Persuasion - Jane Austen

There are many considerations relating to persuasion in Jane Austen's final novel, published after her death:  Whether to share influential information, to offer or accept advice, and how to balance opposing principles in reaching a decision.  Jane Austen herself apparently considered "persuasion", or the offering of advice, to be a main form of human interaction, with potentially powerful or even grave consequences  - and thus to be considered with utmost care. Surprising, therefore, that the name of this novel was supplied not by her but by her brother after her death.  Austen is not known to have discussed a name for her novel with anyone and to her family generally referred to the novel as The Eliots, perhaps intending to give it that name.

In addition to these interesting questions of human interaction, there is the pleasure of lovely descriptions:

Immediately surrounding Mrs Musgrove were the little Harvilles, whom she was sedulously guarding from the tyranny of the two children from the Cottage, expressly arrived to amuse them.  On one side was a table, occupied by some chattering girls, cutting up silk and gold paper; and on the other were tressels and trays, bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies, where riotous boys were holding high revel; the whole completed by a roaring Christmas fire, which seemed determined to be heard, in spite of all the noise of the others.

followed by nice personal observations:

"I hope I shall remember, in future," said Lady Russell, as soon as they were reseated in the carriage, "not to call at Uppercross in the Christmas holidays".

Ebola - David Quammen

This short (111 pages), very readable book was excerpted and augmented from Spillover, Quammen's earlier book about zoonoses - diseases that jump from an animal to man - and possible reasons why they are increasing in frequency.  The decision to create a more focused book on Ebola was stimulated, of course, by the devastating Ebola epidemic that began in Guinea in late 2013.  This book appeared before that epidemic had run its course and was intended to help people around the world understand the nature and course of this disease.

Ebola shows a classic zoonotic pattern of occurrence - emerging suddenly and killing tens or hundreds of people, then as quickly vanishing without a trace, only to re-emerge a few years later.  During the quiescent or latent period, the causative agent resides within a natural host or "reservoir" species - in which it may multiply freely, while causing little disruption or disease.  The devastating eruptions occur when some rare event causes the agent to infects an unusual host, such as man, leading quickly to death.  If the virus or other agent can be passed from human to human, the disease may spread quickly, but in isolated communities, it often reaches a dead-end, because of a lack of new victims to affect.  In this case, the outbreak ceases until another "spillover" or extraordinary infection event occurs.  Frequently, it can be very difficult to identify the reservoir species.

Bats are reservoir species for many zoonotic diseases, including that caused by Marburg virus, which is closely related to Ebola.  Good, though not conclusive, evidence suggests bats are also the reservoir for Ebola.  Quammen's book considers, at some length, why bats may be a favored reservoir for many viral diseases - all quite interesting speculations.  Another important issue considered in the book is why zoonotic outbreaks have become more common; Quammen relates the widely held view among zoonotic researchers that it is because of the increasing disruption of wilderness by the encroachment of human settlements and activities.  These encroachments bring humans into more direct and more frequent contact with many species that have long been spatially segregated.  As this trend continues and intensifies, we may expect zoonotic outbreaks to become more frequent, increasing the likelihood that some of these agents will adapt to human to human transmission, resulting in deadlier epidemics and, perhaps, The Next Big One - a world-wide pandemic such as bubonic plague in the middle ages or the Great Influenza of 1918.

Quammen is a terrific science writer - he digs deeply and understands his subject fully, he presents  the science via a lively narrative focused on the stories of individuals, and his anecdotes are frequently punctuated by a sharp, sometimes mordant wit.

Empires of Light - Jill Jonnes

This fascinating book by Jill Jonnes describes the War of the Electric Currents, the battle that took place in the 1890's to determine whether DC or AC would become the standard for distribution and use of electricity.  While many people contributed to the technologies involved, the three great figures in this battle were Thomas Edison, the champion of DC, and an alliance between Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse, the champions of AC.

Although non-fiction, Empires of Light reads much like a novel, with interesting and detailed descriptions of American society and vivid portraits of the chief players.  Edison is certainly portrayed as a genius, with vision, great theoretical insights and an extraordinary tenacity in his willingness to test hundreds or thousands of possible materials or methods to optimize a system.  For example, very early, recognizing that a chief restriction on distribution of electricity would be the price of copper for the wires, Edison was determined to use small diameter wires, necessitating light bulbs with with high-resistance filaments - others were focusing on low-resistance materials.  In fact, while many others created light bulbs, Edison's patent on his evacuated bulb with a high-resistance filament eventually carried the day.  In another brilliant insight, Edison created a "feeder and main" circuit for distribution of power that saved huge amounts of copper.

When this elegant and simple answer to problems of cost and maintaining pressure (voltage) was demonstrated in England, someone asked the brilliant Glasgow physicist Sir William Thomson, knighted for his critical role in the practical success of the transatlantic cable, why no one else had thought of it.  He said, "The only answer I can think of is that no one else is Edison."

Nikola Tesla's genius was of a very different kind.  Unlike the relentlessly practical and empirical Edison, Tesla was cerebral, theoretical, dreamy and, let's face it, quite wacky (cf the pigeon). He realized immediately that DC could not possibly be a practical means for delivering electricity widely, because of power losses in the lines over even short distances.  He turned his attention to AC and, when still very young, conceived, in a moment, the radical and beautiful idea of an AC motor that did not require commutator brushes (pieces of copper that made contact with the armature as it rotated, often sparked dangerously, were subject to failure and, in any case, had to be replaced frequently).  One wintry Budapest day in 1882, Tesla and a friend went for a walk:

Tesla, as was his dreamy wont, began reciting poetry, Goethe's Faust, to celebrate the blazing sky before them:

The glow retreats, done is the day of toil;
It yonder hastes, new fields of life exploring;
Ah, that no wing can lift me from the soil,
Upon its track to follow, follow soaring...

