Eva
A nesting doll story involving three women across time. All of whom stand out in their otherness, may it be through intellect, autism or artificiality. One invents the mechanism (Ada), another helps build the bodies (Ling), and a third breaks the boundaries (Iris).
Even though this could be classified as scifi, this is probably more poetry. The narrative voice and the characters are detached, lightweight. The text layout often splits into word fragments, deliberately slowing down your reading process. Like Clavadetscher wants you to pause, and consider with more attention, what's behind the lines. And what's there is philosophical and ethical questions about ownership, identity, female exploitation, the breaking of rules.
Interesting, but a bit too ethereal for my taste.
I also think Ada Lovelace (love her) has already been overused in literature.
I loved a lot about this, the characters (naïve young Samson who just lost his father, and also his ear), the setting (Kiev in chaos, after the Russian Revolution of 1919), the magical realism ear twist (just the right amount of quirky and magical), and especially Kurkov's writing. But I am conflicted, because I had a hard time staying engaged with the crime investigation, and barely could keep the involved characters apart. I wanted more of Samson and Nadjeschda (sounds like there might be)!
The Waterworld prequel! When nature knocks our systems off the grid, what do you do? Do you leave for places that are still untouched? Do you stay and try to repair/reestablish the status quo? Or do you start prepping for a new reality? This book gives a very realistic look of what a few more decades of climate devastation will do to coastal regions in hurricane zones. However much we plan, we ultimately will have to learn to adapt to a new world. This had very similar themes like [b:Good Morning, Midnight 27405160 Good Morning, Midnight Lily Brooks-Dalton https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1449682335l/27405160.SX50.jpg 47452606], of isolation, extreme weather, found family, and ultimately human connection. I might not have felt the emotional connection I had with her previous book, but I really enjoyed the vibe and the vivid imagery of this world of swamps and alligators, tree houses, daytime heat and fresh water dives. I question if a certain element of magical realism was necessary to tell this story.
A very compulsive and entertaining read, that makes you want to design games. It's a story about the madness of creation and the highs of success, but it's also about failing and trying again, of terrible grief and slivers of hope. Hoping that tomorrow your character won't die. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
My favorite character was Marx, and honestly, I don't believe their games and their friendship will work without him. I loved the small game elements that were like Easter eggs in their real life story. The Anna Lees, the secret tunnels...
This book shows us the possibility of a world where data isn't BIG and isn't harvested, owned and sold by big tech. A world where data can belong to us, and can be “small, intimate, understandable, sovereign, cooperative, fair”.
He introduces us to data-colonialism in the form of ‘snatch-and-grab science': where data collected in remote environments and communities leads to research prizes and scientific discoveries, but none of the accolades or monetary compensations ever trickle back to those origins. How can communities own their own data? And is your data truly open if it's not made for nonprogrammers? For non-English speakers? For people without up-to-date technical equipment?
An interesting and engaging read. It's full of personal data collection stories that Thorp went to install in jungles and on glaciers, of data crunching stories from his desk at the NYT or the short-lived Office for Creative Research, and of data living stories where he brings data back to their communities for collective mapping experiments.
There's an Austrian genre, and now this book fits in perfectly with [b:Ein ganzes Leben 22550484 Ein ganzes Leben Robert Seethaler https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1406198884l/22550484.SY75.jpg 42007512], [b:Verschüttete Milch 44560918 Verschüttete Milch Barbara Frischmuth https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1553170486l/44560918.SY75.jpg 69156847], and [b:Himmel, der nirgendwo endet 586855 Himmel, der nirgendwo endet Marlen Haushofer https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1176052585l/586855.SY75.jpg 573690]. I cried tears when she returned to the village. More insecurity than stoicism in this one though.
A stylistic exercise that brought me back to art history class where we learned to dissect old master paintings for secret geometries and messages. The characters of this surreal mystery all seem like caricatures of over-the-top art lovers who feel superior for worshipping the analogue, the old, and the Romantic Period. While I really enjoyed when the book tried to follow more traditional narrative lines, it lost me when it became too erratic. Because in the end it wasn't interested in telling a story, as it was just riffing on an idea, which felt exhausting. I applaud the effort though, it certainly was unique.There must be a place halfway between [b:The Goldfinch 17333223 The Goldfinch Donna Tartt https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1378710146l/17333223.SY75.jpg 24065147] and [b:Spitzweg 60715181 Spitzweg Eckhart Nickel https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1648569576l/60715181.SY75.jpg 95721059] that's probably the perfect mix of eclectic and entertaining.
Une histoire d'hiver qui est tellement definie par les masses et le poids de neige qui restreignent nos protagonists, que chaque chapitre est intitule d'apres le niveau actuel de neige. J'aime ca beaucoup.
Dans un future vaguement apocalyptic deux hommes et un communaute villageoise doit collaborer pour survive un hiver rigoureux sans electricite et avec des ressources limitees. Le narrative est clairsemee et legerement etrange, avec d'aire d'un parabel considerant les noms bibliocaux des gens du village.
Il y a quelque chose dans les histories qui se deroulent dans la nature oppressante mais aussi purificatrice des paysages enneiges que je trouve seduisante.
The author says in the acknowledgement section that this is her 7th book in her 5th genre. Which by itself is pretty amazing. But wow, we're a long way from [b:Freshwater 35412372 Freshwater Akwaeke Emezi https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500884500l/35412372.SY75.jpg 56785192] here, which was the book that initially brought me to the author. And I'm not blaming the genre here.
