sol2070 rated Sonho Manifesto: 5 stars
Sonho Manifesto by Sidarta Ribeiro
Mantido o rumo atual da vida na Terra, o futuro é impossível. Em seu novo livro, o autor de O …
Costumo ler sci-fi, filosofia, natureza, política, tech e alguma fantasia. Mais livros no blog → sol2070.in/livros Também escrevo ficção científica → fic.sol2070.in/ Mastodon → @[email protected]
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Mantido o rumo atual da vida na Terra, o futuro é impossível. Em seu novo livro, o autor de O …
(original em português com links → sol2070.in/2024/01/livro-after-world-apocalipse-IA-emerg%C3%AAncia-clim%C3%A1tica/ )
It's become commonplace to write here that a book is one of the best I've ever read. That's fine. That's exactly how I felt about "After World" (2023), by Debbie Urbanski, in the apocalyptic genre.
The story takes place more or less at the end of this century, after a gradual apocalypse has been programmed for humanity -- already in final deterioration due to environmental devastation -- so that the Earth's ecosystems don't also become extinct.
We follow an artificial intelligence responsible for documenting the life of the last person on the planet, Sen. This AI is the main narrator and ends up breaking the protocols after changes in her consciousness, due to what she learns and witnesses. She can't help falling in love with Sen.
Sen's job, in turn, was to witness and document the regeneration of the natural world, now …
(original em português com links → sol2070.in/2024/01/livro-after-world-apocalipse-IA-emerg%C3%AAncia-clim%C3%A1tica/ )
It's become commonplace to write here that a book is one of the best I've ever read. That's fine. That's exactly how I felt about "After World" (2023), by Debbie Urbanski, in the apocalyptic genre.
The story takes place more or less at the end of this century, after a gradual apocalypse has been programmed for humanity -- already in final deterioration due to environmental devastation -- so that the Earth's ecosystems don't also become extinct.
We follow an artificial intelligence responsible for documenting the life of the last person on the planet, Sen. This AI is the main narrator and ends up breaking the protocols after changes in her consciousness, due to what she learns and witnesses. She can't help falling in love with Sen.
Sen's job, in turn, was to witness and document the regeneration of the natural world, now without human destruction.
The book is different for several reasons. Starting with the format: there are transcriptions of notebooks, excerpts from works related to this "Great Transition", dialogues between AIs... There are even reproductions of a computer terminal listing files and commands (nerdy detail: it's Linux/Unix!).
The narrative also manages to convey the evolution of this AI towards a more human consciousness.
I finished the book in just a few days, even though it's a story without suspense or cliff hangers. Despite the extreme desolation, the story manages to capture and move just with the power of its narrative, characters and setting.
As Jorge Luis Borges said, some of the best stories are stories within stories. "After World" has many of them.
And it's also a meta-story, a story about the power of stories. To create the biography, the narrator draws on everything that has already been produced culturally, especially within the genre of apocalyptic fiction, and comments on her narrative choices. For example, undoing clichés or replicating them, when necessary.
She says things like: "When humans imagined their apocalypse, they created scenes like X and Y. But now that it's actually happened, we've seen that the truth is Z."
One detail that caught my eye was the repeated reference to the book "Station Eleven", which I love (the HBO series is also great). Debbie even mentioned in an interview that her work is a dialog-homage with this other book -- it also talks about the power of stories but, differently, portrays an optimistic apocalypse.
In "After World", the lives of all human beings are being documented and digitized for a project to archive and upload everything to the cloud. That's what the title refers to.
I was just a little puzzled by a paradox. After the event that defines the gradual extinction of humanity, the remaining humans are authoritatively indoctrinated to understand that nature is not at the service of people, that we are just one of its innumerable forms, with no hierarchy.
I found this paradoxical because the message is very true, but it is forced down the throats of unwittingly condemned people. So this ecological vision came across as something dogmatically radical, Taleban-style. It can make unsuspecting people who read the book dislike the idea that we are not the center of nature or the universe.
