The Information, James Gleick

The Information:  A History, A Theory, A Flood by James Gleick is a book I've had sitting on the shelves for a bit.  It was not next on my list, but I went looking for some books that I could pick up in an audio format to hear in the car and this was the first one that was available in a nearby library.  So, I have the book and the audio.  I enjoyed Gleick's book, Chaos, a few decades or so ago and I really respect his ability to use his journalistic talents to make science understandable.

Started:  6/25/2016

Completed: 7/23/2016

Recommendation: Mild recommendation

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

I would never have thought it would be necessary to describe what the nature of "information" is to anyone.  It seems a ubiquitous and well-understood term.  On the other hand, there are a variety of types of information (as well as methods of conveyance) that would never have occurred to me.  The exhaustive look at language as a method of conveying information and the implications thereof had, frankly, not occurred to me although it was obvious the instant he mentioned it.  Moreover, the implications of the printed page on the way in which we think, forget how we communicate, is a complication I would not have realized without careful thought.

It is also worth noting that I would have been inclined to find definitions for a whole bunch of words if they had not been either explicitly defined in the book or used with great pains to provide meaningful context.  Since the book is about information and a fair portion of the early part of the book revolves around defining words, this makes sense.

The book is a trip down memory lane for most of those familiar with the history of computing and certainly those familiar with crypto-analytics.  For me, the revelation surrounded the role of Claude Shannon, so it must be clear that while I am conversant with Information Theory, I am not a student of its history.  In that sense, this book was good for me because it opened up some more avenues of research of which I had not been aware.

This is a mild recommendation because I fear that if someone is not interested in Information Theory, Cryptography, and/or Computer Science, this book swiftly becomes much too technical.  For those with interests in these areas, this book is unlikely to provide a lot of new information.  If you know Babbage, Turing, and Shannon, this book will fill you in on a few more details.  If you know Wiener, Ada Lovelace, and Clement, then the odds are good that you already have a strong sense of this material and it is highly unlikely, to my eye, that you will learn much more.

Ready Player One, Ernest Cline

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is a book recommended to me by two friends, Joe and Mike.  I picked up the audio version from the library (the bulk of the books on my shelf are not in audio format) and found that it was read by Wil Wheaton.  I had a bit of a Sheldon moment when I noticed that, so I should probably amend the sentence to read my friend Wil Wheaton.  I looked at Wil Wheaton's blog which I linked above and it looked mildly interesting.  Much better than this blog, but not something to which I would turn all that often.  Of course, I don't turn to my own blog very often.  So, anyway, if you are reading this, please go look at Wil Wheaton's blog.  He'd like that.  And, of course, he's my friend.  Feel free to remind him if you find yourself talking to him.  He, uhm, might need a reminder...

This book received the Alex Award from Young Adult Library Services which should tell you something about my friends Joe and Mike.  It also won the Prometheus Award from the Libertarian Futurists Society which is a higher honor and a bit more off kilter.  The book has been picked up for a movie that is apparently going to be directed by Steven Spielberg.  Oh yeah, and it is a New York Times Bestseller.

Started:  6/1/2016

Completed: 6/23/2016

Recomendation:  Highly Recommended.  Excellent.  Go get it.  Don't put it on a shelf.  Go get it and read/listen to it.

Recommended By:  Mike and Joe (who should go look at my friend, Wil Wheaton's blog)

Review:

An audio book you can't put down?  Are you kidding me?  So I thought until I sat in the driveway listening to "just a little more" over and over.  This book is AWESOME!

The "Tomb of Horrors" is easily my favorite D&D module and it brought back a huge stream of memories when I ran into it in this book.  It is truly sad that I remembered it so well after not playing in well over 30 years, but that is the kind of impact the module had on this geek.  To wrap it into another book is simply awesome.  The way the author related all of the events reminded me of the first time I "stepped" into the tomb as a player-character.  All of those traps!  It truly took forever to move through the first hallway.

The parallel story of a kid from the "stacks" and his actions within the Oasis blend nicely and appropriately.  The smooth transition back and forth reminded me of Tad Williams' Otherland series of books.  It is nice when the "real world" has consequences like having to go to the bathroom or eat.  It is also nice that this is explained without being constantly relived (so we know the characters are all busy taking care of basic bodily functions, but we aren't constantly exposed to it).

The pure love of 80s stuff is really nice and makes for a warm and homey return to the era when I was a geek and got all geeked out on stuff.  Oh, honestly, I didn't have the grasp of the material that the lead character does (but, really, who does?) but it is mostly familiar and some has caused me to go back and look at (or listen to) things I brushed by at the time (like most of Rush--it turns out that I was pretty familiar with their music even though I didn't realize it; there was one girl in college who used to drink Jack Daniels and listen to Rush like crazy, so I got a big dose of it without realizing it).  Mostly, it let me think of the 80s as a time when I did "cool" stuff instead of "on the outs" stuff.  It is a pleasant fiction.  I also preferred Tempest to other games back when I occasionally went to arcades.