"As I uttered these inspiring words the idea came like a flash of lightning and in an instant the truth was revealed....I drew with a stick in the sand...the images I saw were wonderfully sharp and clear and had the solidity of metal and stone..." 

Recalling this moment many years later, Tesla said he told his friend

"Isn't it beautiful? Isn't it sublime? Isn't it simple?  I have solved the problem.  Now I can die happy.  But I must live, I must return to work and build the motor so I can give it to the world.  No more will men be slaves to hard tasks.  My motor will set them free, it will do the work of the world."

Tesla eventually obtained hundreds of patents, inventing virtually all parts of an AC distribution system and motors.  His generators were an integral part of the first mass AC distribution system installed at Niagara Falls.  But how did the dreamer succeed in the ruthlessly competitive atmosphere of the age of the robber barons?

He allied himself with a genius of another kind, George Westinghouse.  Like Tesla, Westinghouse was an idealist, but unlike Tesla, he was also a practical, bold and forceful businessman.  And he was very sympathetic to inventors - he purchased Tesla's patents under terms that were very generous.  Later, during the financial crisis of 1893, the very survival of Westinghouse's electric company was threatened.  Westinghouse refused to knuckle under and yield control to his banker creditors; he struck several deals with various investors that helped to tide him over. One key part of this campaign involved asking Tesla if he would be willing to alter the terms of the patents.

"And if I give up my contract you will save your company and retain control so you can proceed with your plans to give my polyphase system to the world?" 

"I believe your polyphase system is the greatest discovery in the field of electricity," Westinghouse explained. "It was my efforts to give it to the world that brought on the present difficulty, but I intend to continue, no matter what happens, to proceed with my original plans to put the country on an alternating current basis." 

"Mr. Westinghouse," said Tesla, drawing himself up to his full height of six feet two inches and beaming down on the Pittsburgh magnate who was himself a big man, "you have been my friend, you believed in me when others had no faith; you were brave enough to go ahead and pay me...when others lacked courage; you supported me even when your own engineers lacked vision to see the big things ahead that you and I saw; you have stood by me as a friend.  The benefits that will come to civilization from my polyphase system mean more to me than the money involved.  Mr. Westinghouse, you will save your company so that I can develop my inventions.  Here is your contract and here is my contract - I will tear both of them to pieces and you will no longer have any trouble from my royalties.  Is that sufficient?"

The company survived.  Westinghouse won a fierce battle to light the White City of the Chicago World's Fair, which displayed the astonishing power of AC.  Westinghouse also eventually won the contract that placed Tesla's generators at Niagara.

There is much more in this book: A history of the understanding of electricity, featuring Faraday and Franklin; Edison's attempts to portray AC as dangerous by campaigning to make the new electric chair run off AC powered by a Westinghouse generator; interesting portraits of J Pierpont Morgan and other Robber Barons; the full story of the installation of hydroelectric power at Niagara.  I recommend Empires of Light very highly.

The Laws of Medicine - Siddhartha Mukherjee

Siddhartha Mukherjee is very smart, very thoughtful, and a very talented writer, with an ear for the telling anecdote.  (We have previously reviewed his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Emperor of All Maladies).  The Laws of Medicine is a focused reflection on how medicine has changed over the past 80 years, viewed through the lens of Mukherjee's desire to identify "laws", specific to medicine, that govern its practice.

The book is serious and thought-provoking but also rather charming....and it's a fast read.  It's definitely a library book, not a worthwhile purchase - it's almost pocket-sized, it's thin, and it has some lovely textless illustrated pages to add space for personal reflection between one chapter and the next.  Purchasing it ($16.99) would be a good way to support the TED Talks (from which this book was adapted), but I was happier to delight in Mukherjee's reflections, on the library's dime!  To offer a little substance to this review, here's a nice thought, snatched from the book:

Priors. Outliers. Biases.  That all three laws of medicine involve limits and constraints on human knowledge is instructive.

I definitely recommend this highly.

The Mountains Have a Secret - Arthur Upfield

Two young women, hiking in the Grampian Mountains of western Australia vanish after staying a couple nights at a swank but isolated resort.  The immediate search and investigation turn up no sign of the women and no leads at all.  A few weeks later, a police officer investigating the disappearance is shot in his car......related to the disappearance or an isolated incident?  Bony, once again posing as a sheepman on vacation, begins to investigate.

Bony's strengths are nicely summarized by this glorious sentence:

His career as an investigator of violent crime had been unmarred by a single failure, and this was due much less to keen reasoning and keen observation, than to the inherited lust for the chase, bequeathed to him by a race of the greatest hunters the world has ever known, a race which has had to employ reason, patience, and unbreakable determination to gain sustenance in a country where food was ever hard to win.

This story includes several colorful characters and a nice mystery, though the resolution features some outlandish events inspired by World War II.

The Clue of the New Shoe - Arthur Upfield

Another interesting and thoughtful mystery featuring Bony, the half-aborigine Detective-Inspector.  A dead body is discovered in a nearly hidden cupboard along the stairway of a lighthouse that is unoccupied and inspected at six-month intervals.  The lighthouse is located in a small resort town that, during winter, is occupied by a small number of close-knit families - yet no one can identify the body and the initial police investigation is fruitless - leading, of course, to Bony visiting the town disguised as a vacationing sheepman - a part he sustains very knowledgeably and convincingly.  How he solves the mystery is interesting, but even more interesting is his growing friendship with the local carpenter - an old man who makes inexpensive coffins....but also rich, beautiful coffins.  This man is steeped in wisdom but his relationship with Bony takes surprising turns.  Quite a nice read!

