I have really enjoyed movies based on Philip K. Dick's books and stories. I have rarely enjoyed his books and stories. PKD fans, of course, will say I'm too shallow or something and don't appreciate great literature, settling for the dumbed-down Hollywood versions. I respond that it's a matter of taste.
I haven't seen any of the TV series The Man in the High Castle, but I suspect my experience will line up with my history. The book, while it follows a more traditional narrative structure than some of his other novels, isn't very good. From what I've heard and seen on the previews, the TV show is probably better.
In The Man in the High Castle, Japan and Germany won World War 2 and each occupy respective regions of the former United States. A popular book, banned in Nazi-occupied areas, presents an alternative future in which the U.S. won the war. That's kind of a fun idea: alternative fiction about a work of alternative fiction which more closely matches our reality. The author, who is reputed to live in a high castle, is both admired and targeted.
The loosely related story lines never came together for me very well. The representation of west coast cutlure under Japanese rule is a little bit interesting, but not really. The idea that technology developed much more quickly under the Nazis--they are sending manned missions to Mars and Venus--is implausible. None of the personal stories or disparate plot lines appealed to me.
Dick has enough good ideas here that I will still check out the TV show at some point. As fascinating as the ideas behind his writing are, the fact that for the ideas to be shaped into a decent story requires other writers' refinement and explication tells me that PKD's influence is far greater than his talent.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Monday, June 12, 2017
Kill Decision, by Daniel Suarez
Looking for a beach read? Daniel Suarez's Kill Decision is an exciting mix of political thriller and techno thriller. There are dark forces with deep ties to the U.S. government that want to promote the use of lethal autonomous drones as the next stage of warfare. Thankfully there is a rogue group of military specialists with the freedom to act independently and with a mission to stop the drone warfare.
With the mysterious Odin at the helm, this group travels the globe in response to a series of related attacks. The attacks are initially called bombings, but it becomes clear that it's drones. Odin and his team, whose autonomy, attitudes, and methods reminded me of the team on Agents of SHEILD, intervene in Africa, saving a research scientist who specializes in ant colonies from a drone/bomb attack. She specializes in the swarming behaviors of aggressive ants, and they learn that her research and computer models have been coopted by those designing and deploying the drone attacks.
Odin, the professor, and Odin's team find themselves targets of the attacks and have to go off the radar to track down the origin. The story is full of action (admittedly sometimes rather implausible) and narrow escapes. The science of the drones is frighteningly realistic. The drones are autonomous, using facial recognition and other software tools to hone in on their prey. This prevents jamming signals from interrupting their missions, and allows the drones to function at any distance from the programmers. In addition, they communicate with one another with artificial pheremones, mimicking actual insect communication, an interesting concept that I had not thought of before.
For all I know, this technology is only a short step away from reality. Suarez makes it very believable, and crafts an exciting story around its use. Kill Decision won't make the reading list for American Lit 101 at your local college, but for a fun, exciting page turner, it hits the spot.
With the mysterious Odin at the helm, this group travels the globe in response to a series of related attacks. The attacks are initially called bombings, but it becomes clear that it's drones. Odin and his team, whose autonomy, attitudes, and methods reminded me of the team on Agents of SHEILD, intervene in Africa, saving a research scientist who specializes in ant colonies from a drone/bomb attack. She specializes in the swarming behaviors of aggressive ants, and they learn that her research and computer models have been coopted by those designing and deploying the drone attacks.
Odin, the professor, and Odin's team find themselves targets of the attacks and have to go off the radar to track down the origin. The story is full of action (admittedly sometimes rather implausible) and narrow escapes. The science of the drones is frighteningly realistic. The drones are autonomous, using facial recognition and other software tools to hone in on their prey. This prevents jamming signals from interrupting their missions, and allows the drones to function at any distance from the programmers. In addition, they communicate with one another with artificial pheremones, mimicking actual insect communication, an interesting concept that I had not thought of before.
