life juggled helplessly by one masterful sleight of hand. I use these descriptions purposefully - as if taken right from the book. And perhaps I should have quoted, but I'm lazy. :)
This book carries us much further from the events in the first book even though it sheds a lot more light on why and how and especially what drove Jonas to do what he did. No spoilers. But learning this one piece of knowledge is a LONG trek and should be experienced by the reader alone.
It's a transformative book.
I admit it cut me. But alone, I don't think it would have cut me unless I had experienced the first two books. I feel like I know Jonas better than I know myself. It's THAT kind of book.
Do I recommend the trilogy?
Yes. But be aware that it might be a monumental undertaking. :)
Merged review:
Again, these books defy description.
Each one is multifaceted, complex, and rich, delving deeper and deeper into the life of Jonas, the one-time superstar of the Norwegian TV series, "Thinking Big", the genius, the magical penis, the Winner (book one, with tragedy), the Loser (book two, with hope), and book three, which I'll call the Revelation.
Not too different from "The Discoverer", I'm sure, but at least my title actually pokes at a theme that growls at me. Not a dragon, like in the second book, but a loving daughter who finally realizes who - and what - her father actually was.
And he was all of these things. Every book was accurate but they told the story of Jonas in wildly different ways.
This one is far from being dark like the first or especially the second. It looked to the future. It focused on forgiveness. On discovery, beauty, genius, and all the tiny interconnected pieces of a life juggled helplessly by one masterful sleight of hand. I use these descriptions purposefully - as if taken right from the book. And perhaps I should have quoted, but I'm lazy. :)
This book carries us much further from the events in the first book even though it sheds a lot more light on why and how and especially what drove Jonas to do what he did. No spoilers. But learning this one piece of knowledge is a LONG trek and should be experienced by the reader alone.
It's a transformative book.
I admit it cut me. But alone, I don't think it would have cut me unless I had experienced the first two books. I feel like I know Jonas better than I know myself. It's THAT kind of book.
Do I recommend the trilogy?
Yes. But be aware that it might be a monumental undertaking. :)...more
Short and cool diary of an explorer on an alien world.
I suppose we are meant to enjoy the fascination of being human while being surrounded with so mShort and cool diary of an explorer on an alien world.
I suppose we are meant to enjoy the fascination of being human while being surrounded with so much that is alien, but to me, I just loved the shit out of the alien. :) Cool ideas.
Biological computation rules. :)
Merged review:
Short and cool diary of an explorer on an alien world.
I suppose we are meant to enjoy the fascination of being human while being surrounded with so much that is alien, but to me, I just loved the shit out of the alien. :) Cool ideas.
This is a well-written Fairy Tale in all the grand tradition of fairy tales, including the unconscious desires, the spiriting away, the self-discoveryThis is a well-written Fairy Tale in all the grand tradition of fairy tales, including the unconscious desires, the spiriting away, the self-discovery, the missing time, and then the return to our shadow world.
What makes this special is the care given to the two main characters of Tara, the girl who came back, and Richie, the man whose life was put on hold for twenty years. It's modern. It's also nicely bracketed with modern psychology, giving us all a way to view all the events and the story that Tara tells from the accepted view.
Of course, we're not really supposed to relate to it that way, but it's really striking how much Tara is not believed despite some glaring giveaways: such as not aging. The number of hoops that so many of them go through to explain it away makes this whole novel BELIEVABLE. Scarily so.
Good stuff. You must love the mystery of the Fae, however. :) ...more
I read this because it was penned by Coates. I figured I might get something *special* out of it because I'm a fan of his non-fiction and fiction... bI read this because it was penned by Coates. I figured I might get something *special* out of it because I'm a fan of his non-fiction and fiction... but now that I've read it?
I think the art is really pretty.
Okay, so, yes, there is a couple of deep themes I can point at that makes me think, "Hey! Having something to hang your hat on beyond spears is pretty cool and very Coates. Drums and memory are much more powerful than weapons! All right!"