Freeware

Several months ago, Lauren reviewed and recommended Software by Rudy Rucker.  I read it and thought it was a hoot - wildly creative, screamingly funny and unexpectedly thoughtful in exploring the idea of whether consciousness is unique to "living" beings.  Well, Freeware is the second (NB: actually 3rd - see comments) in a series of four books by Rucker and continues these trends, with this startling first sentence:

Monique was a moldie: an artificial life form made of a soft plastic that was mottled and veined with gene-tweaked molds and algae. 

Freeware starts with a diagram of the family trees of the main characters in the four books, including Staun "Sta-Hi" Mooney, who, after his outlandish adventures in Software, is mentioned in Freeware as the author, while serving as Senator of California, of the Moldie Citizenship Act.  Other entries in the family trees and in the story include additional moldies and aliens with exceptional body forms and life experiences.

Unfortunately, I didn't find Freeware to be nearly as intriguing as Software.  There was less humor, less interesting consideration of life forms and consciousness, and a lot more really outlandish stuff that I couldn't connect with.  Oh well.

The Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey

The Daughter of Time was the first required reading for my medieval history course (HSTAM 235: Medieval Mysteries), and I found it completely delightful. The protagonist of this work is an English police officer who was injured on the job and is laid up resting at a small hospital. A highly perceptive detective with a wry wit, Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant is unused to boredom and inactivity, and struggles immensely with the tedium of convalescence. That is, until his vivacious actress friend brings him a folio of paintings of faces. Grant's intuitive ability to read criminals' faces snags on one mysterious portrait - a suffering, noble face Grant is dismayed to learn is that of the barbaric Richard III. His curiosity deeply piqued, Grant teams up with a charmingly oafish young history buff to unravel the mystery of the murder of the princes in the tower. Fascinating analysis with a surprising conclusion. (And a bonus reference to our illustrious ancestor, Sir Robert Brackenbury.) Delicious language enhances this very enjoyable thriller.

Journey to the Hangman

This was another good Bony mystery, with a very eccentric strong character, Melody Sam.  Not really a spoiler, but a hint at a spoiler:  the plot is a little reminiscent of Hound of the Baskervilles.  And, as the book cover suggests, Bony's skill as a tracker is key to the solution of the last of three seemingly unrelated murders in a remote Western Australia town, founded, owned, mayored and bartended by the intermittently musical and binging Melody Sam.  Quick and enjoyable read!

Madman's Bend

Madman's Bend is another enjoyable Bony mystery by Arthur Upfield.  The very best of these include three strong elements:  an interesting mystery that Bony solves through incisive reasoning and patient, methodical investigation - often employing exceptional observational and tracking skills he both inherited and learned from the aboriginal side of his family; a very sympathetic heroine or a very eccentric male character; and vivid and engaging descriptions of intriguing features of the Australian Outback. This story has all these elements, but not as effectively as in some of the other stories. At the outset of the story, the major suspect in the murder of her stepfather and the love interest of the story is Jill, an admirable and sympathetic young woman:

"Then what will you do?  What shall I do?" 

"I shall go on meanderingly looking for facts.  You will stay here at Mira, be patient, be grateful for the kindness extended by Mrs. Cosgrove, and the love given you by her son.  And now we may admit to beliefs.  You may believe that every cloud has a silver lining, and I may believe that the disappearance of William Lush will one day be cleared up.  Smile, Jill, just a little." 

Jill looked at him with misty eyes, and, instead of smiling, burst into sobbing.

Jill is featured early on,  but appears less frequently as the story develops, removing a strong emotional force that could have provided balance to the rough life and men, and the unyielding terrain. 

The mystery itself is solved logically, but there are no startling clues or very unexpected developments, so Madman's Bend lacks the spark of some other Bony stories.  The natural phenomenon that elevates this story, however, is the serious flooding resulting from the funneling of distant, heavy rainfall into a restricted area that is the setting for the mystery.   The imminent threat that this flooding will cover the ground and destroy the evidence provides much of the tension in the story, but the descriptions of the river when calm and, later, as a powerful torrent of debris provide some lovely poetry:

"....and the river I had heard rapturously described was barely running in a ditch, and I loathed it so much I wouldn't look at it for a year." 

"Then the river made itself heard." 

"Yes, how did you know?" 

"It has a voice, a little voice to whisper to you, a mighty voice to shout at you." 

Mrs. Cosgrove halted and turned to regard Bony with quizzing eyes.  She said, "You spoke of poets, remember.  You could be one yourself.  Yes, I heard the river shouting at me and I hated it.  The wild westerlies would blow when the world was filled with the shouting of the trees.  My husband then had a fast motor-boat, and one evening he induced me to go with him up the river.  The day had been hot, and the evening was cool, and when he turned the boat round to come home he stopped the engine, and we just drifted with the current.  It was then I first heard the whispering:  the bird calls, the fish plopping, the other tiny sounds you'd never hear in the broad day.  That evening my husband and I were truly joined in spirit."