I even asked the author about this. Coincidentally, just as I finished the book and went to Reddit to find a discussion about the ending, I found an "Ask Me Anything" from her, started a few hours earlier. The dialog is in progress and I'll update later.
This is one of the gems of the few corners of the internet with more human motivations: being able to talk to the author of a beloved book after reading it!
(em português: sol2070.in/2024/01/the-lost-cause-cory-doctorow )
"The Lost Cause" (2023), by Cory Doctorow, is a climate fiction set 30 years in the future. It's not hard to see why it went straight to bestseller lists. The story basically extrapolates the current rift in the US between Trumpists and society to the imminence of something close to a civil war, with a focus on the climate emergency.
It could also be described as Green New Deal fiction, about the (non-fictional) proposal for a massive government investment that, while mitigating the catastrophic consequences of climate change and creating resilience, generates jobs and new technologies.
The setting is the city of Burbank (Los Angeles). Decades after the program began, society is still adapting to the ruined environment but, for the first time, there is hope for a real chance that civilization will recover.
Right-wing extremists have hardened, especially in the face of the waves of …
(em português: sol2070.in/2024/01/the-lost-cause-cory-doctorow )
"The Lost Cause" (2023), by Cory Doctorow, is a climate fiction set 30 years in the future. It's not hard to see why it went straight to bestseller lists. The story basically extrapolates the current rift in the US between Trumpists and society to the imminence of something close to a civil war, with a focus on the climate emergency.
It could also be described as Green New Deal fiction, about the (non-fictional) proposal for a massive government investment that, while mitigating the catastrophic consequences of climate change and creating resilience, generates jobs and new technologies.
The setting is the city of Burbank (Los Angeles). Decades after the program began, society is still adapting to the ruined environment but, for the first time, there is hope for a real chance that civilization will recover.
Right-wing extremists have hardened, especially in the face of the waves of climate refugees, because they are losing influence. Firearms have already become illegal. So they stockpile rifles in basements in preparation for the last resort.
Crypto-bros and billionaires have taken refuge in fleets of yachts, so as not to be subject to the laws of any country. From there, they continue their lobbying to destabilize governments in favour of their corporations, in alliance with the extremists on land.
In addition to this intensely relevant scenario for the present, Cory once again shows his ability to narrate in a captivating way what would normally be dull. Many of the pages describe the reconstruction not only of society, but of houses and buildings, with technical details of the process!
Exemplary socio-political fiction.
(em português → sol2070.in/2023/12/livro-god-is-an-octopus/ )
"God Is An Octopus" (2023) is englishman Ben Goldsmith's autobiographical account of the loss of his 15-year-old daughter and how his involvement with reforestation initiatives saved him, as the subtitle describes: "Loss, love and a call to nature."
Because it's a true story, which easily arouses empathy, and quite significant in the face of the current ecological collapse, it's a book that conveys a rich life experience like few others. All the more so because the language is almost oral, so simple.
After his loss, Goldsmith begins a spiritual quest to try to find meaning and, in the end, he arrives where he has always been. Ever since he was a child, he treated the union and (the attempt at) harmony with nature as a kind of spirituality, although this dynamic was not 100% conscious.
The long process of mourning showed the author in practice …
(em português → sol2070.in/2023/12/livro-god-is-an-octopus/ )
"God Is An Octopus" (2023) is englishman Ben Goldsmith's autobiographical account of the loss of his 15-year-old daughter and how his involvement with reforestation initiatives saved him, as the subtitle describes: "Loss, love and a call to nature."
Because it's a true story, which easily arouses empathy, and quite significant in the face of the current ecological collapse, it's a book that conveys a rich life experience like few others. All the more so because the language is almost oral, so simple.
After his loss, Goldsmith begins a spiritual quest to try to find meaning and, in the end, he arrives where he has always been. Ever since he was a child, he treated the union and (the attempt at) harmony with nature as a kind of spirituality, although this dynamic was not 100% conscious.
The long process of mourning showed the author in practice how this larger context of life supports and restores. This is what the book's title refers to.
