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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 15, 2024 8:53:25 GMT -5
Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie. As an old fart, when I first heard that an entire generation was suffering from "eco-anxiety", I thought the media was exaggerating as usual. But then I came across actual young people who did feel a tremendous sense of dread and despair concerning the future of the planet; young people who do not interpret "the planet is doomed and we're all gonna die" as hyperbole meant to stress the importance of taking care of the environment, but as a factual condemnation. In that context, a book like Not the End of the World (just like Hans Rosling's Factfulness, a few years ago) should be mandatory reading... if not for the kids themselves, then at least for their educators so that we'd stop spreading depressing disinformation. Ritchie started as a serious environmental activist, getting university degrees to better try and save the world. And along the line, she realized that a genuine concern for environmental issues had morphed into something of a doom cult, ignoring what real-world numbers say and sidestepping very real solutions to current problems. Without belittling the environmental crisis we face, she provides a very positive message : yes, we have problems, but we have the means to solve them without going back to the stone age. Hers might be the first generation ever to actually deliver on the promises of a sustainable economy. Because, as the book explains clearly (with plenty of real numbers and not mere hand waving), we have never lived in a sustainable economy. Ever. Seneca used to complain about how toxic the very air in Rome was, and that was way before the industrial revolution! However, while an increasing level of industrialization does lead to increased pollution at first, there comes a time when more efficient technology reverses the tendency. The author points out that in our era of transatlantic flights, massive overconsumption and leisurely trips to space, our individual carbon footprint is half that of our grandparents. More efficient technology is the key, and we can be encouraged by things like a 98% drop in price for solar panels or the ever-lowering use of coal as a power source. Hans Rosling had made the point in his own book: while most people get the impression that things are going badly and getting worse, the absolute opposite is true. Things have never been so good (generally speaking) and are getting better. The key, initially, is to create wealth (and oh, how the capitalists in their ivory towers must love hearing that); poor nations don't have the means to pursue less polluting ways to develop. But when they reach a certain level of wealth, their citizens start complaining about the unbreathable air and dirty rivers, and the state has the means to do something about it. Beijing was so polluted for the Olympics in 2008 that the government essentially stopped the activity of factories weeks before the event, to allow some air back in town; by 2013, the population demanded that something be done. The government response was pretty heavy handed (China, right?) but it bore fruit: air pollution levels dropped 55%. The city isn't even in the list of the 200 most polluted cities in the world anymore. Did China stop exporting stuff? No; it just used technology in a smarter way. It's not a perfect example, but it shows that we can do something right now, using current technology, to make modern life compatible with the environment. One aspect of the book I quite enjoy (even if it makes me go "whaaaa...?" at times) is its description of the impact some of our well-meaning actions really have on the environment. Me, a heavy recycler since the mid-80s, learned that my habit has basically zero impact. What a disappointment! My not having a SUV does, however, and if I were to turn vegetarian it would be even better. (But I don't think that's gonna happen! ) I don't agree with Ritchie on every point she raises; her faith in electric cars, for example, strikes me as a bit of wishful thinking. Especially so since she condemns bio-fuels, which she dismisses as little better than fossil fuels. That's a point I don't think takes into account that bio-fuels don't need to be made from plants that would otherwise be used as food (like corn); the most promising bio-fuel possibilities involve making it out of cellulose or even out of CO2 capture by certain types of bacteria. Granted, those are still not ready for prime time (they cost a lot and produce little) but the concept of making fuel out of cellulose (which itself is initially made of atmospheric CO2) or from CO2 coming out of chimneys guarantees a closed circuit for carbon. As long as we don't dig our fuel out of the ground, we should be fine. Anyhoo... a welcome positive look at the state of things, with no pink-tinted glasses but showing us how things can turn out all right without sacrificing our modern world.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Apr 15, 2024 21:21:27 GMT -5
Starter Villian John Scalzi
I have been planning to read this since he came out, and book club helped me pull the trigger.. Scalzi is definitely the most readable writer out there right now.
This book has alot of similarities to Kaiju Preservation Society, where Scalzi takes a person in a pretty average situation and spins his story around them. It works less well here, just because the sci fi parts of the book are as fantastic as real life Kaiju in another dimension. The 'mysteries' in the book were not very mysterious at all.. which I think was on purpose, based on a fantastic quote about people who inherit money and how they move in the world that got the book a full extra star.