Inside the O'Briens

Lisa Genova is a neuroscientist and author who has been creating books that illustrate different neurological disorders through novels that feature the effects of the diseases on her characters.  Still Alice, her account of Alzheimer's, was highly acclaimed.  Inside the O'Briens shows the devastating effects of Huntington's Disease (HD) on Joe O'Brien, a tough but very likable Boston cop, and his family.
Although many readers (including me) will begin to read this book as a case study of HD, Genova has a particularly nice ear for dialog and local lingo and she tells an excellent story.  Many parts of the book are funny or heartwarming and some, of course, are heart-rending.
Even if HD holds no special interest for you, one key plot issue (culminating in a gripping conclusion) is the 50-50 chance that a child of an HD patient has of inheriting the disease.  Because HD is late onset, generally appearing only when a person is 40-50, the uncertainty of whether and when you will begin experiencing neurological symptoms is itself unnerving, even before any disease onset - this is powerfully depicted. There has been a genetic test for HD since the 1990's, but many at-risk people choose to live without taking the test.  The all-or-nothing, 50-50 chance seems to throw into sharp contrast both the uncertainty of fate and the impossibility humans seem to have in evaluating how to make decisions in the absence of conclusive information.  Very worthwhile read.

Wolf Hall

The fascinating and captivating first book of the Cromwell Trilogy, by Hilary Mantel.  Cromwell rises from low birth to influence, first as right-hand man of the powerful Cardinal Wolsey, then as advisor to Henry VIII.  Wolf Hall deals with Cromwell's successful efforts to help Henry arrange his marriages in attempts to assure an heir, and in his quest to gain control over the Church.  The latter struggle highlights Cromwell's rivalry and differences with Thomas More.

The character of Cromwell is intriguing:

Thomas Cromwell is now a little over forty years old....It is said he knows by heart the entire New Testament in Latin, and so as a servant of the cardinal is apt - ready with a text if abbots flounder.  He speech is low and rapid, his manner assured; he is at home in a courtroom or waterfront, bishop's palace or inn yard.  He can draft a contract, train a falcon, draw a map, stop a street fight, furnish a home and fix a jury.  He will quote you a nice point in the old authors, from Plato to Plautus and back again.  He knows new poetry and can say it in Italian.  He works all hours, first up and last to bed.  He makes money and he spends it.  He will take a bet on anything.

There are keen observations, as in this description of Anne Boleyn:

Her eyes passed over him on their way to someone who interested her more.  They are black eyes, slightly protuberant, shiny like the beads of an abacus: they are shiny and always in motion, as she makes calculations of her own advantage.

And the book is frequently laugh out loud funny. Here's Wolsey's description of Cromwell:

And he will have to take you as you are, which is rather like one of those square-shaped fighting dogs that low men tow around on ropes. Not that you are without a fitful charm, Tom.

Of interest to us, here's a comment on our (possible) ancestor:

The Londoners say - and he reckons the Londoners know - that it was on Howard's watch that the princes were last seen; though Thomas More thinks it was Constable Brakenbury who handed the keys to the killers.  Brakenbury died at Bosworth; he can't come out of his grave and complain.

In short, highly recommended!  Thanks to Karen Elizabeth for giving me this can't-put-it-down read!

I couldn't put Wolf Hall down, really, so when I reached the end, I immediately replaced it with the second in the intended trilogy, Bring Up the Bodies - the equally absorbing continuation of the story of Thomas Cromwell. Again, fascinating portrayals of power, ambition, lust and intrigue. Hilarious in brief spots, everywhere thoughtful, and sharp insights into human interactions.  Now I'm going to Google to see when the final volume is due!

Galileo's Daughter

I particularly enjoyed Dava Sobel's previous book, Longitude, and have been very interested in Galileo (see Galileo's Dream), so it was an unexpected delight to find that back in 1999 Sobel had written this dual portrait of Galileo and his saintly oldest daughter, Virginia.

Virginia and her younger sister and brother were all born out of wedlock.  Because they were neither high born nor wealthy, Galileo could not arrange favorable marriages for his daughters and decided that the best chance they would have in life was to be entered into a convent - which, with help from highly placed patrons of Galileo, occurred before they were actually old enough to become Sisters.  The younger daughter, furious at her father and possibly having unrelated problems, subsequently had very little to do with Galileo.  In contrast, Virginia - later Suor Maria Celeste - was devoted to him, praying always on his behalf, preparing special treats and medicines for him, sewing his collars - and writing heartfelt letters to him.  Galileo described her to a friend as "a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and most tenderly attached to me".  He kept all of her letters - approximately 120 - Sobel translated these and used them as a framework for much of the story of Galileo's life.   Sadly, none of Galileo's letters to Suor Maria Celeste have survived.

The book effectively describes Galileo's radically new approach to understanding the world  - that is, carrying out quantitative experiments and formulating the findings into laws rather than arguing from "first principles".  For this reason alone, he was vilified by adherents of Aristotle, "philosophers" who were accorded higher status and higher pay than mere "mathematicians" or "astronomers".   (Though astronomers, including Galileo, were frequently called upon by the aristocracy to create astrological forecasts).  One striking example of Galileo's experimental genius was illustrated by the astronomical discoveries he made with the telescope.  Galileo did not invent the telescope - but, having heard of it, or perhaps seen one, he carried out systematic experiments to determine the optimum shape and spacing of lenses.  This allowed him to construct telescopes with higher magnification and resolving power than anyone else.  With these, he famously discovered sunspots and how they illustrated the rotation of the sun, the phases of Venus, and the moons of Jupiter -all undermining the Aristotelian view of the celestial spheres as perfect objects that could not be flawed in any way - and also supporting the views of Copernicus, which later caused so much trouble for Galileo.

Interestingly, Galileo was a devout Catholic and believed there could be no real discrepancy between Catholic belief and the Copernican world view his discoveries supported.  He believed that God spoke to man in two ways, for one purpose.  The purpose was to induce men to believe and act properly so that they could enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  The two ways were scripture and the physical reality of the universe.  Scripture need not always be precisely consistent with physical reality, because its primary purpose was to guide people towards the holy light - and some simplification could aid this purpose.  But the physical world, also created by God, must necessarily be consistent with God's message to humanity.  Galileo hoped and urged his ecclesiastical friends to adopt this view - he felt that the Copernican view was certainly correct and that if the church declared it as heresy, the church would suffer when further experiments proved it to be true.  Pope Urban and others, however, believed scripture was paramount and to claim the universe to be other than described by scripture was heresy - and punishable.

