Ryan
Great book for those who know nothing about buying land. A few of the tips and tricks feels really outdated but what do I know, maybe a lot of land work is outdated.
3.5 stars. Enjoyed it but really struggled to get though it at the same time. Makes me think of a less goodly written but also more focused GOT. I suspect I will like it more in retrospect if I finish the series but that's going to take some serious motivation on my end.
Jfc this book took me forever to read. It's good, I love Stephenson's writing and his desire to just deep dive into whatever random topics have interested him (mostly the Philippines and WWII cryptography) though it basically goes nowhere and meanders there for far too long.
I last read this in college, re-read it when over at a friends place and nothing else to do I picked it up. Still rules. Neal Stephenson, despite all his faults, is a true genius way ahead of his time and also is hilarious, an excellent writer.
Really liked it but also had a hard time reading it? Couldn't focus on for more than a few chapters at a time. Not sure what that means
Every Sally Rooney book is a depressing, intelligent banger. I empathize with all her characters so much.
Packed to the gills with so many cool sci fi ideas. But also I didn't fully understand what was going on all the time. I'm not sure how much of that is my fault though. Still highly enjoyed.
As always he's a great writer, the first couple chapters affected me greatly, but after that it lost some of the thread for me. I connected more with “what matters most”
Really mixed feelings on this one. He's an incredible writer but it feels like he got too caught up on plot. Literary, poetical Neal Stephenson. It feels like it's all exposition, various scenes of conversations. Maybe all books are but it felt especially noticeable. And the plot feels basic to me, but maybe because it's about all the stuff I think about all the time. You know when you meet someone and you have so much in common you dislike them out of defensiveness, they're edging into your niche? I have a feeling I would feel that way if I met Greg Jackson. I'm very very excited to read his next book, I feel like he's gotten the “big important novel” out of his system and he can just write a smaller story about people.
Depressing and incredible in equal measure how long ago this book came out (and how little has changed). It has a lot more history of various civil rights movements in America than I expected and it was extreme eye opening. This country is rotten to the core.
As with every pop science book, this could have been 20 pages. Though for a different reason than usual. Dawkins is a good writer but the bulk of the book is spent arguing with other biologist academics about their various theories, I was bored to tears. Lots of theoretical discussions about how genes could cause us to behave. Cool concept, terribly boring execution
Reading the first one during the Biden administrations made it feel like it had lower stakes than reading the sequel during trump 2. Even though this one feels not as good to me it just hit harder because we're living it.
3.5 stars. Some very good writing here but the characterization felt very thin. That and the “plot” with forgery stuff felt very contrived, the author is an extremely talented writer so it felt truthful, if not real.
Simple quick little book, like the abridged power of now but i found it much easier to read. The entire plot can be summed up by this Sam Harris quote I'll butcher: “it's impossible to control your thoughts because controlling your thoughts would require you to think your thoughts before you have them; therefore you are not your thoughts but rather your thoughts are something that happen TO you”
4.5 stars, rounded up. I mean the prose is insanely beautiful. Really captures the trauma of the legacy of slavery. But I mean very hard to read, very depressing. I feel like I am missing out on a lot of the meaning, I could take a class analyzing this book.
4.5 stars. Elif Batuman continues to be one of my favorite writers. She wrote the idiot when she was in college right? But she didn't publish it until she was in her 30s? Presumably then she wrote this book as a sequel after the success of the idiot? I guess for this reason I was expecting to like the sequel less since it would be less “authentic”? But I might have liked it more honestly. She captures being a smart 19 year so well. TRUST ME I KNOW I WAS A SUPER SMART 19 YEAR OLD AND TOTALLY COULD HAVE GONE TO HARVARD IF I WANTED TO.
3.5 stars. This is the first miss from Ursula for me. I'm not quite sure why. Maybe because I liked the premise so much but was underwhelmed by the execution: a man whose dreams become real and his psychiatrist who manipulates him to change the world in his vision. Maybe I would have liked it better if it all stayed within the POV of the psychiatrist??
So good, so fascinating. This is the kind of book they'll be teaching in high school 50 years from now. Assuming there are still high schools. And books.
I was worried this was going to be boring but I quite enjoyed it for the most part. Reminds me of REAMDE but with the slightest hint of sci fi. Maybe not the best Stephenson but I still liked it. Though he does tend to think the only people capable of saving the world is billionaires which is a bit concerning.