I would have liked more details about the 'villains' and what made the main characters uncle different from the others (besides the cats)... as the book is, it feels a bit rushed and unfinished. Its still a page turner though, and definitely worth reading.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 22, 2024 10:00:07 GMT -5
Nuclear War -a scenario by Annie Jacobsen Talk about contrast; the previous book I read was "Not the End of the World". In this one, it definitely is. The general idea here is the same as with John Hackett's The Third World War: the Untold Story; a heavily researched description of what WWIII might look like. Although the scenario is hypothetical, it's written as a non-fiction book... and it has been many, many years since I read such a page turner. It's as captivating as it is thoroughly chilling. Horribly so, even, when we realize how close we are to obliteration. It's fascinating to hear about the nuts and bolts of military communication and emergency political decision making, especially when the people interviewed for the book happen to have been members of the chain of command. This is no idle speculation; this terrifying scenario is based on what the real actors say on the subject. I could fully believe in people screaming at each other because the Strategic Air Command needs the president's order to launch, but the man can't come to the phone right now because the Security Service is currently evacuating him from Washington (the likely target of an incoming North Korean nuke). When you only have minutes to act, such mundane coordination problems take very scary proportions. So many frightening concepts in there, from the fact that it's almost impossible to detect a submarine (even an old diesel-powered one) moving slowly over the continental shelf (because sonar echoes are too numerous) to the unreliability and paucity of anti-ICBM missiles (there are only 44 in the US, apparently, and they fail most of the time even in tests heavily skewed in their favour). The Aegis defence system has a better rate of success, but they are currently all deployed overseas. Write your congressperson! A nuclear war cannot be won and should never be waged, an old American president once said... And as long as the countries possessing them understand that, nukes remain a powerful deterrent. However, should someone flip for some reason and push the button, we'd be in for a civilization-ending conflict. People who grew up in the '70s and '80s are well aware of that; we sort of expected that WWIII was around the corner. I admit that I personally grew a little complacent over the following decades, assuming nobody would be crazy to start it. Now I'm not so sure. One point made in the book is one I've shared since I was a kid (so it's obviously true! ): no treaty is worth the paper it's printed on if someone doesn't have the means to enforce it. I didn't know that nuclear power stations could not be used as legitimate targets, even if they were considered a valid military objective; but as Hitler is quoted as saying: "if you win, you won't have to explain anything". Very much recommended if you don't tend to have nightmares.
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Post by berkley on Apr 22, 2024 12:10:29 GMT -5
Nuclear War -a scenario by Annie Jacobsen Talk about contrast; the previous book I read was "Not the End of the World". In this one, it definitely is. The general idea here is the same as with John Hackett's The Third World War: the Untold Story; a heavily researched description of what WWIII might look like. Although the scenario is hypothetical, it's written as a non-fiction book... and it has been many, many years since I read such a page turner. It's as captivating as it is thoroughly chilling. Horribly so, even, when we realize how close we are to obliteration. It's fascinating to hear about the nuts and bolts of military communication and emergency political decision making, especially when the people interviewed for the book happen to have been members of the chain of command. This is no idle speculation; this terrifying scenario is based on what the real actors say on the subject. I could fully believe in people screaming at each other because the Strategic Air Command needs the president's order to launch, but the man can't come to the phone right now because the Security Service is currently evacuating him from Washington (the likely target of an incoming North Korean nuke). When you only have minutes to act, such mundane coordination problems take very scary proportions. So many frightening concepts in there, from the fact that it's almost impossible to detect a submarine (even an old diesel-powered one) moving slowly over the continental shelf (because sonar echoes are too numerous) to the unreliability and paucity of anti-ICBM missiles (there are only 44 in the US, apparently, and they fail most of the time even in tests heavily skewed in their favour). The Aegis defence system has a better rate of success, but they are currently all deployed overseas. Write your congressperson! A nuclear war cannot be won and should never be waged, an old American president once said... And as long as the countries possessing them understand that, nukes remain a powerful deterrent. However, should someone flip for some reason and push the button, we'd be in for a civilization-ending conflict. People who grew up in the '70s and '80s are well aware of that; we sort of expected that WWIII was around the corner. I admit that I personally grew a little complacent over the following decades, assuming nobody would be crazy to start it. Now I'm not so sure. One point made in the book is one I've shared since I was a kid (so it's obviously true! ): no treaty is worth the paper it's printed on if someone doesn't have the means to enforce it. I didn't know that nuclear power stations could not be used as legitimate targets, even if they were considered a valid military objective; but as Hitler is quoted as saying: "if you win, you won't have to explain anything". Very much recommended if you don't tend to have nightmares.