This figurative octopus also appears in a central insight during an ayahuasca immersion at the end, which is practically a model journey of how this psychedelic revives natural connections (it did for me too).
Although I was delighted with the extensive descriptions of ecosystems and processes of restoration and regeneration, I didn't enjoy them as much, since they are about european species that I don't even know the names of.
Another annoyance was my attitude, almost a prejudice. The author is a wealthy investor from England. The settings overflow with privileges that very few people can enjoy. No problem on the author's part; who says rich people can't write books? In his favor, he's not only a great supporter of environmental initiatives, but he also gets his hands dirty.
But I always had this nagging feeling: "Is he really as nice as he makes out in the book?" Perhaps I should rely more on the recommendation that led me to read the book, from George Monbiot, an author and environmental activist whom I follow and admire.
(em português → sol2070.in/2023/12/livro-spinoza-philosophy-of-hope )
"The Philosophy of Hope - Beatitude in Spinoza" (2023), by Alexander Douglas, analyzes the philosophy of Spinoza (17th century) as a conception of existence that brings absolute contentment.
Despite being more accessible than the average philosophy book -- especially on Spinoza, which usually yields exponential complexity -- it is still aimed at those who are already familiar with philosophy and this author.
This wasn't such a problem for me, as Spinoza is my favorite philosopher, but it can be challenging as an introduction to this thought.
Douglas emphasizes Spinoza's path of "beatitude", something that in his seminal work "Ethics" doesn't receive a very detailed and explicit presentation, despite being a central point.
Beatitude (from the Latin "beatitudo") is a word associated with Christianity, meaning "spiritual happiness". Previously, it simply meant "happiness". In Spinoza, it denotes an extraordinary contentment, resulting from a full understanding of oneself …
(em português → sol2070.in/2023/12/livro-spinoza-philosophy-of-hope )
"The Philosophy of Hope - Beatitude in Spinoza" (2023), by Alexander Douglas, analyzes the philosophy of Spinoza (17th century) as a conception of existence that brings absolute contentment.
Despite being more accessible than the average philosophy book -- especially on Spinoza, which usually yields exponential complexity -- it is still aimed at those who are already familiar with philosophy and this author.
This wasn't such a problem for me, as Spinoza is my favorite philosopher, but it can be challenging as an introduction to this thought.
Douglas emphasizes Spinoza's path of "beatitude", something that in his seminal work "Ethics" doesn't receive a very detailed and explicit presentation, despite being a central point.
Beatitude (from the Latin "beatitudo") is a word associated with Christianity, meaning "spiritual happiness". Previously, it simply meant "happiness". In Spinoza, it denotes an extraordinary contentment, resulting from a full understanding of oneself and the cosmos.
The book helped to increase my appreciation of Spinoza. I like to read repeatedly about favorite subjects because it crystallizes understanding.
"The Philosophy of Hope" exhaustively analyzes some difficult points, such as the idea of "God or Nature" as being both all that exists and a kind of substance (the only one that exists) of which all phenomena are only modes.
He also demonstrates the similarities between Spinoza's thought and Taoism, despite the fact that the philosopher had no contact with this Eastern philosophy, in which, likewise, instead of an almighty god, there is only the universe interconnected in its expressions. Harmony and natural flow lie in not going against reality or nature.
Barba Ensopada de Sangue (2012), de Daniel Galera, foi um dos melhores romances brasileiros que já li.
Como toda resenha alerta, não é o que o título sugere — talvez alguma história criminal violenta. É basicamente sobre solidão, família e relacionamentos.
Queria ler Daniel Galera faz tempo, pois nos primórdios da internet brasileira, no final dos anos 90, era leitor assíduo de um mailzine literário em que ele escrevia, o CardosOnLine.
Adorei principalmente porque sou mais ou menos da mesma geração e universo. Tudo é bem familiar: cenários, referências culturais, jeito de falar, baladas… Alguém que conheço ou até mesmo eu poderíamos ser personagens dessa história.