But that's about it. I kinda wanted to see Wakanda have a bit more wisdom in its people. This is just the breakdown of a dream. ; ;
Okay, for what it is, but I'm not all that interested in continuing....more
A delightful little collection of letters written by Santa and his polar bear and sometimes a few Elves across a generation or two to a single family.A delightful little collection of letters written by Santa and his polar bear and sometimes a few Elves across a generation or two to a single family... Tolkein's family, to be precise... evincing love, mischief, and cheery, gay, heartfelt holiday wishes.
The letters are quite delightful and sweet.
But to me, there is another side to this, one my devious mind could not ignore.
At first, I was like... where is Mrs. Christmas? There was always a Mrs. Christmas, wasn't there? But no. Father Christmas lived alone... with a polar bear. A big, burly, surly, hairy bear. They sniped at each other all the time and even after destroying one house, they moved in together in a new one. Much later, a bunch of elves moved in, too, but there was still no Mrs. Claus.
Suddenly, this merry gay Christmas became much, much gayer. ;)
Merry Christmas, ya'll!
And for those of you who don't know me, you should probably know I'm a horrible, terrible, no good scrooge. :)...more
Bullying is a major problem today. Its effects have always been around but it's good to see some serious treatments of it done in novels today.
The tiBullying is a major problem today. Its effects have always been around but it's good to see some serious treatments of it done in novels today.
The titular character was a really fun person to get to know, but the PoV was Paul. These kids are on the young side, 11 or so, but few of their situations were strictly YA. The fun times were fun, but dealing with an abusive dad and alternately, an equally abusive friendship, it's often hard to see what to do. Even for children years older... or adults.
The other side of the tale really lifts up our spirits. Friendship. Love. These things made the whole novel something rather special for me. :) ...more
It's gonna be rough rating my favorites out of nearly 600 books this year, but I'm in luck: I have my amorphous and totally unreliable intuition to guIt's gonna be rough rating my favorites out of nearly 600 books this year, but I'm in luck: I have my amorphous and totally unreliable intuition to guide me! Yay!
There's a lot of great stuff going on in this novella.
My first, I believe reasonable, reaction was one of, "Hey! This is like Bujold's Penric's Demon!There's a lot of great stuff going on in this novella.
My first, I believe reasonable, reaction was one of, "Hey! This is like Bujold's Penric's Demon!"
But very quickly, it went down the rabbit hole, scaring away every mouse, drenching itself in blood, and proving that art really IS mightier than the sword.
I like. A lot.
I doesn't end there. It doesn't even begin there. What I got during the reading was a treatment of the prisoner's dilemma wrapped around a despoiled world much like our own and set in a boiling vat of Enlightenment-era intrigue, authoritarian bullies, and the delightful introduction of widespread institutionalized demon possession.
Nice, right? So, yeah, I want MORE. A lot more. Novels worth. GIVE ME MORE! :)...more
I've had a lot of love and interest in the social sciences over the years. I thought I was really into psychology until I fell in love with sociology.I've had a lot of love and interest in the social sciences over the years. I thought I was really into psychology until I fell in love with sociology. This led me to be a huge lover of SF in general, but concurrently, I read all about utopias, planned communities, shipwrecked sailors building their own natural communities, and all the kinds of political, social, and even biological foundations that any of these could arise from.
And then I read this book.
Christakis, a man with titles galore, has done a very thorough and interesting job in breaking down the fundamental similarities between all societies, starting from the same place that I began my research and taking it further... like communities in online gaming. But he doesn't stop there. He goes into the inherently social nature of animals, focusing on the features that are similar across the board.
Anyone who has ever had a cat or a dog will recognize the intelligence, altruism, cooperative natures of other social creatures. The same is true for dolphins and whales, elephants and the whole simian hoard. Just watch Animal Planet!