Sounds interesting - though I get the impression it's entirely from the American POV, based on the idea of someone attacking them rather than the other way around.
How was the other book you mentioned, John Hackett's Third World War?
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 22, 2024 12:48:00 GMT -5
Indeed, berkley , it's from an American perspective but we also see how other countries would be affected. For example, a counter-attack against North Korea would cause millions of death in China, South Korea and possibly Japan from fallout alone; that is something to consider when considering retaliation and how even allies might react. It's been decades since I read Hackett's book so I'm hazy on the details; I just remember a wave of Russian tanks entering Germany. At the time it scared me because I was convinced that war was coming with the USSR... but at least the "good guys" were expected to win according to Hackett. (Sir John Hackett''s a retired British general, by the way, which gave his book an extra dose of credibility). I should look for it the next time the Rotary club has a book sale. I think it had quite a good print run.
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Apr 22, 2024 14:36:18 GMT -5
Latest read: The Traveler in Black by John Brunner-this came recommended by someone who's tastes have a lot of overlap with mine, but I struggled with this one. It was more satire than story, with a wanderer going around dispensing just desserts w/o any real narrative. -M
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Post by berkley on Apr 22, 2024 18:51:36 GMT -5
Indeed, berkley , it's from an American perspective but we also see how other countries would be affected. For example, a counter-attack against North Korea would cause millions of death in China, South Korea and possibly Japan from fallout alone; that is something to consider when considering retaliation and how even allies might react. It's been decades since I read Hackett's book so I'm hazy on the details; I just remember a wave of Russian tanks entering Germany. At the time it scared me because I was convinced that war was coming with the USSR... but at least the "good guys" were expected to win according to Hackett. (Sir John Hackett''s a retired British general, by the way, which gave his book an extra dose of credibility). I should look for it the next time the Rotary club has a book sale. I think it had quite a good print run.
I think her premise is way, way down on the list of probable starting points for a nuclear war. That shouldn't completely undermine the credibility of the bulk of her book since in a way, it doesn't matter how it starts, it's what happens once it has started.
But it's extremely unlikely that one nation with nuclear capability would initiate an unprovoked attack against another because they know that would certainly elicit a retaliation - and if it's the US that's attacked the retaliation will be on a far greater scale than the provocation. Far more likely, if we're talking about nation on nation, is the one with nuclear weapons using them against one that has none, e.g. Israel might use theirs against Iran if they felt threatened enough.
Of course that "if they feel threatened enough" could apply to a nuclear attack against the US or another nuclear power too, but I think it would have to be an extreme, existential threat, or the perception of one, because of the likelihood of annihilation in the course of a nuclear war. But if a nation or in some cases a regime felt they were going to be effectively destroyed anyway, they might well try to take the enemy with them, even if that meant the destruction of world civilisation period.
I think the most likely scenario for a nuclear attack against the US would be a terrorist group with no easily targeted headquarters somehow getting hold of a nuclear bomb, then you might conceivably get something like 9-11 only much, much worse.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 23, 2024 1:51:33 GMT -5
Latest read: The Traveler in Black by John Brunner-this came recommended by someone who's tastes have a lot of overlap with mine, but I struggled with this one. It was more satire than story, with a wanderer going around dispensing just desserts w/o any real narrative. -M Read this about a year ago; guess I liked it a bit more than you did, as I generally found the stories pretty interesting and I liked the bits of dry humor peppered into them. However, your cover (can't go wrong with the Dillons) is much better than the lame art on the UK edition that I read.
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Post by berkley on Apr 23, 2024 6:54:35 GMT -5
Latest read: The Traveler in Black by John Brunner-this came recommended by someone who's tastes have a lot of overlap with mine, but I struggled with this one. It was more satire than story, with a wanderer going around dispensing just desserts w/o any real narrative. -M Read this about a year ago; guess I liked it a bit more than you did, as I generally found the stories pretty interesting and I liked the bits of dry humor peppered into them. However, your cover (can't go wrong with the Dillons) is much better than the lame art on the UK edition that I read.