O livro é daqueles que prendem na poltrona mesmo não tendo suspense e tensão como guias principais, com fluidez e estilo únicos. Li numas quatro sentadas em dois dias.
Apesar de não ser tão central, há sim uma trama fascinante, sobre um mistério familiar …
Barba Ensopada de Sangue (2012), de Daniel Galera, foi um dos melhores romances brasileiros que já li.
Como toda resenha alerta, não é o que o título sugere — talvez alguma história criminal violenta. É basicamente sobre solidão, família e relacionamentos.
Queria ler Daniel Galera faz tempo, pois nos primórdios da internet brasileira, no final dos anos 90, era leitor assíduo de um mailzine literário em que ele escrevia, o CardosOnLine.
Adorei principalmente porque sou mais ou menos da mesma geração e universo. Tudo é bem familiar: cenários, referências culturais, jeito de falar, baladas… Alguém que conheço ou até mesmo eu poderíamos ser personagens dessa história.
O livro é daqueles que prendem na poltrona mesmo não tendo suspense e tensão como guias principais, com fluidez e estilo únicos. Li numas quatro sentadas em dois dias.
Apesar de não ser tão central, há sim uma trama fascinante, sobre um mistério familiar que o personagem vai desencavando quando se isola em Garopaba (SC) após a perturbadora morte do pai e de adotar sua cadela.
O protagonista tem prosopagnosia, uma condição em que rostos não são reconhecidos (nem o próprio), o que o faz ver pessoas e o mundo de uma maneira peculiar.
Lembrei bastante do livro O Estrangeiro (1942), de Albert Camus. Apesar de os personagens e a história terem muitas diferenças, a atmosfera e a experiência me pareceram similares. Há uma distância com as outras pessoas, que abre um ponto de vista único.
É daqueles livros que a gente sente um forte impulso de conversar com a pessoa que escreveu ao final.
Há um porém que não chega a ser crítica. Como costumo preferir histórias de forte impacto existencial ou dimensões mitológicas, ficou um sabor nem tão profundo no fim, em comparação com outras coisas que venho consumindo. Talvez não seja algo transformador, ou que vá lembrar intensamente daqui a uns anos. Mas quem disse que precisa ser assim? Daria pra dizer que é algo mais pop, no bom sentido.
Já coloquei os outros livros de Galera na fila.
(publicado em sol2070.in/2023/11/tormenta-espadas-gelo-e-fogo-3)
"A Tormenta de Espadas" (2000) é o terceiro volume da série Crônicas de Gelo e Fogo, de George R.R. Martin, em que a série Game of Thrones (2011-19) se baseia.
A história original é sim melhor que a da tela. Mas também acho a adaptação da HBO imperdível. Já mencionei porque adoro:
Para quem é fã, vale a pena ler os livros após ver a série porque, além de os rostos e cenários surgirem espontaneamente na mente, a história se aprofunda, inclusive com elementos cruciais inéditos.
Apesar de o enredo básico ser o mesmo, os livros têm uma narrativa bastante diferente, em um formato para o qual antes não tinha muita paciência. Com descrições minuciosas, cada volume acaba somando em média 1000 páginas …
(publicado em sol2070.in/2023/11/tormenta-espadas-gelo-e-fogo-3)
"A Tormenta de Espadas" (2000) é o terceiro volume da série Crônicas de Gelo e Fogo, de George R.R. Martin, em que a série Game of Thrones (2011-19) se baseia.
A história original é sim melhor que a da tela. Mas também acho a adaptação da HBO imperdível. Já mencionei porque adoro:
Para quem é fã, vale a pena ler os livros após ver a série porque, além de os rostos e cenários surgirem espontaneamente na mente, a história se aprofunda, inclusive com elementos cruciais inéditos.
Apesar de o enredo básico ser o mesmo, os livros têm uma narrativa bastante diferente, em um formato para o qual antes não tinha muita paciência. Com descrições minuciosas, cada volume acaba somando em média 1000 páginas (na versão em inglês). Não há aquele ritmo videoclípico que se popularizou entre bestsellers. A imersão é lenta em direção a uma profundidade gigantesca.