In addition to his astonishing brilliance as a scientist, Galileo is shown in the book to be a practiced flatterer, adept at political intrigue, an outstanding prose stylist and....a doting and devoted father to Suor Maria Celeste.  I enjoyed this book immensely.

Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin

For the past several years, Mark and I have enjoyed watching the HBO series Game of Thrones. Mark had read all of Martin's books up to the time of the TV series premiere, but I never had. Everyone says how great the books are, so I finally decided to give the first book a try. I loved it so much I tore through all 800 pages and am already a third of the way through book 2!

Martin's prose is relatively simple and straightforward, but his world is vividly portrayed in all 5 senses and his realistic character depictions make the courtly intrigues and ancient mysteries come alive brilliantly. One of my favorite characters is Lord Tyrion, a little person and son of the powerful house of Lannister. In a world where warriors rule and a disabled man is worth less than a woman, Tyrion uses his wits and humor to remain relevant and preserve his dignity in a society that has derisively termed him "the Imp." Fond of drink and whores, Tyrion is nevertheless the source of many of the book's words of wisdom. He gives several valuable pieces of advice to Jon Snow, the bastard son of powerful Lord Stark, who holds a similarly low place in their world's hierarchy. One such quote is when Tyrion explains his love of reading by saying that "a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”

Martin famously kills off nearly every major character (and many minor ones), and it is a strong storyteller indeed who can hold the reader's interest in the events of the world, not just in specific people.

Very exciting and more food for thought than in your usual "light reading."

Seveneves - Neal Stephenson

Stephenson's fascinating new sci-fi novel, Seveneves, reads much like Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy in its realistic and highly-detailed portrayal of space exploration technology. The novel opens when an unknown force - the Agent - causes our Moon to explode. After a period of global bafflement, American scientist and media personality Doc Dubois realizes that the moon's fragmentation will continue exponentially, ultimately causing a Hard Rain of meteorites to obliterate the earth's service in a terrible holocaust lasting thousands of years. Scientists all over earth come to the same conclusion within a matter of weeks, and the entire world's resources are dedicated to preparing to save as many humans as possible by getting them onto a space station, along with earth's genetic data. If this feels like a spoiler, it's not, this merely sets the stage for all the action that unfolds from there! About the latter third of the book is dedicated to even more radical extrapolation from these initial conditions... Very unique and thought-provoking.

Stephenson is a brilliant social critic, and his book is rich with insights and neologisms like "amistics" -

"choices that different cultures made as to which technologies they would, and would not, make part of their lives. The word went all the way back to the Amish... who had chosen to use certain modern technologies, such as roller skates, but not others, such as internal combustion engines. All cultures did this, frequently without being consciously aware that they had made collective choices."

Highly recommend!

The Peripheral - William Gibson

The Peripheral is Gibson's most recent novel, and it did not disappoint. The tale opens in a a world that appears to be our near future, the logical extension of our society's tendency to favor technological advancement amidst crumbling physical infrastructure. The increasingly unstable economy is marked by intensified monopolization, and the average person can only get wealthy by "funny" means - "building" (producing and selling drugs), or "fabbing" (3D printing) prohibited items. Our morally-conscious protagonists - a wounded special ops veteran named Burton and his spunky sister, Flynne - choose instead to eke out a living by playing security forces in a video game for a mysterious employer. It is during one of these gaming sessions that Flynne becomes sole witness to a gruesome murder, an event that ignites a series of radical changes in their lives and world. The novel is ultimately set in two futures, whose inhabitants are able to influence each other by means of shared "peripheral" technology. Fascinating stuff, as always!

Rudin

I have been undergoing a change in viewpoint with respect to Turgenev.  I love Dostoevsky's novels - powerful, compelling, and full of passionate beliefs and actions.  And I know that Dostoevsky despised Turgenev, believing he had lost his roots in the Russian soil and people, and had become infatuated with Western culture - probably the greatest sin a Russian writer could commit in Dostoevsky's eyes.  Dostoevsky drew a wickedly funny, vitriolic parody of Turgenev in The Possessed.  But I really enjoyed Turgenev's Fathers and Sons, and Turgenev is portrayed as charming and shrewd in Stoppard's Coast of Utopia plays.

Well, like Fathers and Sons, Rudin is lyrical, thoughtful and, finally, sad, though leavened with a little uplifting sentiment.  Like the nihilist Bazarov in Fathers and Sons, Rudin also represents a kind of Russian type - in this case, a lofty intellectual who cannot transform his dreams into action.  When young, he is handsome, articulate and inspiring, attracting the interest and sympathy, particularly, of women.  But he is incapable of realizing his idealistic goals and, ultimately, fails those who placed trust in him.

"You have so often talked of self-sacrifice," she broke in, "but do you know, if you had said to me to-day at once, "I love you, but I cannot marry you, I will not answer for the future, give me your hand and come with me" - do you know, I would have come with you; do you know, I would have risked everything?  But there's all the difference between word and deed, and you were afraid now, just as you were afraid the day before yesterday at dinner of Volintsev."

and

"But up to this time I believed in you, believed in every word you said....For the future, pray keep a watch on your words, do not fling them about at hazard."

