This was a book that my daughter had to read as part of her university work and she suggested I might like it. It was unlike just about any other book I had read (although perhaps a sort of lightweight “Remembrance of Things Past“. As the story unfolded I did eventually become “hooked”. It was never going to be a real page-turner – but an enjoyable read – and it shone a light on many ‘difficult’ aspects of life – much bigger things, perhaps than the specifics introduced within the story.
Worldview
Faking It
There is a bit of a furore about the perceived influence of so called fake news on the result of the US election. On the one hand this strikes me as extremely funny – on the other it is rather worrying (on a number of levels).
inSignificant
Not my usual sort of book, I guess – however it was fascinating how the author broke through his own ‘failings’ and found a way to be a great and loved teacher.
The “System” Is Showing Its Limits
It is somewhat ironic that having been in the USA at the time of the EU referendum and, therefore, fielding questions from many Americans about “why” the vote went the way it did I should this morning wake to the news that they now have their very own version of the same type of result. The similarities between the build ups to the two elections and the way in which it eventually played out are eerily similar – albeit driven by two completely different agendas.
On This Day
Claudius met an untimely end; The whirlpool galaxy is discovered; The cornerstone of the “White House” is laid; The Greenwich meridian is set as 0 degrees; Paddington Bear makes his debut. The advent of the world wide web – and specifically wikipedia – enables us to get details of what happened “on this day” in history.
Grey Areas Everywhere
In two posts last month around the time of the Olympic Games I wrote about the difficulties that are presented when it is necessary to impose some set of rules and regulations to prevent ‘cheating’ – specifically with regard to so-called “performance enhancement”.
A Bit Of Speculation
My eye was caught by an article on the BBC website – as much as by the fact that it seemed to be reporting “old news” as by the headline itself. However, having navigated to the page I discovered that it was, indeed, a good piece – if slightly spoiled by being rather one-sided.
A Lesson Learned (On Being Stuck)
I’ve started on my newest online creation – partially inspired by the making memories series of posts here – to create a bit of a “life history” – a treasure trove of memories (probably real and imagined if you have read some of my previous writing on the subject) – a pot-pourri of little highlights (and possibly some lowlights) of my life.
Seveneves
I was a bit surprised to find that it is three years since I last read anything by Neal Stephenson. So far this is living up to expectations.
The Psychopath Test
This book is described as ‘comical’ and full of ‘belly laughs’ – hmmm… – I have to admit that although there were many quite funny descriptions, the overall feeling I got from the tales that was told was one of concern about the “state of mind” of many of those written about – on both sides of the “psychopath” wall. The very Catch-22 situation that “Tony” found himself in I think typified the whole book’s message.