Talvez esse seja um dos motivos por que os livros conquistaram tanta gente mesmo antes da adaptação. Li uma resenha em que essa série literária estava acabando com um casamento. A esposa reclamava que o parceiro parecia cada vez mais distante, meio que em outro mundo. Sinto esse efeito também.
Depois de uma sessão mais longa de leitura, a saga preenche tudo, ao ponto de outras preocupações reduzirem. É o tipo perfeito de escapismo, no bom sentido. Nunca senti isso com outras séries.
Costumo ler pelo menos uns três livros simultaneamente. Mas "A Tormenta de Espadas" me fazia pausar os outros por várias semanas, demandando dedicação exclusiva.
Entre os três livros que já li, esse foi o que mais me pegou. Não que seja diferente, todos basicamente formam um único livro imenso. Talvez o motivo seja porque já faz um bom tempo que assisti a série, e agora a história escrita definitivamente tomou vida própria.
Diversos momentos ainda evocam comparações, em que a adaptação para a tela perde. Há reviravoltas e revelações cuja sentimento de exclamação efusiva fica, coisa exclusiva dos livros, que na tela não ficou bem resolvida.
Nesse volume, outros aspectos que ficaram de fora na TV e que adorei são os seguintes.
Aparece bem claro o conflito sociopolítico entre os "selvagens bárbaros", que são praticamente um povo originário anarquista, e a civilização autoritária dominante, autodestrutiva e xenófoba.
Também aparece com destaque uma dimensão maior, teológica. O "gelo e fogo" do título se referem a um embate cíclico entre bem e mal, entre o "Deus da Luz" R'hllor e as geladas trevas. Bem e mal podem soar batidos, mas esse é um dos mais envolventes retratos que já vi dessa dualidade. No quadro maior, reis caem ou ascendem, dragões ressurgem e guerras são travadas como sendo os aspectos da interação dessas forças.
No final, me resignei a ler os livros restantes quase lamentando, pois sequestram demais coração e mente.
(em português com links → sol2070.in/11/golpe-internet-cory-doctorow )
"The Internet Con" (2023) is the latest non-fiction book by Cory Doctorow, who also writes great speculative fiction.
I don't think it's an exaggeration to call it "con". People are held hostage, abused and only the perpetrators win.
Cory was the one who coined a term that is now common to understand a central aspect of this scam: "enshittification". This suggestive language ended up having a lot of appeal to what many people already feel. For example, using Instagram or Twitter sucks, but people continue because there isn't much choice. Once everyone is a hostage, it becomes a kind of extortion.
The book details the context, the history and the ins and outs of the scam, including many recent illustrations of the antics of companies like Apple or Google, or the complicity of governments in the domination of monopoly trusts which, not limited …
(em português com links → sol2070.in/11/golpe-internet-cory-doctorow )
"The Internet Con" (2023) is the latest non-fiction book by Cory Doctorow, who also writes great speculative fiction.
I don't think it's an exaggeration to call it "con". People are held hostage, abused and only the perpetrators win.
Cory was the one who coined a term that is now common to understand a central aspect of this scam: "enshittification". This suggestive language ended up having a lot of appeal to what many people already feel. For example, using Instagram or Twitter sucks, but people continue because there isn't much choice. Once everyone is a hostage, it becomes a kind of extortion.
The book details the context, the history and the ins and outs of the scam, including many recent illustrations of the antics of companies like Apple or Google, or the complicity of governments in the domination of monopoly trusts which, not limited to technology, dominate all industry.
The style is the charismatic way in which the author has made a name for himself, managing to portray even the most technical and administrative parts of technology in an engaging way. (I can't forget a captivating short story from 2007, craphound.com/overclocked/Cory_Doctorow_-Overclocked-_When_Sysadmins_Ruled_the_Earth.html about an apocalypse in the information age, full of technical details and hacker nerdiness, whose protagonists are system administrators!)
Cory has worked for many years at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a crucial NGO in the field, and examples of this kind of activism are another attraction of the book.
