Reviews and Comments

sol2070

[email protected]

Joined 1 year, 6 months ago

From Brazil. #scifi #philosophy #nature #politics #tech #fantasy

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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Debbie Urbanski: After World (Hardcover, english language, 2023, Simon & Schuster) 5 stars

One of San Francisco Chronicle’s Favorite Books of 2023 “An intelligent, defiant novel, akin to …

Apocalypse for the age of AI and climate emergency

5 stars

(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 …

Cory Doctorow: The Lost Cause (TOR) 4 stars

It’s thirty years from now. We’re making progress, mitigating climate change, slowly but surely. But …

Highly relevant socio-political fiction

4 stars

(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 …

Ben Goldsmith: God Is an Octopus (2023, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc) 4 stars

Struggling to comprehend the shocking death of his teenage daughter, Ben Goldsmith finds solace in …

Conveys a rich life experience

4 stars

(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 …

Alexander Douglas: The Philosophy of Hope (Paperback, english language) 3 stars

Can philosophy be a source of hope? Today it is common to believe that the …

A fresh take on Spinoza

3 stars

(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 …

Daniel Galera: Barba ensopada de sangue (Portuguese language, 2012, Companhia das Letras) 5 stars

Barba ensopada de sangue é um romance de força incomum, sobre solidão, família e os …

Um dos melhores romances brasileiros que já li

5 stars

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 …

reviewed A Tormenta de Espadas by George R. R. Martin (As Crônicas de Gelo e Fogo, #3)

George R. R. Martin: A Tormenta de Espadas (português language, 2019, Suma) 5 stars

Este é o terceiro volume da série As Crônicas de Gelo e Fogo, que inclui …

Sequestra coração e mente

5 stars

(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:

  • A mitologia de Game of Thrones e Terramar
  • A Guerra dos Tronos (resenha)
  • A Fúria dos Reis — Crônicas de Gelo e Fogo 2

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 …

Cory Doctorow: The Internet Con (Hardcover, 2023, Verso) 3 stars

When the tech platforms promised a future of "connection," they were lying. They said their …

Essential, but rushed at the end

3 stars

(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 …

Janet Biehl: The Murray Bookchin Reader (1997) 3 stars

This collection provides an overview of the thought of the foremost social theorist and political …

Not the best introduction to Bookchin, but he is great

3 stars

(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. …

José Henrique Bortoluci: O que é meu (português language, Fósforo) 4 stars

Neste ensaio biográfico de rara sensibilidade, que já teve os direitos vendidos para dez editoras …

Envolvente história de pai e filho

4 stars

(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.

Ursula K. Le Guin: A Curva do Sonho (Português language, 2021, Morro Branco) 5 stars

Em um mundo assolado por instabilidade climática e superpopulação, George Orr, um cidadão pacato e …

O livro de Ursula Le Guin que sempre quis

5 stars

(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 …

Paul Goodman, Taylor Stoehr: Drawing the Line Once Again (Paperback, 2010, PM Press) 3 stars

Five years after his death in 1972, Paul Goodman was characterized by anarchist historian George …

Sharp and pragmatic (but a bit dated?)

3 stars

(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 …