It's easy to see we're all more alike than different. And that's the main point. We're all biologically, genetically set-up, to want certain things. Some of those things conflict with each other. Culture and social structures put a modifier on the worst aspects of those conflicts and reinforce cooperation... but cooperative structures can be gamed. Members within it can cheat and steal and reap the benefits of the cooperation without giving anything back. And then the reaction comes. Punishment, more self-modifiers, and a flip-flop between aggression and cooperation. Richard Dawkins explains this very well in the Selfish Gene, and in a lot more convincing detail, but Christakis is quite good for all that.
We create societies based on our biological "social suite". These are features that cross all boundaries of culture because they're hard-wired in us. I'll steal the list from Bill Gate's review on this book:
1. Individual identity 2. Love for partners and children 3. Friendship 4. Social networks 5. Cooperation 6. Preference for your own group 7. Some form of hierarchy 8. Social learning and teaching
The final takeaway from this book DOES give us hope, oddly enough. These are all positive features of not just humanity but of a lot of the animal kingdom.
But here's the trick: Any time a culture or a social structure tries to break this social suite by denying even a single aspect to it, things tend to fall apart. Social learning rather implies that. And some, like preference for your own group, can be conflated into a major us vs them that can lead to aggressive war parties our world wars.
BUT... when social divisions are crossed, or given aspect in an umbrella from that captures commonalities across the divides, cooperation CAN be reestablished. People have seen this countless times. Giving aid to enemy soldiers on the battlefield, or the Red Cross. Charitable organizations. Doctors Without Borders. Or perhaps we ought to remember that countless unrelated people flocked to the twin towers to help those in need. We DO have a lot of evidence of altruism in our social lives, but this is mitigated against our perception that there are thieves among us.
I personally see a failure of cooperation going on all around us. It seems more glaringly obvious to me every day. And for good reason. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The grand majority in the middle are getting pushed down to the poorer side. Mistrust is everywhere because of the thieves.
I suppose the big question is this: can we learn to cooperate once more to root out the real thieves and reestablish the fundamental social suite that we need to thrive?
I really thought this book was delightful for what it was: a tale of sisters growing up rather isolated in a small town, with few friends, and shuffleI really thought this book was delightful for what it was: a tale of sisters growing up rather isolated in a small town, with few friends, and shuffled between elderly family members who die, only to be left with their aunt who... isn't quite right.
The writing is quite wonderful and evocative and clear but like many traditional lit pieces like this, it's often slow and thoughtful and nothing much happens except a quiet life of quiet, slow desperation.
I admit to feeling like I ought to have felt the bucolic country life seeping into my soul, but what I really felt was Sylvie's transience, her ghostliness, her inability to truly commit to taking care of her two nieces. She always had a foot out the door.
I really felt anxious as hell. It was sad even as it drew me in....more
I admit I was super thrilled to get ahold of this after enjoying Witchmark so much. As a beautifully written fantasy/intrigue/romance with all the halI admit I was super thrilled to get ahold of this after enjoying Witchmark so much. As a beautifully written fantasy/intrigue/romance with all the hallmarks of a late King George's England, (Aleland, that is,) it was super stiff-upper-lipped, bursting with repressed emotion, and it ended on a VERY strong magical note.
This sequel, however, has a very different tone. Yes, if you're looking for an F/F romance to match the M/M romance of the first, I'm sure you'll enjoy it... eventually... but the majority of the tale is political. A storm, to be combatted by magic, leads to major societal complications. The revelations regarding the people who were ill-used in the past (read: magical underclass,) must be addressed or some major upheavals will tear the nation apart.
It took me a while to get into the book. All the politics looks good on the surface but it didn't do all that much for my attention span for a long time. It was only when the reporter came snooping around when I finally got invested. It just took so much time...
I did enjoy the rest of the tale. It picked up some. But it still remained a mild political thriller with a few late action scenes. Not bad, but not nearly as good as the first book. The high point was the romance angle. The politics, which overtook the grand majority of the novel, was merely okay. I like seeing underclasses get rights and such, but when it comes to regular enjoyment in reading, it seemed ready-made to cater to modern political leanings.