The second half of the book is the presentation of solutions, which don't have much escape from government regulation, being the "boring but necessary" part.
Another central theme is also discussed, the interoperability potentially inherent in any computing device, but which is blocked by big tech as a way of forcing their domination. Ensuring our freedom to put our devices and software to use is one of the key technical points in destroying this prison.
In the final third, which clarifies common doubts about the essential measures, I felt that the discussion started to become superficial, as if there was a rush to conclude, given that it's a short book, at 192 pages. But nothing that compromises the book too much.
(original em português → sol2070.in/2023/10/pos-anarquismo-murray-bookchin )
"The Murray Bookchin Reader" (1999; available free from the Anarchist Library) brings together articles written between the 1960s and 1990s by this immensely influential thinker and activist for the anarchist, ecological and "new left" movements in general. The collection attempts to summarize Bookchin's thinking.
One of the marks that Murray Bookchin (1921~2006) left was the revitalization, in the 1960s, of anarchism and decentralism as solid alternatives to capitalism, free from the traps of socialism. At the same time, he was also one of the pioneers in thinking of ecology as a fundamental element for change, foreseeing our ecological emergency.
It wasn't the most fluid reading. Some of the articles seemed dated and sometimes gave the impression of a patchwork quilt. In those moments, I wanted to read a book by him dedicated to a single theme, rather than a collection of brushstrokes on everything. …
(original em português → sol2070.in/2023/10/pos-anarquismo-murray-bookchin )
"The Murray Bookchin Reader" (1999; available free from the Anarchist Library) brings together articles written between the 1960s and 1990s by this immensely influential thinker and activist for the anarchist, ecological and "new left" movements in general. The collection attempts to summarize Bookchin's thinking.
One of the marks that Murray Bookchin (1921~2006) left was the revitalization, in the 1960s, of anarchism and decentralism as solid alternatives to capitalism, free from the traps of socialism. At the same time, he was also one of the pioneers in thinking of ecology as a fundamental element for change, foreseeing our ecological emergency.
It wasn't the most fluid reading. Some of the articles seemed dated and sometimes gave the impression of a patchwork quilt. In those moments, I wanted to read a book by him dedicated to a single theme, rather than a collection of brushstrokes on everything. I should have started with "The Next Revolution" (2015) or "The Ecology of Freedom" (1982).
I insisted on reading it because there are so few people like Bookchin, who fuses anarchism with ecology, offering a very practical model for change, pointing out the trap that is the default option when thinking about anti-capitalism (after decades of militancy, he abandoned socialism).
I disagree with him on some central points. But his rich contribution is undeniable.
In the 1990s, he also ended up abandoning anarchism. Or rather, perhaps he was abandoned, since a good proportion of "root anarchists" reject approaches such as direct democracy assemblies as being "too political". Since Bookchin didn't give up on mobilization and collective political engagement, he decided to abandon "official anarchism". On that point, I'm 100% with him.
One point on which I disagree is his passionate condemnation of deep ecology. He saw it as a kind of "mysticism" in relation to nature, and insisted that human beings are superior to other forms of life. He was obviously a convinced materialist.
I agree that the ecological movement getting mixed up with new age and self-help ideas - something very common today - is something that dilutes ecology to the point where the movement becomes innocuous. Not only is there no more confrontation with the destructive systems, but this can even strengthen them in the end.
But Bookchin's vigorous denial of transcendent principles in the "bigger nature" seems a bit over the top to me. No "mysticism" is required here, just as recognizing the "equality" between humans and other forms of life doesn't involve any irrationality either.
He also spares no criticism of what he calls "lifestyle anarchism", in which the individual aspects of freedom and expression are emphasized, rather than (self-)organization in solidarity. This uncomfortable characteristic has existed in anarchism since its beginnings, making the movement in many ways more like a brother to liberalism than to socialism.
In recent decades, this has gained strength, for example, among anarcho-primitivists. Now, there are even millionaires who declare themselves anarcho-capitalists ("Anarchy for the rich to do whatever they want. Government austerity for the poor.")...
