Tag: book reviews

Book review: Cryptonomicon

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Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
My rating: four stars

I first read Cryptonomicon more than 20 years ago, when it first was released. A good friend of mine was visiting from the US – I lived in London at this point – and had a copy of the book in his satchel.

It sounded cool, and so I found a copy, read it, and while there was a lot I didn’t understand in it, I enjoyed the hell out of it, which was quite remarkable because at the time I wasn’t really into 1000-page epics.

I figured it had been long enough that I should revisit: to see a) if it was still as impressive and b) whether I understood it any better.

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Book review: Cinema Speculation

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Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino
My rating: four stars

Are you a film nerd?

You probably are if you’re interested in reading this book. I mean, you’d probably have to be a film nerd to be interested in the very specific period of filmmaking (and styles of film) that are this title’s focus.

There’s one thing I can guarantee, however: you are not and will never be as big a film nerd as Quentin Tarantino. (Or as big a dick as he is, some might add. Some)

Thankfully, the Tarantino on display between the covers of Cinema Speculation is the amiable nerd who wants to share his passion rather than a ponytail-free Comic Book Guy. In fact, the copy within might prove to be some of the best QT PR in quite some time.

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Book review: Tigana

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Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
My rating: four stars

When I was a kid, I got onto the Tolkien trip and read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Pretty cool, I thought.

Then I tried The Silmarillion and man, did those emergency brakes slam on. I haven’t tried that one since, and that was… about 35 years ago, now.

“Language. The process of sharing with words seemed such a futile exercise sometimes.”

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Book (and movie?) review: Solaris

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Solaris by Stanisław Lem
My rating: three stars

Apparently this wasn’t the first time I’d read Solaris.

After I’d finished this Kindle edition – one with the Lem-approved translation, executed by Bill Johnston – I discovered an older, dog-eared copy of the work on my shelves. I must have read that version from the time in university when I had a Russian partner who was interested in getting me into Russian literature, to the extent that I wrote some essays for her. (On Goncharov, I think? I can’t quite remember.)

Anyway, being unable to remember treading those star-paths before seemed to be very in keeping with the work itself, and I assume Lem would approve.

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NINE TIMES

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The end of the year is coming up fast. By which I mean to say that at time of writing it’s tomorrow.

Kill me.

So I figured I should really get off my arse and review some of the books I’ve consumed in the time since I last posted.

(Which is, as ever, far too long ago.)

They probably won’t be too long, but still… here we go.

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Book reviews: Trick Mirror and Toxic

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Two reviews for the price of one! Well, I guess they’re all free, so that argument probably doesn’t hold much water. Anyway, I recently powered through two books of nonfiction about important issues, so it made sense to whack ’em both in here.

SERIOUS BUSINESS.
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Book review: Bullshit Jobs: A Theory

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Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber
My rating: three stars

If ever there was a title to get me through the door, then this was it. How could I resist? The thing I didn’t know when I began Bullshit Jobs, though, was that Graeber’s position wasn’t that work as a whole was bullshit.

This I had to learn. (See, there’s also plain shit jobs, which are very different from bullshit jobs.)

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Book review: Skyward Inn

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Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley
My rating: five stars

At a loose end, I figured it was time to read another of novelist/mycologist Aliya Whiteley’s books. I’ve previously read The Beauty and found myself attracted and repulsed by the mysterious tone and sometimes unexplained goings-on.

Happily, I can say that the author’s Skyward Inn provided another dose of much-needed oddity in a small package, albeit one that addresses some big ideas. This is probably not all that unusual – this is science fiction, after all – but it feels distinctly human in its scope, even as there’s world-changing events afoot.

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A shelf of books? More or less.

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Well. As you, vigilant reader, might have noticed, I’ve been a bit quiet on the old typing-words-into-your-eyes front. There’s a raft of reasons – brain fog, surgery, winter, malicious elves stealing my motivation – but here’s a load of joy (potentially?) for you! I’ve been reading a bit since the last post and am going to attempt to cover the books I’ve gone through since then. (TWENTY-THREE?!)

What getting to this point has felt like, though I am not this ripped. Shocking, I know.

I won’t be offended if you need some kind of a break/fortifying drink through this thing. I probably will, too.

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