LGBT communities, mainly, written as the magical downtrodden, made more vibrant with a vital romance.
Something is bothering me, though. The politicization of gender orientation never seemed to be that big a deal to me before. It's one thing to get equal rights, but it's another to actively repress those who don't identify with the same. This book is mostly about politicization. It kinda kicked me out of the characters and reduced my enjoyment of THEIR tale. I didn't have that problem in Witchmark.
This book is simultaneously gorgeous to read (for the prose) and very much the horrorshow that slavery describes.
Coates' extensive research into the CThis book is simultaneously gorgeous to read (for the prose) and very much the horrorshow that slavery describes.
Coates' extensive research into the Civil War era leads wonderfully into this novel about the realities of living in the Big House. The original Big House. The plantation. I really loved the commentary, among so much else, that highlighted just how much of all the craftsmanship, the artistic flair, the industry was thanks, directly, to the labor, and not the owners.
Some of these passages are gripping and convincing and pretty glorious. When we get to the Underground, I'm drowned in the tale.
The other big aspect of this novel is the fantasy element. It's really more Magical Realism than a real plot driver, but obviously a lot of the characters we run into WANT it to be THEIR plot driver. The novel's reality takes a different turn, as will any character with their own ambitions and drives. The magical element is cool for modern readers, but it isn't necessarily the most important.
This is all about freedom, of course, but it's more, and rather delightfully, about MEMORY.
If you haven't read Roots or Color Purple or Uncle Tom's Cabin, you wouldn't go far amiss in picking this up if it is your first classic introduction to the topic. In fact, thanks to the quality of the prose and the extremely solid punches to our gut and head, this one underscores our need to remember our past.
Please don't whitewash. It's best to keep our eyes open and our memories active. Let's not repeat history because we've forgotten it....more
Nicely balanced between human worth, the emotional importance of discovery even at the very end of things, and finding hope in the veryThoughtful SF.
Nicely balanced between human worth, the emotional importance of discovery even at the very end of things, and finding hope in the very smallest of things... including seeds.
I won't say this is the end-all of SF, but it was a pleasant divergence from the normal run.
What would you save if the Earth was about to be pulverized?...more
This is a very focused investigation centered solely on Russia's more recent history since the fall of the Berlin Wall, it's becoming a pure OligarchyThis is a very focused investigation centered solely on Russia's more recent history since the fall of the Berlin Wall, it's becoming a pure Oligarchy, or rather: a Kleptocracy. What's more, we get some rather startling and almost unbelievable details into the nature of Putin's aim.
Let me be more clear: end aim is very clear. He's stated it about a million times. He's so confident in his power and methods that I can't see any truly viable method to stop him. And so he is open and honest about just how many lies he can get away with.
What's unbelievable is how he's been able to revise history on such a massive scale as to make Stalin a hero, rewrite his involvement in WW2 drastically, or taking a relatively obscure philosopher who was a contemporary of Lenin and elegize him to the point of near godhood, projecting his text as the grand narrative of Putin's Russia. Literally. He's had the book printed everywhere, talked about everywhere, and it all boils down to some CRAZY S**t.
Like the unfettered belief that the leader is the soul of the nation, and that nations are always innocent. Harm can be done to Russia, but it will always remain innocent. There can be no double standards if there are no standards. Facts are for other people. Use facts as weapons against those who rely on them, but never be fettered by them.
Trust the leader who will always steer you right.
People in Russia may not believe this s**t, but remember, every media source will be spouting it. Anyone who has ties to America or Europe are immediately branded enemy collaborators. All the western countries are ruled by the Homosexual Agenda and Russia must never fall before them.
This is just a taste of the reality under Putin. He is a master at reality control. After the devastation of the 90's when practically all otherwise well off USSR populace was cashed in and the full reserves of the government power and wealth was transferred to a handful of men, it was absurdly easy to lock down everything. Putin has an amazing amount of combatant hackers at his disposal. Full media control. Banking. And of course the military.