This is all terribly sad, but Rudin is redeemed somewhat at the end by an unlikely defender, Lezhnyov, who says:

But as for character, that's just his misfortune, that there's no character in him....But that's not the point.  I want to speak of what is good, of what is rare in him.  He has enthusiasm; and believe me, who am a phlegmatic person enough, that is the most precious quality in our times.  We have all become insufferably reasonable, indifferent, and slothful; we are asleep and cold, and thanks to any one who will wake us up and warm us!  It is high time!  Do you remember, Sasha, once when I was talking to you about him, I blamed him for coldness?  I was right, and wrong too, then.  The coldness is in his blood - that is not his fault - and not in his head.  He is not an actor, as I called him, or a cheat, nor a scoundrel; he lives at other people's expense, not like a swindler, but like a child....Yes; no doubt he will die somewhere in poverty and want; but are we to throw stones at him for that?  He never does anything himself precisely, he has no vital force, no blood; but who has the right to say that he has not been of use?  that his words have not scattered good seeds in young hearts, to whom nature has not denied, as she has to him, powers for action and the faculty of carrying out their own ideas?  Indeed, I myself, to begin with, have gained all that from him..."

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it highly.

Writing on the Wall: Social Media - The First 2,000 Years

Recently finished this book by Tom Standage, author of An Edible History of Humanity. I would not have picked this book up if I'd realized who it was by, because Standage's unsavory politics in AEHH left a bad taste in my mouth, and I was unimpressed by his derivative style. However, this book was (mostly) free of political rhetoric, and I really enjoyed the discussion of "really old" media. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the graffiti at Pompeii and the Roman letter abbreviations like SVBEEV (si vales, bene est, ego valeo = If you are well, that is good; I'm well.) I would like to find a book dealing just with this period of social media.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Running is what he talks about.  The book is less a memoir than a journal of Murakami's daily running and participation in marathons over a period of several years.
By his own account, he's not an exceptional runner, but he's a very determined runner, for whom finishing marathons, ideally with a time improvement, is extremely important.  Although focused on running, the book does relate his decision and determination to run to his writing. He desires to write into old age and states that fatigue is the enemy of writing - thus, for him, running is a discipline to maintain the strength and endurance necessary to continue writing.
I found the book to be mildly interesting, but one feature really struck me.  When I had read The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, I felt that the main character, Toru, was so flat, rational and unemotional that he did not seem real to me - his character was so different from my own and people I know that I almost believed that no one could actually be like that.  In What I Talk About, Murakami seems to have a personality very similar to Toru's, very flat and rational, so that it seems startling and almost incomprehensible that his writing is so vivid!  In fact, I almost wondered if the voice of Murakami in this book is actually not his own, but a deliberate replication or recreation of the persona he invented for Toru.

Dawn - Octavia Butler

Octavia Butler's Dawn is a brilliant exploration of human nature under oppressive conditions, and of the psychology of surviving assimilation. I don't want to give away too much, but suffice to say that her highly original post-apocalyptic vision is powerful, visceral, and disturbing.

This was also the first book I'd read by Octavia Butler, a talented African American female sci-fi author (her Wikipedia page here).

Software - Rudy Rucker

In Software, aging robot engineer Cobb Anderson has fallen on hard times. After the AI robot "boppers" he programmed to evolve learned to violate Asimov's laws and rebelled against their human overlords, Cobb was tried for treason and forced to abandon his groundbreaking scientific studies. A now decrepit has-been with nothing to occupy his time but his old hippy girlfriend and a bottle of booze, Cobb has basically given up on life. That is, until his first and best robot, Ralph Numbers, shows up and promises to make him immortal.

This exciting and compelling novel explores the meaning of humanity and the potentially transformative power of technology through the colorful exploits of Cobb and his junkie side-kick, the flamboyant and foul-mouthed "Sta-Hi."

It deals with similar questions as do Bicentennial Man and Ghost in the Shell - what really makes someone a human? What is it that we experience as the self? In my bookclub, we call this latter question the "phone booth" problem (one description of this thought experiment here).

"You wanted to know who I am. I gave you one answer. A robot-remote. A servo-unit operated by a program stored in a bopper spaceship. But... I'm still Misty-girl, too. The soul is the software, you know. The soft ware is what counts, the habits and the memories. The brain and the body are just meat, seeds for the organ-tanks." 

I will definitely look forward to reading the second and third parts of this trilogy, and thanks to my IT friend Josh for the recommendation! (By the way, there are versions of these books on Rucker's website, but some of the more graphic language/brutal phrasing seems to have been edited out in those versions.)

Basket Case

Carl Hiaasen writes breezy, whimsical and hilarious mystery-romances set in Florida and celebrating, or berating, the oddballs, sleezeballs, corrupt politicians and airheads who seem to densely occupy that sandy ground.

The voice of Basket Case is Jack Tagger, an investigative reporter who, because he publicly insulted Race Maggad III, the greedy and ignorant new owner of the paper, has been condemned to writing obituaries.  Tagger is a gifted writer, whose suggestions for obituary headlines are riotous.  He also has an obsession with early death and seems to know the age at which every celebrity in history died - relating them inevitably to his own age.

The mystery relates to the "accidental drowning" of Jimmy Stoma the wild lead singer for Jimmy and the Slut Puppies - but the meat of the book is in the characters and dialog rather than the mystery.

One likable and amusing minor character is Ike, a 90+ year old man whom Tagger meets fishing on the pier.  Late in the book, when Tagger has quit the newspaper (no spoilers here!), he runs into Ike and introduces him to a lady friend (no spoiler!) - The lady friend asks Ike to tell Jack why he should go back to the paper:

He wipes the blade of his fillet knife on a leg of his trousers. "Number one, you're not cut out for a regular job."