I've bought a few John Brunners and have thought about getting this one when I've seen it on the shelves, so it's good to hear this description. He has quite a few books that sound more interesting so I'll leave this one aside for now. My impression is that he was one of those very prolific writers who put more into some of his books than into others that were turned out more or less quickly to meet a deadline. I should be getting to him soon but I forget which one I have picked out to start with.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 23, 2024 7:36:57 GMT -5
I've bought a few John Brunners and have thought about getting this one when I've seen it on the shelves, so it's good to hear this description. He has quite a few books that sound more interesting so I'll leave this one aside for now. My impression is that he was one of those very prolific writers who put more into some of his books than into others that were turned out more or less quickly to meet a deadline. I should be getting to him soon but I forget which one I have picked out to start with.
Based on my limited reading of his oeuvre (about a half-dozen books - only reviewed three of them on this forum, the one mentioned above plus another novel and a short story collection), my opinion is that there is always a baseline of quality with Brunner. Even his drier - I won't say 'boring' because he's never bored me - material is still interesting and I've never felt like I've wasted my time reading any of it. And when he's good, he's really good - e.g., a book like Stand on Zanzibar definitely deserves all of the praise it gets.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 23, 2024 9:51:34 GMT -5
The Burglar by David Goodis
Nat Harbin grew up a burglar. Orphaned at a young age he was taken in by a professional burglar and learned the trade. When his partner was shot during a job, Harbin took in his orphaned daughter. Now Harbin leads a crew of four that includes the now adult daughter who goes by the name Gladden. Harbin is slow and methodical. It means he doesn't score as often, but he's never been pinched. A lucrative jewel job in a mansion outside Philadelphia seems to have been brought back from the brink of disaster in to a very big score...but it's really the beginning of the end. Goodis shows us that surrogate family is just as dysfunctional as blood kin. We also see that there's just as little trus, as nobody in Harbin's crew seems willing to believe anything he says. And we get not one, but two femme's fatale and a bent psychopathic cop in the bargain. It all seems like it should add up to a stellar noir. And it's fine, but somehow it never quite adds up to better than okay. None of the characters are particularly interesting and most of them are kind of dumb. By far, the most interesting character was the bent cop, Charley. One can only wonder what Jim Thompson would have done with him. The Burglar is fine. It was a quick read and I don't feel bad about reading it. But it's not a patch on "Down There, aka Shoot the Piano Player."
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Post by berkley on Apr 23, 2024 20:51:59 GMT -5
The Burglar by David Goodis
Nat Harbin grew up a burglar. Orphaned at a young age he was taken in by a professional burglar and learned the trade. When his partner was shot during a job, Harbin took in his orphaned daughter. Now Harbin leads a crew of four that includes the now adult daughter who goes by the name Gladden. Harbin is slow and methodical. It means he doesn't score as often, but he's never been pinched. A lucrative jewel job in a mansion outside Philadelphia seems to have been brought back from the brink of disaster in to a very big score...but it's really the beginning of the end. Goodis shows us that surrogate family is just as dysfunctional as blood kin. We also see that there's just as little trus, as nobody in Harbin's crew seems willing to believe anything he says. And we get not one, but two femme's fatale and a bent psychopathic cop in the bargain. It all seems like it should add up to a stellar noir. And it's fine, but somehow it never quite adds up to better than okay. None of the characters are particularly interesting and most of them are kind of dumb. By far, the most interesting character was the bent cop, Charley. One can only wonder what Jim Thompson would have done with him. The Burglar is fine. It was a quick read and I don't feel bad about reading it. But it's not a patch on "Down There, aka Shoot the Piano Player." I haven't read anything by Goodis yet, I should probably try something soon. Maybe Down There, but I see I also have Nightfall and Street of No Return on my list, though I can't remember why I added those two titles in particular now, whether it was a recommendation I saw somewhere or I just liked the sounds of them.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 23, 2024 21:38:20 GMT -5
The Burglar by David Goodis