Remember when the Ukraine was urged to give up over a thousand nuclear missiles in 2010? And then Putin invaded them, annexed them, and completely rewrote history about 5 times in order to justify everything about it in 2012? You know, like things saying there is no such thing as Ukraine. Or there is no Ukraine language. It has always been Russia.
This book has an amazing wealth of information in it. Don't take my word for it. It'll shock you.
Let me steal this from another review of this book (and btw, thank you!): Methods of control:
{--Constant reference to a past era of greatness --Hyperfocus on enemies who are enemies because of who they are and not what they do --A profound belief in a zero-sum (or a negative-sum) world --Willingness to hurt oneself if, in doing so, you can hurt someone else more --The manufacture of crises and conflicts where none exist in order to control the news cycle --Constant labeling of information sources as “fake” in an effort to delegitimize any source of truth --Repetition of blatant, easily verifiable lies with no evidence to back them up other than the fact of the assertion}
His stated goal is to always keep Europe and America as eternal enemies, a-la Eurasia in Orwell's 1984. That means always being on an antagonistic footing, flooding his population with propaganda, and just plain telling any kind of lies he likes, so long as he gets the results he wants. There is no need for any kind of verifiability. He is an Eternal Leader who is Always Innocent and he does NOT need Facts. He just needs to control every narrative. And he does.
The next part of this book is just plain scary.
We've heard all about Russia's supposed involvement with Trump. We've heard both sides make a lot of noise and get nowhere because the signal-to-noise ratio is absolutely atrocious here.
When investigative journalism ACTUALLY does its job, however, a lot of truly damming facts come to light. You know, those pesky little things that Putin cares crap over?
Russian hackers, fully bankrolled by Putin's media empire, is attacking America. This statement isn't just some silly conflation. He's on record of saying it and there are MANY records proving it. Millions of fake facebook accounts with targeted marketing to tight demographics, pandering to prejudices and conspiracy theories, fake movements all across the internet, including millions of tweets by bots trying to influence the political debates. (Successfully, I might add.) Many attempts were also made on the voting machines.
Note the direction almost every convenient "leak" came from during the election cycles. The republican party knew about Trump's many economic connections to Putin, including a Trump Tower with MANY rooms bought by placeholder corporations whose paperwork all led back to Russia, many new real estate deals. The official line was to hush it up. Fire officials that tried to investigate it. And all the while, overwhelming hacker support flowed toward Trump. Let's not forget Trump and Putin's long-standing friendship. They're both fictional characters, after all, telling many interesting narratives, (read lies) that don't need any factual basis. They just need to be plausible for the moment until the power base can be firmed up.
Please refer to the list of power-grabbing methods. Does anyone else see a similarity between Russia and America?
It's almost like all the super-rich looters are playing by the exact same handbook. The goal is to get rich at everyone else's expense. If you don't make the 1% bracket, you're nothing. Just watch for the new grabs.
Look. I said it was nearly unbelievable. But I, unlike radical revisionist leaders, actually LIKE facts.
If this book tells me anything at all, it's to look beyond the noise. We can all be so involved in our little crazy lives so much that we fail to see the big picture. That goes for politics, too. What happens when we realize that a MASSIVE concerted effort to game America's political system actually SUCCEEDS?
Oh, nothing. We're still bickering between blues and reds. Of course, since we do most of that online, it's actually absurdly easy to focus all of one's resources on this choke point. Russia has a veritable army of hackers fanning the flames of all lefts and all rights, stirring up racial prejudices, sexist prejudices, and any other conflict they can dream up. And we buy it. Hell, most of all these "events" might be pure fabrication, but none of us seem to be doing ANYTHING to confirm or deny them. Certainly not our media. They're too busy running ideological platforms, themselves.
See how easy it is to sow SO MUCH confusion and chaos on your enemy...? And the best thing is, WE LAP IT UP, use it all as proof we are right, yet again.
Where are our antibodies? Where is the strong Press that digs up all this crap and shows it for what it is?