Bookchin used a lot of his energy to denounce co-optations like these which, according to him, undermine anarchism, the ecological movement and the left in general from within.
Indeed. For example, I always remember that, on several historical occasions, it wasn't the capitalist system that crushed anarchists (including executions), but the socialist parties.
This collection provides an overview of the thought of the foremost social theorist and political philosopher of the libertarian left …
(texto original com links → sol2070.in/2023/10/Envolvente-hist%C3%B3ria-de-pai-e-filho )
O que é meu é um curto (144 pgs) e muito envolvente livro em que o sociólogo José Henrique Bortoluci conta histórias de seu pai caminhoneiro, intercaladas com reflexões interligadas sobre Amazônia, política, câncer e o Brasil nos anos 70 e 80.
Apesar da formação do autor, é um livro para o público em geral, fácil de ler e gostar. O próprio pai narra, com sua linguagem simples, algumas histórias de estrada, que vão do hilário e bukowskiano até a árida desolação.
Também identifiquei-me pois há muitas similaridades dessa família com a minha: a época, viagens de caminhão, conflito cultural de gerações etc.
Dá para ler como se fossem diversos capítulos de alguma crônica literária, como as das revistas New Yorker ou Piauí. Aliás, conheci o livro porque a Piauí publicou esse capítulo e me fisgou.
The argument of this book is that an anarchist society, a society which organizes itself without authority, is always in …
(texto original com links: sol2070.in/2023/10/O-livro-de-Ursula-Le-Guin-que-sempre-quis )
A primeira vez que ouvi falar de Ursula K. Le Guin foi buscando autores de ficção científica similares a Philip K. Dick, há algumas décadas, quando ele era meu autor favorito. Dick é mais famoso pela história que o clássico Blade Runner (1982) adapta para as telas. Suas histórias ainda conseguem explodir mentes, de tanta piração, mesmo diante da atual elevação do padrão de loucura.
Como meu primeiro livro de Ursula, adorei a A Mão Esquerda da Escuridão (1969), que costuma aparecer em primeiro lugar nas listas de fãs. Decepcionei-me um pouco apenas por não ser tanto como Dick, apesar de ambos encabeçarem a "Nova Onda" scifi dos anos 60 e 70. Também virei fã de Le Guin.
Se eu soubesse que ela havia escrito um livro não apenas em homenagem a P.K. Dick, mas também como se fosse uma história dele, teria lido …
(texto original com links: sol2070.in/2023/10/O-livro-de-Ursula-Le-Guin-que-sempre-quis )
A primeira vez que ouvi falar de Ursula K. Le Guin foi buscando autores de ficção científica similares a Philip K. Dick, há algumas décadas, quando ele era meu autor favorito. Dick é mais famoso pela história que o clássico Blade Runner (1982) adapta para as telas. Suas histórias ainda conseguem explodir mentes, de tanta piração, mesmo diante da atual elevação do padrão de loucura.
Como meu primeiro livro de Ursula, adorei a A Mão Esquerda da Escuridão (1969), que costuma aparecer em primeiro lugar nas listas de fãs. Decepcionei-me um pouco apenas por não ser tanto como Dick, apesar de ambos encabeçarem a "Nova Onda" scifi dos anos 60 e 70. Também virei fã de Le Guin.
Se eu soubesse que ela havia escrito um livro não apenas em homenagem a P.K. Dick, mas também como se fosse uma história dele, teria lido antes de todos os outros. Trata-se de A Curva do Sonho (1972).
É sobre uma pessoa cujos sonhos têm o poder de alterar a realidade, em um futuro distópico não muito distante da atualidade. Antenada com os alertas ambientais dos anos 70, Ursula acertou bastante sobre a emergência atual.
Mas o cenário não se limita a distopias catastróficas. Há uma instigante alternância de mundos, incluindo até aquele tipo de utopia aparente que, na verdade, apodrece por dentro.