Nat Harbin grew up a burglar. Orphaned at a young age he was taken in by a professional burglar and learned the trade. When his partner was shot during a job, Harbin took in his orphaned daughter. Now Harbin leads a crew of four that includes the now adult daughter who goes by the name Gladden. Harbin is slow and methodical. It means he doesn't score as often, but he's never been pinched. A lucrative jewel job in a mansion outside Philadelphia seems to have been brought back from the brink of disaster in to a very big score...but it's really the beginning of the end. Goodis shows us that surrogate family is just as dysfunctional as blood kin. We also see that there's just as little trus, as nobody in Harbin's crew seems willing to believe anything he says. And we get not one, but two femme's fatale and a bent psychopathic cop in the bargain. It all seems like it should add up to a stellar noir. And it's fine, but somehow it never quite adds up to better than okay. None of the characters are particularly interesting and most of them are kind of dumb. By far, the most interesting character was the bent cop, Charley. One can only wonder what Jim Thompson would have done with him. The Burglar is fine. It was a quick read and I don't feel bad about reading it. But it's not a patch on "Down There, aka Shoot the Piano Player." I haven't read anything by Goodis yet, I should probably try something soon. Maybe Down There, but I see I also have Nightfall and Street of No Return on my list, though I can't remember why I added those two titles in particular now, whether it was a recommendation I saw somewhere or I just liked the sounds of them. There should be a review of Nightfall here from when I reread it in February. It’s fine, but has some issues. I haven’t read Street of No Return in eons. It’s generally his second best reviewed book after Down There. It’s just been far too long since I’ve read it.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Apr 25, 2024 16:37:00 GMT -5
Expiration DateTim Powers, 1995 In Los Angeles in the early 1990s, about a week before Halloween, an 11 year-old boy named Koot Hoomie ‘Kootie’ Parganas unknowingly ingests Thomas Edison’s ghost after a series of events that left him an orphan and homeless. To wit, the world he lives in is populated by ghosts and people who hunt them down to capture their essence, which can then be ‘eaten’ (although actually inhaled) by the living, which has a drug-like effect. And now a bunch of these ‘ghost-eaters’ are after Kootie, because Edison’s ghost is quite a prize, and since he hasn’t reached puberty yet, the ghost was not really ‘eaten’ – rather it just sort of hangs out in Kootie’s psyche (where it gives him advice and occasionally takes over his body), but it can still be extracted. Several other characters and plot-lines intertwine, the most important being Pete Sullivan, an itinerant electrician who used to work for one of the ghost-eaters in LA (a ruthless woman whose work as an indepnent, mainly documentary filmmaker serves as cover for her more nefarious activities), and Angelica Elizalde, a former psychiatrist who fled the city a few years prior because of séance gone bad that ended up killing a few people – it’s complicated. In fact, summarizing this book is proving complicated, as there is so much story, and so many layers, with supernatural and occult elements intertwined with actual historical events and figures (e.g., Houdini’s ghost also makes a showing here). I’ll just end this by saying it’s a really enjoyable, if dense, story. By the way, this one is the second in a trilogy called the ‘Fault Lines’ series. The first book, which I read a number of years ago, is Last Call (set mainly in Las Vegas, the story revolves around gambling, tarot, Bugsy Segal and Fisher King legend, among other things). Storywise, it has no points of contact with this book, except that they both take place in 1992.
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Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 18:15:19 GMT -5
Expiration DateTim Powers, 1995 In Los Angeles in the early 1990s, about a week before Halloween, an 11 year-old boy named Koot Hoomie ‘Kootie’ Parganas unknowingly ingests Thomas Edison’s ghost after a series of events that left him an orphan and homeless. To wit, the world he lives in is populated by ghosts and people who hunt them down to capture their essence, which can then be ‘eaten’ (although actually inhaled) by the living, which has a drug-like effect. And now a bunch of these ‘ghost-eaters’ are after Kootie, because Edison’s ghost is quite a prize, and since he hasn’t reached puberty yet, the ghost was not really ‘eaten’ – rather it just sort of hangs out in Kootie’s psyche (where it gives him advice and occasionally takes over his body), but it can still be extracted. Several other characters and plot-lines intertwine, the most important being Pete Sullivan, an itinerant electrician who used to work for one of the ghost-eaters in LA (a ruthless woman whose work as an indepnent, mainly documentary filmmaker serves as cover for her more nefarious activities), and Angelica Elizalde, a former psychiatrist who fled the city a few years prior because of séance gone bad that ended up killing a few people – it’s complicated. In fact, summarizing this book is proving complicated, as there is so much story, and so many layers, with supernatural and occult elements intertwined with actual historical events and figures (e.g., Houdini’s ghost also makes a showing here). I’ll just end this by saying it’s a really enjoyable, if dense, story. By the way, this one is the second in a trilogy called the ‘Fault Lines’ series. The first book, which I read a number of years ago, is Last Call (set mainly in Las Vegas, the story revolves around gambling, tarot, Bugsy Segal and Fisher King legend, among other things). Storywise, it has no points of contact with this book, except that they both take place in 1992. I liked the two Tim Powers books I read back in the 80s, The Anubis Gates and Dinner at Deviant's Palace, and always meant to read more of his work but somehow never have gotten around to it. But I'll get there one of these days.
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