For all I know, this technology is only a short step away from reality. Suarez makes it very believable, and crafts an exciting story around its use. Kill Decision won't make the reading list for American Lit 101 at your local college, but for a fun, exciting page turner, it hits the spot.
Sunday, June 11, 2017
The World of Urban Decay 2, by Martin ten Bouwhuijs
Martin ten Douwhuijis loves to take pictures of decaying buildings. Strangely enough, you may find yourself loving to look at pictures of decaying buildings in his book The World of Urban Decay 2. (This is his second book of photographs, following the 2013 publication of The World of Urban Decay.)
He writes that the "emptiness and the natural decay" of places that have been abandoned for decades "make some places even more beautiful than when they were in use." As his photographs clearly demonstrate, there is plenty of beauty in these abandoned places, but it takes an odd sense of taste to declare that they are more beautiful. . . . Well, to each his own.
The sense I got from his photographs was more like sadness or longing. Sadness, that places that held such beauty, beauty that is still evident despite peeling paint, water damage, collapsed floors, have been neglected, many of them past the point of recovery. As anyone who has tried to remodel an old house or building knows, sometimes it's more efficient to tear down the old structure than to repair it and bring it up to modern living standards. Also longing, recognizing that our age of cookie cutter homes and bland architecture was preceded by the times in which some of these places were built.
Ten Bouwhuijs's affection for his subject matter certainly shows in his photographs. At the end, he gives more extensive notes about the places he features. Some are slated for demolition, some may be renovated. In order to photograph some of them, he crossed over barriers, through windows, or behind locked doors, such is his passion to see these neglected rooms.
He keeps the locations, scattered throughout Western Europe, mostly anonymous, fearing that other urban explorers with less appreciation and respect for the places will invade. Through his eyes, we get to explore and get a glimpse into the past. You will enjoy his hauntingly beautiful photographs.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
This article from The Sun has some nice examples from the book:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2992407/abandoned-buildings-europe-martin-ten-bouwhuijs/
He writes that the "emptiness and the natural decay" of places that have been abandoned for decades "make some places even more beautiful than when they were in use." As his photographs clearly demonstrate, there is plenty of beauty in these abandoned places, but it takes an odd sense of taste to declare that they are more beautiful. . . . Well, to each his own.
The sense I got from his photographs was more like sadness or longing. Sadness, that places that held such beauty, beauty that is still evident despite peeling paint, water damage, collapsed floors, have been neglected, many of them past the point of recovery. As anyone who has tried to remodel an old house or building knows, sometimes it's more efficient to tear down the old structure than to repair it and bring it up to modern living standards. Also longing, recognizing that our age of cookie cutter homes and bland architecture was preceded by the times in which some of these places were built.
Ten Bouwhuijs's affection for his subject matter certainly shows in his photographs. At the end, he gives more extensive notes about the places he features. Some are slated for demolition, some may be renovated. In order to photograph some of them, he crossed over barriers, through windows, or behind locked doors, such is his passion to see these neglected rooms.
He keeps the locations, scattered throughout Western Europe, mostly anonymous, fearing that other urban explorers with less appreciation and respect for the places will invade. Through his eyes, we get to explore and get a glimpse into the past. You will enjoy his hauntingly beautiful photographs.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
This article from The Sun has some nice examples from the book:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2992407/abandoned-buildings-europe-martin-ten-bouwhuijs/
Friday, June 9, 2017
Chokehold, by Paul Butler
Paul Butler's Chokehold: Policing Black Men is a rather difficult and uncomfortable book to read. Butler, a former prosecutor, examines crime stats and societal trends, calling on black men to challenge the status quo and work to change the system that works against them. That is one of the cornerstones of Butler's book: white supremacy created and perpetuates the U.S. system of law enforcement, and the suppression of black men is absolutely by design.