 No argument there.

"Number two, you still get a bang out of the news." His crooked fingers are working a large sharp hook into a bloodless chunk of mullet. "And number three, you can make things happen, writing for a paper," he says. "Make a difference in the world. That's a damn fact."

This is one of the few serious parts of the book, but my dad was a newspaperman and it rang true. Delightful read!

Mandela: My prisoner, my friend

This very personal and unpretentious memoir by Christo Brand helps fill in many dimensions of Mandela's life during imprisonment and also the varying faces of apartheid.  Brand grew up in South Africa in unusual circumstances - though of Afrikaans descent, his parents were very open-minded and, within the limits of South African society and rules, were open to relations with all people.  Accordingly, when he became a warder in the South African Prison system at age 18 (to avoid military service), he was a combination of naive obedience to the system coupled with an open-minded outlook toward people of all races.

When assigned to the maximum security prison on Robben Island, he was surprised to find that he was to oversee not the hardened criminals he expected, but "even worse", murderous terrorists, as the government had depicted them - especially including Nelson Mandela, who was 60 and had already served many years.  Brand soon found that these were serious, decent and kind people, and over time, he began helping them in small ways that seemed to him to be only human, yet could easily have resulted in his dismissal.

One feature of imprisonment for the "Rivonians" (so-called because of the trial that resulted in their life sentences, held at Rivonia) that I had not known about and that weighed on them very heavily was that they were forbidden from seeing or even hearing the voices of children at any time, especially their own children.  Thus, when Brand once secretly made a startling exception to the rules and allowed Mandela to briefly hold his granddaughter, it was particularly meaningful and helped cement their relationship.  Not surprisingly, the book reveals Mandela to be amazingly patient, disciplined and kind to all - though also quite impressively resolute when he felt it necessary.  An easy, heart-warming read - very highly recommended.

Bleak House - Charles Dickens

I find Dickens' novels to be delicious and satisfying like a nice Stilton, and Bleak House is no exception. The tale is told from the perspective of Esther, a schoolmarmish and self-effacing young woman who lives to nurture others. Characteristically, the novel weaves Esther's own story into a complex tapestry of interconnected narratives and broader themes.

Esther is raised by a severe old woman and haunted by a vague suggestion that she was born into shame (a mystery which is gradually explored over the course of the novel). After the old woman dies, Esther is rescued by a wealthy patron, John Jarndyce, who pays for her education and finishing and then sets her up as caretaker of his estate, Bleak House. In addition to managing the keys and accounts, Esther dedicates herself to the care of John's beautiful niece, Ada, and acts as a chaperone and confidant to Ada and her carefree beau, cousin Richard.

The novel's principal theme is revealed through the story of Ada and Richard - the wards of Jarndyce - as the destructive power of the sprawling and ineffective Chancery justice  system, which was ultimately reformed in part due to Dickens' powerful critique.

A poetic and very human look at the beauty and tragedy of the domestic sphere across multiple societal classes. Dickens captures the crude wisdom of impoverished women despite the ignorance, violence, and squalor of their existence, and through Esther's prim but compassionate eye, satirizes the conceits of those blustering do-gooders who would help the poor by giving them books they cannot read. He is also as adept at capturing the foibles and tragedies of the nobility as he is at portraying the life of the very poor. All in all, a very vibrant picture of the human condition.

The Coast of Utopia I, II, and III

These three plays by Tom Stoppard bring to life some of the Russian revolutionaries during the period from 1833 to 1866.  Michael Bakunin and Alexander Herzen are particularly featured - Bakunin as a somewhat juvenile, but infectiously enthusiastic inciter of armed revolution and Herzen as a thoughtful, clear-headed intellectual who believes in incremental change.  Herzen to Bakunin:

Stop!- 'Destruction is a creative passion' You're such a . . . child! We have to go to the people, bring them with us, step by step.

Later, Bakunin offers a toast "The liberty of each, for the equality of all!" and Herzen objects "What does that mean?  It doesn't mean anything" and Bakunin replies "It means I am not free unless you, too, are free - and Herzen says "That's nonsense - you were free when I was locked up."  Herzen finally concludes

"I am devoted to you, Bakunin. I delight in the fanfare, no, the funfair of your pronouncements.  I would name my child for you, but equally I would name you for my child, because everything which is simple you make difficult and everything difficult simple.  You've made yourself a European reputation by a kind of revolutionary word-music from which it is impossible to extract an ounce of meaning, let alone a political idea, let alone a course of action". 

Stoppard's dialog is, naturally,  fast and clever, but there are moments of heart-rending tragedy, and the personalities are indelible.

The Werewolf of Paris - Guy Endore

I am delighted to have discovered Endore's 1933 The Werewolf of Paris via Mark, who found an old copy in a thrift store and thought it sounded like something I would enjoy. Did I ever! It is written in an extremely charming and engaging style. and vividly describes life in Paris in the 1870s.

The novel begins with a frame story in which a young, penniless scholar discovers a manuscript documenting the trial of the young army officer, Bertrand Caillet, who has been charged with violently attacking a fellow officer. The manuscript is the work of Bertrand's uncle, Aymar, who tries desperately to convince the Court that Bertrand, a werewolf, ought to be burned at the stake for the greater good. This assertion, of course, is anathema in the age of reason.

Aymar is a compelling character: a former revolutionary skeptic whose experiences with the boy have convinced him that there is more to the world than modern science would lead us to believe. In making his case for the existence of the supernatural, Aymar argues: "Let us beware of judging hastily. The Catholic Church is said to have burned 300,000 witches, until the world exclaimed in horror: 'What gross superstition! There are no witches.' And truly there were none. At any rate there were no more."