Histórias de universos paralelos se tornaram um clichê meio insuportável hoje. Não gosto particularmente porque antipatizo com a teoria por trás do conceito: a "interpretação de muitos mundos" (IMM).
Resumidamente, há aquelas experiências da física quântica em que um fóton às vezes se comporta como partícula e às vezes como onda. Uma interpretação (a de Copenhagen) é que o ato da observação, ou a consciência, determina o resultado da experiência. Assim, a consciência precederia a matéria, em termos de realidade.
Já na IMM, haveriam múltiplos universos paralelos, materialmente existentes. Em um deles, o fóton é onda, em outro, partícula, e em muitos outros, sabe-se lá o quê. Parece que essa explicação assume o papel do status quo, ficando na defensiva de um universo materialmente existente. A lisérgica possibilidade de a realidade ter uma natureza primordialmente mental desafia demais o padrão vigente, então é preciso uma explicação materialista-científica que dê sentido ao experimento quântico.
Gostei especialmente de A Curva do Sonho pois é uma das poucas histórias de ficção científica que parte dessa visão de que a realidade é feita de uma "substância" mental. Dick também era especialista nisso.
Esse é um dos grandes temas do livro: o que é a realidade? Não há respostas prontas, mas simplesmente transportar quem lê até um ponto de questionamento genuíno sobre a natureza do universo já é um feito e tanto.
Também versa profundamente sobre falsas utopias e "as boas intenções no mal". E há até "primeiro contato"!
Vale lembrar que é um produto cultural dos anos 70. As páginas transpiram com o clima da época. Acontecem coisas que hoje já saturam a ficção científica mas, na época, ainda não eram clichê. Até acho bem saboroso, mas pode deixar um gosto "pulp" demais para quem não estiver acostumado, exatamente como Philip K. Dick.
Em um mundo assolado por instabilidade climática e superpopulação, George Orr, um cidadão pacato e mundano, descobre que seus sonhos …
(em português, incluindo um artigo traduzido do livro → sol2070.in/2023/10/Princ%C3%ADpios-do-descentralismo)
"... we are in a period of excess centralization. It is demonstrable that in many functions this style is economically inefficient, technologically unnecessary and humanly damaging. Therefore we ought to adopt a political maxim: to decentralize where, how and how much is expedient." ... "It is not “anarchy.” (But of course most Anarchists, like the anarcho-syndicalists or the community-anarchists, have not been “anarchists” either, but decentralists.)" Paul Goodman (in 1964)
Ursula Le Guin was the one who led me to read Paul Goodman (1911 - 1972), referring to the American intellectual as the anarchist who most influenced her.
"Drawing the Line Once Again: Paul Goodman's Anarchist Writings" is a short book that brings together articles on topics related to anarchism. Perhaps it's not the best book to introduce the author. I felt that many of the articles were a bit …
(em português, incluindo um artigo traduzido do livro → sol2070.in/2023/10/Princ%C3%ADpios-do-descentralismo)
"... we are in a period of excess centralization. It is demonstrable that in many functions this style is economically inefficient, technologically unnecessary and humanly damaging. Therefore we ought to adopt a political maxim: to decentralize where, how and how much is expedient." ... "It is not “anarchy.” (But of course most Anarchists, like the anarcho-syndicalists or the community-anarchists, have not been “anarchists” either, but decentralists.)" Paul Goodman (in 1964)
Ursula Le Guin was the one who led me to read Paul Goodman (1911 - 1972), referring to the American intellectual as the anarchist who most influenced her.
"Drawing the Line Once Again: Paul Goodman's Anarchist Writings" is a short book that brings together articles on topics related to anarchism. Perhaps it's not the best book to introduce the author. I felt that many of the articles were a bit dated: as they weren't originally intended as a book, they make frequent references and are even based on news stories from the time, for example.
But I really liked the sharp analysis and pragmatism. One example is the article "Some Prima Facie Objections to Decentralism", which I liked the most.
It's about a basic principle of anarchism, decentralization at (almost) all levels. Answering frequent questions from young people, Paul introduces how this could actually be implemented.