If that sounds too strong, consider Butler's words:
The stats Butler presents are familiar and undeniable. There is no question black men get a bad rap, in sentencing, in the extra attention they draw by cops on patrol, and in the limitations they face in school, the job market, and the housing market. Butler acknowledges that crime rates are higher among black men, but that's part of the chokehold. Crime rates are higher in black neighborhoods, so there are more patrols, so there are more arrests and convictions. Round and round.
Butler has a definite agenda, so his presentation isn't exactly balanced. I would have hoped to see more time spent on progress made since the Civil Rights movement. Seeing black teachers, executives, doctors, engineers, and even presidents is no longer a novelty. It's commonplace. Surely having black men in positions of power and wealth means something. On a related point, he does not acknowledge that the there is a flip side to the chokehold. Believe it or not, most white people want to see black people succeed, for the sake of society as well as for the sake of their black friends and neighbors. My white son is entering college. It is a truism that more admissions to elite schools and scholarships would have been available to him were he black. I have seen and heard plenty of anecdotal accounts of preferential hiring of black men and women in the workforce. I am not judging such scholarships and hiring, but I think such policies should be acknowledged. Butler makes a big deal about the chokehold being "an employment stimulus plan for working-class white people, who don't have to compete for jobs with all the black men who are locked up." Couldn't it also be said that black men who manage not to get locked up have an even greater advantage in the colleges admissions market, the job market, and, significantly, the marriage market, over their black peers?
Chokehold is challenging, and more radical than I would have thought it would be, coming from a former prosecutor. Butler's advice for black men who are trying to avoid arrest and guidelines for action once detained or arrested are bleakly helpful. His proposals for action are, for the most part, realistic, if not a little radical. He suggests that the maximum prison sentence for any crime be limited to twenty-one years, that we decriminalize low-level offenses, and that we spend more on health care and less on police. Oh, and eliminate the prisons: "Black men will only be free, literally and figuratively, when prisons are no more."
So, yes, he's a radical, and will lilkely be dismissed out of hand by many conservatives and law-and-order types. It's easy to pull FBI statistics to justify more policing in black neighborhoods and explain away failed black schools and communities. But Butler is right on many points. You don't have to join him in embracing critical race theory and the practices and proposals of the movement for black lives to acknowledge that structural racism has been, and to varying degrees still is, a factor in American society. Even if we don't fully buy in to Butler's exposition and proposals, we can still work for a better future for all of our friends and neighbors of every race.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
If that sounds too strong, consider Butler's words:
- "Not only is the Constiution . . . insufficient to protect black people from police abuse, it actually aids and abets the police abusers."
- "The law is not neutral or objective but actually prepetuates white supremacy."
- "The system is now working the way it is supposed to, and that makes black lives matter less."
The stats Butler presents are familiar and undeniable. There is no question black men get a bad rap, in sentencing, in the extra attention they draw by cops on patrol, and in the limitations they face in school, the job market, and the housing market. Butler acknowledges that crime rates are higher among black men, but that's part of the chokehold. Crime rates are higher in black neighborhoods, so there are more patrols, so there are more arrests and convictions. Round and round.
Butler has a definite agenda, so his presentation isn't exactly balanced. I would have hoped to see more time spent on progress made since the Civil Rights movement. Seeing black teachers, executives, doctors, engineers, and even presidents is no longer a novelty. It's commonplace. Surely having black men in positions of power and wealth means something. On a related point, he does not acknowledge that the there is a flip side to the chokehold. Believe it or not, most white people want to see black people succeed, for the sake of society as well as for the sake of their black friends and neighbors. My white son is entering college. It is a truism that more admissions to elite schools and scholarships would have been available to him were he black. I have seen and heard plenty of anecdotal accounts of preferential hiring of black men and women in the workforce. I am not judging such scholarships and hiring, but I think such policies should be acknowledged. Butler makes a big deal about the chokehold being "an employment stimulus plan for working-class white people, who don't have to compete for jobs with all the black men who are locked up." Couldn't it also be said that black men who manage not to get locked up have an even greater advantage in the colleges admissions market, the job market, and, significantly, the marriage market, over their black peers?