For those of you who have read the book and are just reading this little blog post as a trip down memory lane, remember to keep your quarter in your inventory.  I think that will be a take-away from this book in the same way that always carrying a towel came from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  Or something else.  As you may have guessed, I'm not great with society.

Finally, I should note that it is worth getting the audio version.  My friend Wil Wheaton does a masterful job.  He isn't terribly good at making his voice into another person, but he is good enough that you know when the protagonist is speaking and when someone else is speaking.  It is like having a person read a book to you instead of a group of actors "voice act" the book.  It is nice.  In addition, I felt it only appropriate to plug the audio version, 'cause I heard that Wil Wheaton makes something like a nickle a book and it can't hurt to send him an extra nickle (of course, if you are a cheapskate--er, supporter of local access to information--like me, and get it from the library, then you are stretching that nickle pretty thin).

America's Undeclared War, Daniel Lazare

America's Undeclared War:  What's Killing Our Cities and How We Can Stop It by Daniel Lazare is a book that I picked up in the stairwell of a used book store.  I cannot remember the store, but I definitely remember the stairwell and this book on top of an unsorted pile.  I stood in that small stairwell and read the first chapter and was entranced.  While writing this introduction I did a little research on Lazare and found that he is about as left wing as they come.  I seem to be increasingly comfortable with the left wing and my youngest son and I have had long discussions about how we could conceive ways to help Baltimore--a city in trouble by any measure.  When I saw that this book had risen to the top of my reading list, I couldn't help but feel that this was no coincidence.

Started:  1/29/2016

Completed:  5/24/2016

Recommendation: Not Recommended

Recommended By:  Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

bluenose -- a priggish or puritanical person

bosky -- wooded; covered by trees or bushes

burgher -- a citizen of a town or city, typically a member of the wealthy bourgeoisie

cerise -- a bright or deep red color

deracinated -- removed or separated from a native environment or culture

fin de siècle -- French for the end of a century

flivver -- a cheap car or aircraft, especially one in bad condition

Girondist Revolution -- a revolution of moderate republicans (based on the Gironde party in France which was overthrown by the Jacobins during the French Revolution)

Gresham's Law -- when a government overvalues one type of money and undervalues another, the undervalued money will leave the country or disappear from circulation into hoards, and the overvalued money will flood into circulation.

longue durée -- an expression used by the French Annales School of historical writing to designate their approach to the study of history, which gives priority to long-term historical structures over events.

parsimony -- extreme unwillingness to spend money or use resources

patroon -- a person given land and granted certain manorial privileges under the former Dutch governments of New York and New Jersey

preauto -- before the automobile

profligate -- recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources

quisling -- a traitor who collaborates with an enemy force occupying their country

rentier -- a person living on income from property or investments

rump legislature -- a legislature formed of a part, usually a minority, of the legislators originally elected or appointed to office

sansculotte -- a violent or radical extremist in politics

shibboleth --a custom, principal, or belief distinguishing a particular class or group of people, especially a group of people especially a long standing oneregarded as outmoded or no longer important

stolid -- calm, dependable and showing little emotion or animation

sumptuary -- relating to or denoting laws that limit private expenditure on food and personal items

teleology -- the explanation of things by the purpose they serve rather than by postulated causes

truculent -- eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant

truncheon -- a short, thick stick used as a weapon by police

yeoman -- a man holding and cultivating a small landed estate; a freeholder

Review:

The author has a distinct point of view and he has marshalled a strong evidentiary pool to support it.  The heart of his argument is that Henry Ford favored enclaves of workers who were isolated in small groups to break labor's power.  Additionally, Ford was racist and an anti-semite so he was in favor of the good life only for WASPs.

The author calls this Fordism and extends the argument across the USA claiming that everyone fell in line.  However, rather than arguing that Ford was a great influencer, he seems to make the case that everyone else thought like Ford.  This seems unlikely, although he is able to put forth quotations from a decent size set of people, it did not feel like this was a pervasive sense of people hating cities in general, it felt more like it was people who were bigots or anti-labor being linked together as anti-city.  If there was, indeed, a huge colection of highly influential people (including presidents) who were expressly anti-city from the 1700s onward, how could cities still exist?

Rather, I think there were people concerned about how to improve what they felt were the negative aspects of the city (consider parks as a play area for children, which the author feels is a waste of space because there would be plenty of space to play in the streets if Fordists weren't so insistent on having a place for environment destroying traffic jams).  The author also cites city planners who tried to make the city feel less claustrophobic as responsible for creating useless and unused spaces as Fordists trying to substitute suburban open spaces for city integration, thus creating barren areas of the city.