Oh, wait... that's what this book is trying to be! ...more
This might just be one of the most important pieces of literature I've ever read.
That's saying a lot because I've read a lot. But not only is it writThis might just be one of the most important pieces of literature I've ever read.
That's saying a lot because I've read a lot. But not only is it written brilliantly, beautifully, and full of passion and thought, it is also a question.
A massive question that has no easy answer, but demands that everyone ought to open their eyes.
Oh, sure, we've all heard this argument before, you say, that problems of safety should always outweigh justice... but there is nothing in this life that says we must forego one in order to have the other.
Look. I'm a fan of dreamers and idealism, but after reading this absolutely fantastic socratic dialogue/personal awakening/heartfelt desire, I have to admit it might be time to put away the Dream.
What does this mean? It means there are Dreams, such as the American Dream, that are built on the backs of slaves, of plundered indians, of a dance on the back of any poor of any stripe, that brought the American Dream its prosperity. We can't ignore that. We can't continue this Great Forgetting. Nor can we keep on sweeping it under the rug when predatory lenders, new prisons, racial profiling, and misunderstanding keeps sweeping through our house.
Your American Dream is not untarnished. If you insist on believing in it, then you must also insist on taking responsibility for the injustice perpetrated in its name. This doesn't mean you ought to join white supremacists to justify your own guilt in the system that still bruises black bodies, giving yourself up to the hate that had submerged into the very fabric of your society.
It means we must wake up and see reality as it really is. That we have frank and open discussions and see how a whole class of people are not safe in their own persons. That everything and anything can be taken from them at any time. That they are an institutional underclass.
This isn't right.
I recommend this essay/epistle to everyone. Anyone. Its writing is beyond gorgeous and eloquent. It can do what this lousy review can never do:
Off and on throughout the years, I've gone through major stints into the world of political thought, diving in head-first to swim through the sometimeOff and on throughout the years, I've gone through major stints into the world of political thought, diving in head-first to swim through the sometimes murky and oftentimes polemical and myopic drive for change.
This is not one of those books. Each essay in here is very well researched and backed up with a plethora of references I've either already read before or have been featured in grand scale elsewhere.
The big question being raised must also be willing to be extremely courageous.
We might assume this could be a last hurrah for equal rights for blacks right before the great backsliding, or we might assume that the issues are not as dire as they are portrayed, but I think both of these assumptions are false.
What am I trying to say?
Three hundred years of injustice just changes its face but never its core tenant. This is a systemic racial problem masquerading as a poverty problem. Of course, if you set up the housing issue so that blacks pay for worse housing at a much higher rate, we don't call it racism, we call it redlining. Never mind that it causes systemic poverty.
Or how about the fact that in five decades America now has 25% of the world's total inmates while only containing 5% of the world's total population? Or that reports were made right before this shift in policy that outlined the need to break away from the segregation of the 60's, the need to educate, equalize the possibilities for housing, and reversing the course of the breakdown of families due to opportunity and poverty in general... but yet, right after that time, all choices went another direction: prisons. Trump up drug charges and use draconian punitive measures for every inmate. No rehabilitation, just punishment. Make the prisons a moneymaking business, stack the deck against anyone getting out to lead a decent life, and then realize that 7 times as many men in the system are black. Instead of giving them jobs and education and the ability to move away from a system that now has tons of single-mothers raising their children in poverty, we are just putting a heel on an entire subset of humanity.
If that isn't racism, I don't know what is.
It doesn't even have anything to do with individual voices or desires. It doesn't have anything to do with single mothers working harder to break through the circular hell that is this system. It has to do with the system itself.
You know that housing bubble? The predatory lenders that sold hope to millions of people and downplayed the bottom line that their mortgages would increase in time, or drastically increase with a single missed payment? When you look at who they targeted the most, you should see things clearly.