Chokehold is challenging, and more radical than I would have thought it would be, coming from a former prosecutor. Butler's advice for black men who are trying to avoid arrest and guidelines for action once detained or arrested are bleakly helpful. His proposals for action are, for the most part, realistic, if not a little radical. He suggests that the maximum prison sentence for any crime be limited to twenty-one years, that we decriminalize low-level offenses, and that we spend more on health care and less on police. Oh, and eliminate the prisons: "Black men will only be free, literally and figuratively, when prisons are no more."
So, yes, he's a radical, and will lilkely be dismissed out of hand by many conservatives and law-and-order types. It's easy to pull FBI statistics to justify more policing in black neighborhoods and explain away failed black schools and communities. But Butler is right on many points. You don't have to join him in embracing critical race theory and the practices and proposals of the movement for black lives to acknowledge that structural racism has been, and to varying degrees still is, a factor in American society. Even if we don't fully buy in to Butler's exposition and proposals, we can still work for a better future for all of our friends and neighbors of every race.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
The Dire Earth: A Novella, by Jason Hough
In 2013, Jason Hough published The Dire Earth Cycle, a trilogy of three books that were released within a few weeks of each other. This year, he is releasing two more, in May and June. In the meantime, he wrote The Dire Earth: A Novella to serve as a prequel to book 1, The Darwin Elevator.
The central feature of The Dire Earth Cycle is a mysterious space elevator of alien origin and a related plague that wipes out almost all of earth's population. The Dire Earth takes place a few years after the space elevator is established, and chronicles the beginnings of the world-wide plague. What seems like a series of unrelated vignettes comes together to build the central cast of characters for The Darwin Elevator.
Hough writes great action sequences. His characters are varied and engaging. The set-up in The Dire Earth--the elevator, the spread of the plague, the individual fights to survive--lay a solid ground work for the series. If you've read The Dire Earth Cycle, pick this up. If you haven't go ahead and start with The Dire Earth. This is fun, action-packed, sci-fi.
The central feature of The Dire Earth Cycle is a mysterious space elevator of alien origin and a related plague that wipes out almost all of earth's population. The Dire Earth takes place a few years after the space elevator is established, and chronicles the beginnings of the world-wide plague. What seems like a series of unrelated vignettes comes together to build the central cast of characters for The Darwin Elevator.
Hough writes great action sequences. His characters are varied and engaging. The set-up in The Dire Earth--the elevator, the spread of the plague, the individual fights to survive--lay a solid ground work for the series. If you've read The Dire Earth Cycle, pick this up. If you haven't go ahead and start with The Dire Earth. This is fun, action-packed, sci-fi.
Monday, June 5, 2017
Run With Me, by Sanya Richards-Ross
Track and field fans, or just casual fans who like to watch the Olympics, know Sanya Richards-Ross. The Jamaican born sprinter, among other successes in her career, medalled in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic games, and has been recognized as one of the world's fastest women. Her new book Run With Me: The Story of a U.S. Olympic Champion is written to introduce young readers (I would say older elementary school age and up) to her career and inspire them to work hard and follow their dreams.
Even as a very young girl in Jamaica, everyone recognized that Sanya had a gift for speed. Her father encouraged her to work hard and coached and supported her from a very young age. The support of her father and the rest of the family was one of the notable themes of Run With Me. The whole family moved from Jamaica to the U.S. in order to support her running career. Her sister came to watch her work out. Her dad was always there filming her races and critiquing her performance afterward. Mom travelled with her around the world as Sanya became more well-known and successful. Her family really did run with her, contributing greatly to her success.
Sanya's family's support was only part of the equation. She has obvious physical traits that help her run, but her relentless hard work and passion to succeed drove her to win. Sanya encourages her readers to follow her example and work hard, but more than that, she encourages them to follow God and find their identity in him. "God doesn't look at our athletic performance. He cares about our faithfulness. Running is just what I do. It's not who I am."
