brokenhandsmedia

[brokenhandsmedia]

Some great books reviewed in this (far too large) round of book reviews. Here are the highlights:

Little, Big by John Crowley is a family saga detailing five or so generations of a very large family from upstate New York and their dealings with elemental and fae forces -- at times antagonistic and at other times collaborative. A vast, esoteric work that's well worth reading.

The Invincible by Stanisław Lem is what Star Trek or Forbidden Planet would have been if their creators had understood the broad strokes of drone warfare. The characters are thinly drawn, but a fantastic, mind-bending work.

Time and Free Will by Henri Bergson is the trailhead for Bergson's philosophy, arguing that we don't really understand time, even on an intuitive level, and that reasoning through this as well as we can opens up new resolutions to the problem of free will versus determinism.

Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer is the latest entry in the author's Southern Reach trilogy, evoking the mood of the original three books, including its strongest entry, Authority.

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez is a fantastic collection of short stories by an Argentinian master of horror fiction. A lot of great horror fiction is coming out of Latin America right now, and Enríquez is one of the strongest voices in this trend. The standout for me was "Rambla Triste", where she gives her vision of a Barcelona haunted by ghostly children.

And others.

[brokenhandsmedia]

Are rights something that you own, or are they something that you do? The ownership model makes a lot of sense, but there's something important to remember -- a possession can be taken away.

[brokenhandsmedia]

A lot of people are really invested in the idea that there will one day be artificial intelligence of godlike power. This leaves aside the fact that we don't even have real artificial intelligence.

Much like the push-button kitchen, the automobile, and the washing machine allowed middle-class people to experience a version of the upper class's freedom from cooking, taking care of horses, and washing clothes, the LLMs that we have today give you access to something previously reserved for the wealthy: you, too, can have a yes man, toadie, or enabler.

Unfortunately, this is the least useful thing in the world.

[brokenhandsmedia]

I mean, I know that the old rule is that "any yes or no question asked in the title of an article can be answered 'no'," but I'm not certain. Maybe not civil war, but definitely political polarization, which is a necessary precondition.

[brokenhandsmedia]

A slate of book reviews for you on this too-damned-hot day. There are two big ones here -- The Lathe of Heaven and Men, Women, and Chain Saws.

If you've never read them, do yourself a favor and pick them up (there are links to relevant bookshop.org posts past the link!)

[brokenhandsmedia]

Edgar reviews a crop of books, including Joe Abercrombie's age of madness trilogy and Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine.

[brokenhandsmedia]

A lot of ink has been spilled about literacy over the years. A big part of the problem is -- as is usual -- that we use one word to mean many different things.

[brokenhandsmedia]

Marshal McLuhan's media theory is a useful tool for understanding our present moment -- and there's an uncomfortable synergy between his concept of "hot media" and the ongoing crisis of global warming.

Much as our physical environment heats up into something we cannot live in, our media environment is heating up into something we cannot think in. Steps must be taken to reclaim our agency.

[brokenhandsmedia]

Posted a few days ago, Edgar has some thoughts on Teeth of Time by Joshua Burnside.

[brokenhandsmedia]

A lot of books reviewed today. The most interesting of which, for our purposes, might be the Taiga Syndrome by Cristina Rivera Garza -- a very, very weird book. Other books -- Consider the Lobster, Careless People, and Killing Commendatore -- are also represented.

I will admit: I am not a fan of David Foster Wallace, and I spend a bit too long hating on him here, but no, I will not cut a single word from it.

[brokenhandsmedia]

The right wing can't produce art anymore. My own hypothesis on this is that they actively fight against the ability to doubt their own assumptions, which i believe is a key component of creativity.

[brokenhandsmedia]

Another, very thorough, round of reviews from Edgar.

[brokenhandsmedia]

Another, very thorough, round of reviews from Edgar.

[brokenhandsmedia]

How many ways are there to pull information out of a roll of the dice?

[brokenhandsmedia]

The right side won the civil war, and we need to stop ceding cultural ground on this.

[brokenhandsmedia]

A slate of book reviews, filling out the first quarter of the year.