A Californian fever dream, parched for water, high on conspiracy theories, overcome with climate change depression, and set in the middle of a corrupt Hollywood movie set. Let by a drugged-out former child-star gumshoe and a clueless washed-down writer. I drifted in and out of this narrative, got lost like its characters, sometimes felt like I saw grandness, sometimes felt it saw mirages. A wild trip, somewhere between prophetic and frustrating.
First, it reads like a alcohol-tinged popculture road trip straight from the 90ies, and I felt I should have probably read this back when it came out, in the 90ies. Reading books about people who are constantly partying and on drugs, while being aloof and feeling superior ... very 90ies. Come to think of it, the poop and similar (yoghurt) accident-related stories felt very Trainspotting.
But, then it sprinkles in pokes at German WWII history and critiques of the wealthy class, while the main character's life and journey unravel themselves to be hollow and meaningless. And suddenly it just clicks. And I see why this book is considered somewhat of a cult classic.
Obviously, this is a very context-heavy book, and I think I might have enjoyed it more if I'd known more of the very German geograpic and cultural references. (let me now google ‘barbour jacket').
I feel a bit conflicted about this book.
Foremostly, it was full of interesting thoughts and information. Like the velocity at which climate zones crawl across the earth every day, which I think makes climate change very tangible. Or the fact that agro-mining is a realistic way of pulling metals out of the earth with the help of plants, which is a beautiful image of collaboration.
Yet, what slightly bugged me is the fundamental premisis. Yes, we should absolutely value our environment more, cherish flora and fauna, and reverse the damage that years of exploitation have inflicted on them. But, is building computational tools in the image of nature really the way to do that? And yes, most current A.I. usage is in service of capitalistic causes, often exploitating nature. But, that's not the models' fault, it's the people's fault. Bridle argues, that executing computational tasks with analog/biological mediums makes us more aware and sympathetic to the world around us. But surely, an education that teaches everyone (not just engineers) to value nature more, would be a more solid foundation for that?
There's a poetry to building analog computers, and yes some biological computers (think parallel computation with bacteria) might be crucial components of our future. But, there's still a place for super simple code, that functions without a hugely complex analog feedback system, as long as someone with empathy and ethics designed its goals.
A great book nontheless. Great books make you think.
And look at all the gorgeous cover art for its editions.
I found that chapter on randomness useless though (seriously, why did this book need so many pages on John Cage?)
What a storyteller Granach was. In episodic-style, the theater- and early-film actor tells about his life. From his upbringing in a poor jewish family in Old-Austria now-Ukraine to vagabonding, apprenticing at various bakeries and working at brothels. From discovering his love of theater, travelling to Berlin, to undergoing surgery on both legs for a better presence on stage. From fighting in the first world war, to being held captive in an Italien prisoner camp, to escaping home through the Swiss mountains. All his stories are full of humor and empathy, and most of all they are all instilled with a deep love for humanity.
Besides his stay in Berlin, where his story-telling is shortly interrupted by him gushing about his love of theater, this is a perfect compendium of a life in stories, that should be consumed at slow pace, to properly cherish them.
I'm in an autumn mood and felt like reading an old dusty classic, settling for the final Brontë sister I had never read before. If i had properly researched the novel beforehand I might have ducked out, as this is an epistolary novel, with a 300 page diary settled in the middle. Not my favorites, epistolarly novels, and novels detouring into the past. The author does mostly a good job at letting you forget that you're reading letters and diary entries though.
If it weren't for the rather sluggish middle section, I'd probably rate this higher as it did satisfy me with very 19th century Brontë descriptions of wild nature and deserted haunted halls on hillsides.
A feminist and realist novel, featuring one or two ‘nice' guys, I almost was surprised by its happy ending.
Ce roman raconte le destin de trois femmes dans la societe polygame, musulmane, et profondement patriarcale au Cameroun. Le conseil standard pour les femmes qui sont discourages a se eduquer, qui sont forcees de se marier, et qui sont maltraites - est patience (munyal). Patience, n'agissez pas, n'elevez pas la voix, ne raisonnez pas. Acceptez votre destin en silence. Pendant que ta famille regarde sans t'aider pendant que tu es maltraite.
Les deux jeunes femmes essaient a agir contre cette system, sans succes. Mais l'histoire de l'autre femme montre comment un tel systeme positionne automatiquement les femmes les unes contre les austres. Si le systeme est tout ce que nous connaissons, nous vivons le systeme.
Et si des realities et des possibilities alternatives entrent dans notre conscience sous la forme d'emissions de television occidentales, ces chaines de television seront interdites.
Avant d'ecrire sur la vie de sa arriere-grandmere dans le livre populaire [b:Kukum 48657691 Kukum Michel Jean https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572614120l/48657691.SY75.jpg 73531170], il a decrit su la vie de sa grandmere dans celui-ci. Les sections sur la vie innue en Quebec et la transformation de cela pendant la dernier siecle, ressemblent a les histoires en Kukum. Mais ce qui est interessant dans ce livre, c'est qu'il raconte aussi l'histoire de ces descendants innus qui ont perdu le contact avec leurs origines. Soit a cause de mariages interraciaux, d'integration forcee ou simplement de la vie moderne. La siecle derniere, quand une innue a epouse un homme blanc, elle a perdu son statut d'Innu - face au gouvernement canadien, et aussi face a leur famille/peres. Il a fallu attendre la fin du siecle pour que le gouvernement corrige ce tort. J'aime beacoup les livres de Michel Jean, et le regard fascinant et empathique qu'il nous donne sur une partie importante de l'histoire du Canada.