Noting that her hero, Marion Jones, had been sanctioned and stripped of her medals after she admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs, Sanya writes:
Run With Me is full of scripture and reminders to keep one's athletic and other gifts in perspective. Budding track stars can learn from Sanya that, no matter how fast God has made you, becoming a winner takes constant hard work. But no matter what, we should put our faith in God and trust him. Her track career is over, but Sanya Richards-Ross has many years of inspiring others ahead of her.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Even as a very young girl in Jamaica, everyone recognized that Sanya had a gift for speed. Her father encouraged her to work hard and coached and supported her from a very young age. The support of her father and the rest of the family was one of the notable themes of Run With Me. The whole family moved from Jamaica to the U.S. in order to support her running career. Her sister came to watch her work out. Her dad was always there filming her races and critiquing her performance afterward. Mom travelled with her around the world as Sanya became more well-known and successful. Her family really did run with her, contributing greatly to her success.
Sanya's family's support was only part of the equation. She has obvious physical traits that help her run, but her relentless hard work and passion to succeed drove her to win. Sanya encourages her readers to follow her example and work hard, but more than that, she encourages them to follow God and find their identity in him. "God doesn't look at our athletic performance. He cares about our faithfulness. Running is just what I do. It's not who I am."
Noting that her hero, Marion Jones, had been sanctioned and stripped of her medals after she admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs, Sanya writes:
I committed to myself and to God that if I ever became a role model for young girls, I'd give them something real and tangible they could hold on to. I never wanted anyone to have a reason to rip my posters off their wall or strip my medals away.She ran in her career with integrity, getting her fuel from natural foods, not from illegal substances. In light of her commitment, however, I wondered about something she did not mention in this book: her abortion before the 2008 Olympics. At the peak of her training, she became pregnant out of wedlock, and decide to abort her child in order to compete at the Olympics. Granted, this is not a violation of any rules for competing, but killing one's baby, to me, is a much bigger deal than PEDs. I am delighted to read elsewhere about her turning to God and the healing that he offers, and pray that other women will learn from Sanya's pain and choose life, and that women who have chosen abortion will find healing as she has.
Run With Me is full of scripture and reminders to keep one's athletic and other gifts in perspective. Budding track stars can learn from Sanya that, no matter how fast God has made you, becoming a winner takes constant hard work. But no matter what, we should put our faith in God and trust him. Her track career is over, but Sanya Richards-Ross has many years of inspiring others ahead of her.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Friday, June 2, 2017
Term Limits, by Vince Flynn
Before Vince Flynn started his long-running series of Mitch Rapp novels, he jumped into the world of political thrillers with Term Limits. This novel, Flynn's first, is set shortly before the events of the first Mitch Rapp novels, but clearly in the same timeline (some of the characters carry over into the Rapp novels, and some of the events referred to in Term Limits are important in the Rapp novels).
An assassin takes out three key government officials within a few hours, and a set of political demands is issued. It's up to the young, idealistic congressman Michael O'Rourke to get to the bottom of the assassinations, which have the potential to spring some leaks that Washington power players would rather not be sprung.
Term Limits is a great start for a first-time novelist, filled with political intrigue, covert action and intel, and cynicism about the corruption endemic to Washington, D.C. Readers of the Rapp books will agree, I think, that Flynn definitely improved his game as the series developed, but Term Limits is strong enough to demand returning Flynn's other books.
An assassin takes out three key government officials within a few hours, and a set of political demands is issued. It's up to the young, idealistic congressman Michael O'Rourke to get to the bottom of the assassinations, which have the potential to spring some leaks that Washington power players would rather not be sprung.
Term Limits is a great start for a first-time novelist, filled with political intrigue, covert action and intel, and cynicism about the corruption endemic to Washington, D.C. Readers of the Rapp books will agree, I think, that Flynn definitely improved his game as the series developed, but Term Limits is strong enough to demand returning Flynn's other books.
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