Black men and women aren't a race of super predators no matter what the crime rates say. And the crime rates say a lot of things. Very interesting things... such as the increases in crime and decreases in crime remain pretty stable across all countries. Almost as if they are a function of population pressure, and not inherent badness. The measures taken, such as harsher sentences and the three-strike rule and more and more prisons DO NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE. All we're doing is making a new class of slaves locked into poverty and despair.
This hasn't changed. Eight years of Obama as president has not changed anything except give a tiny glimmer of hope, properly squashed with the next big backlash.
This book spells out the tragedy.
Hell, most of the stats aren't new. What is really awesome about this book is it's writing. One needs to have this presented well for it to make any difference at all. Coates is a good writer and his objectivity is peerless. Of course he spells out where he is less than objective, but let's get real here: most whites don't scratch the surface to SEE what's going on.
Systemic oppression on multiple axis, approved of at every level, and reinforced by narratives that seem valid only because the actual causes are ignored.
So many things in our world follows the same suit.
Naysayers get screamed down by louder blustery demagogues.
Propaganda works because all you need is more voices saying the same lies repeatedly before the general populace starts believing it.
Is racism alive and well? Obviously. It might even get worse.
So what kind of world do we really want to live in?
All this money and effort that the system has put into segregating blacks (unofficially) could have gone into education and real opportunity. The old horrors of slavery have only taken new forms.
Who are we to let this continue?
Yes, I'm a freaking white man. I don't approve of this s**t. The injustice is real and pervasive and overwhelming.
And I don't know what to do except talk about it. Honestly. And from the heart. And it makes me so damn angry. This should never have happened....more
As always, when I read a funny book, BUT I'm also listening to a narration by Wil Wheaton, I'm suddenly nearly incapable of figuring out whether I lovAs always, when I read a funny book, BUT I'm also listening to a narration by Wil Wheaton, I'm suddenly nearly incapable of figuring out whether I love the book for its content or presentation.
Gaaaah!
Fortunately, I had a great time with both, seamlessly upping my chuckle factor by a few magnitudes as I learn how wrong it would be to make a really, really huge teakettle. *hint* (the rivers of lava might make your homeowner's association a bit upset.)
The most fascinating feature, other than just enjoying the ride when it comes to science explaining how to do the most ABSURD things imaginable, such as transmitting data across long distances by one of the most efficient forces of nature... such as BUTTERFLIES... is how much I was able to learn, regardless of the humor. :)
So, two thumbs up for a very, very enjoyable science book.
Um, why isn't this required reading in school? It should be. If only for every single possible reason in the universe. :) ...more
This was published in 2000, coming out during the time when the internet bubble was riding high but before the fall of the Two Towers (the ones in NY,This was published in 2000, coming out during the time when the internet bubble was riding high but before the fall of the Two Towers (the ones in NY, not Tolkein's).
Its subject matter was Shell, McD's, and Nike. Social awareness was getting a second wind after languishing in general and now it was all about sweatshops. Multinational corporations became our favorite bogeymen (again), and this was when we could throw our weight behind small-time activists and FEEL like we could accomplish some great-seeming things... like getting all the exploiters out of Burma so as to take away the support of that regime.
Remember those times?
Add awareness to the whole Banding idea, the feeling that Corporations are real people with souls (ha), and see this as a way to stop bad practices by attacking their PR image.
Then realize that the problem goes sooooooo much deeper. Much deeper than this book is prepared to take it, except to realize that these highly visible multinational corporations were great as a rallying point but even if anyone could break them down and hold them accountable, it was EVERY OTHER corporation doing the exact same thing that makes the situation seem rather hopeless.
So, and rightly so, this book does not delve into the economics and politics that made the rape of underdeveloped countries possible: the policies and the greed and the perfectly legal practices that can ravage whole countries, their land, and devastate indigenous peoples.
It can't. It's a problem that requires widespread awareness everywhere... and the knowledge of all the interrelated contributing factors... to combat.
We all need to be aware and awake to not just the fact of injustice, but the causes. The only real way we can combat this problem is by waking the real slumbering beast of humanity from its ignorant dream. :)
Loading...