I am amazed that this work has never been made into a movie, it would be a wonderful one.

Rabbit, Run - John Updike

Rabbit, Run is a dark and tightly controlled story about a washed-up basketball star, Rabbit, and his destructive yet sympathetic urge to find something better than mediocrity in his middle age. A powerfully human tale in compelling prose about disappointment and yearning, and the painful disparity between youth's bright dreams and pathetic, sordid reality. The kind of story that makes ones own domestic life seem heavenly.

The Design of Everyday Things - Donald Norman

A recent bookclub selection was Donald Norman's The Design of Everyday Things, a book touting Norman's theory of human-centered design (the concept that machines should be attuned to human behavior, not the other way around), and his rules for creating technology which usefully interfaces with human behavior. One interesting lesson from Norman is his conviction that the human tendency for error should be explicitly factored into design choices, for everything from washing machines to airplane control towers. I would recommend this book to everyone, because his theory is very clear and convincing, and can be applied to many aspects of life.

Red Planet - Robert Heinlein

Really enjoyed Heinlein's short novel about two boys, Jim and Frank, and their exploits at a boarding school on Mars. The plot unfolds amidst a political conflict between the freedom-loving people of Mars and their greedy and callous Earth overlords, and centers around Jim's relationship with the Martian "bouncer" Willis, a small, furry, tentacled creature with remarkable powers of imitation.

Written in 1949, the novel is reminiscent of a Hardy Boys style adventure, but the ideas are refreshingly modern (with the exception of the frequent sexism, which tends to mar the quaint tone). Still, a charming book with an interesting conception of alien life.

Also, Willis was so cute!

Some artist's conception of Willis

The Best Science and Nature Writing 2013

December Bookclub was The Best Science and Nature Writing 2013, a collection of articles hand-picked by Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of Emperor of all Maladies (reviewed by Dad here and Lauren here). 

The complete list of Mukherjee's selections is here.

Here are my thoughts on the articles I read:

MICHELLE NIJHUIS. Which Species Will Live? [log-in required]
From Scientific American
This was a bleak but interesting analysis of the techniques conservationists use to triage efforts to save different species from extinction.

BRETT FORREST. Shattered Genius
From Playboy
I was surprised this made it on the list, actually, since the topic was ostensibly the current activities of reclusive math genius Grigori Perelman, yet the interviewer only managed to exchange a few sentences with the man. More than others have achieved, but not much to go on. The discussion of the Poincaré conjecture's history was interesting, however. (Now you can say you "read Playboy for the articles"!)

DAVID OWEN. The Artificial Leaf
From The New Yorker
One man's quest to create artificial photosynthesis as a source of clean energy for the developing world. Moderately interesting.

GARETH COOK. Autism Inc.
From The New York Times
I loved this article. After Thorkil Sonne's child Lars was born with autism, Thorkil was saddened to learn that most research suggested Lars would lead a deficient life. In fact, however, Lars demonstrated impressive and unexpected talents (e.g., following a family trip at 7 years old, Lars was able to draw a perfect reproduction, from memory, of the entire highway network from Scotland to Germany). Thorkil was inspired by his son's talents to create a consulting agency specializing in matching autistic individuals with jobs for which they are uniquely suited. The agency has been a terrific success. An inspiring and very interesting story!

NATHANIEL RICH. Forever and Ever
From The New York Times Magazine
This was perhaps my favorite of the articles in this collection: the story of Shin Kubota, a marine biologist specializing in an immortal (seriously) species of jellyfish known as Turritopsis dohrnii. Dr. Kubota is unique worldwide in his ability to successfully breed and maintain the finicky Turritopsis in captivity, and has devoted his life to unlocking its secrets. He is also a minor celebrity in Japan (akin to Bill Nye in America), due to his second passion: writing and singing jellyfish-themed karaoke songs in the guise of his alter ego, Mr. Immortal Jellyfish Man (photo below). One of Kubota's charming songs is “I Am Shin Kubota":

My name is Shin Kubota
Associate professor of Kyoto University
At Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture
I live next to an aquarium
Enjoying marine-biology research
Every day, I walk on the beach
Scooping up with a plankton net
Searching for wondrous creatures
Searching for unknown jellyfish.
Dedicate my life to small creatures
Patrolling the beaches every day
Hot spring sandals are always on
Necessary item to get in the sea
Scarlet medusa rejuvenates
Scarlet medusa is immortal

STEPHEN MARCHE. Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?
From The Atlantic 
An interesting (if depressing) analysis of loneliness in the modern world, in which we are always"connected" yet feel increasingly isolated.

KEVIN DUTTON. The Wisdom of Psychopaths
From Scientific American
I did not read this entire article (it was long and sort of pop-sciencey) but it was interesting enough. The thesis is that psychopaths can teach us valuable lessons (e.g., about self-confidence and navigating conflict) if we embrace their attitudes in moderation.

Devil in the White City - Erik Larson

My bookclub's most recent book is Larson's Devil in the White City, a thrilling historical drama about the construction of the 1892 World's Fair and the serial killer who preyed upon its visitors, H.H. Holmes.



Holmes is only one among several intriguing players in the tale, including ambitious lead architect Burnham and cantankerous but brilliant landscape architect Olmsted.

The work is very engaging and colorful and powerfully recreates the atmosphere of bustling, squalid Chicago at the turn of the century, and the otherworldly transformation it underwent to become the White City during the Fair. It was also fun to realize how many inventions we consider commonplace had their origins in this fair. I would recommend this book to everyone.

The White City

Tangentially related, Nikolai Tesla won the contract to provide electricity at the World's Fair, so here is a hilarious video.