The author's arguments do hang together, but it feels artificial.  Even people who start out opposing the city, but come to love it are marked as hypocrites at best or spoilers who only appreciate the good once it is gone.  He does make some good recommendations in the end, although my eye suggests these are just good ideas in general and not simply good for the city.  Some of his recommendations go too far (I think he would get rid of cars entirely) but he is definitely on the right path with many of his ideas.  The problem is that once you get to the ideas, you are so jaded by the author's argument that everyone who does not completely agree with him is "bad" that you are loathe to agree with him.

World Order, Henry Kissinger

World Order by Henry Kissinger is supposed to be a seminal work on understanding United States' International Relations.  I read a review of the book by Hillary Clinton and decided that I should read it.  Her review was glowing and given her position as former Secretary of State as well as Kissinger holding the same office, I thought it merited attention.

Started:  2/8/2016

Completed: 4/26/2016

Recommendation: You have to really be interested in theories of why the world political order is the way it is

Recommended By:  Hillary Clinton

Review:
Kissinger is in a position to offer some unique insights into US foreign policy.  He has developed (and explained) a theory of why and how the world organizes itself.  He takes an essential Hobbsian argument that countries live in a combined anarchy where might is right and each country would gladly take out his neighbor to increase power.  He tempers this with an argument based on the Westphalian Peace Treaty of 1648.  Basically, this was the resolution to the 30 years war and was hammered out between a bunch of countries who wanted to stop the blood letting.  He argues that this is the model for how countries should interact with one-another in order to keep a stable world and further argues that this is how it was done, basically from 1648 onward.

Kissinger is not an idiot.  He doesn't suggest that China, for example, took a look at the treaty and rearranged governance based upon it.  Rather he points out that virtually every country has perceived itself to be the center of the world and offering enlightenment to the rest of the world.  This is brought to the fore when China basically rejects the concept of a British ambassador by saying that if they want to educate Britain in the fine art of governing, China will summon a British representative, but the thought of housing such a distant nation at court on a regular basis is rather silly.  China has had to operate within the concepts wrapped in the Westphalian Peace Treaty not because it agrees with them, but because it has been overwhelmed by European force.  Now that China is becoming a world super power, will the reverse occur and China exert its concept of governance on the rest of the world?

Kissinger does explain many different theories of governance (excluding, for the most part, all of Africa) and points out some really serious issues with the way in which Islam views the world and the way non-Muslims view the world being very incompatible.  This may well represent personal bias rather than an objective view, but, at the least, it highlights an issue which is very relevant today.  This book also forces one to realize that there are serious and substantial cultural divides that make it very difficult for different governments to interact in a productive manner.

One thing that I gained from the book was a perspective on why other countries are upset about America exporting its philosophy.  I was one of the Americans who takes the concepts of freedom and liberty as givens and perceives those concepts as something of value to everyone in the world when that is not particularly true.  It is useful to come to an understanding of how these fundamental tenets of our government can be perceived as being forced down the throats of those who do not share them as values.  In a sense, I can relate only by analogy.

Our system of marriage seems free and respectful of the intelligence of individuals to me.  To someone used to arranged marriages, however, I can see how our system of marriage can be perceived as repudiating the family (instead of fostering ties between families, our marriages seem to be all but random), fostering lust (most marriages end in divorce in the US and there must be a reason for that--maybe lust is part of that), and harming children (while the parents pursue true love they could leave children in the wake twisted and turning looking for someone to love them).  While I don't agree with the assessment of marriage that I have put up as a straw man, I can see where someone used to arranged marriages might look at our free and equal concepts of marriage and recoil in horror (kind of like I do when I think about my parents selecting a bride for me).  While Kissinger does not involve marriage, he does point out that cultural divides make it difficult to communicate with common understandings and I think that the marriage example I have given illustrates that point.

I'm not comfortable with Kissinger's pessimistic Hobbsian view of countries (though, I understand how he came to it and his arguments are well reasoned).  I think I have a fundamental wish to view countries as innately good (until proven otherwise) rather than innately evil (until proven otherwise).  I also don't like the idea that there is true anarchy between countries.  Surely we recognize Britain as our sire and while there was a period where relations were cool, it feels like that has been left well in the past and our relations have matured to the point where we can look fondly on all of the United Kingdom.  There is a familial relationship there, in my opinion, not just an opportunistic quelling of general anarchy.

I do worry about Kissinger's admonitions against the concepts of alliance that led to both WWI and WWII.  Clearly, we are backing into an increasingly rigid alliance structure (particularly when looking at NATO) which is perceived as threatening to non-NATO countries and especially to Russia.  I don't know how to define a place at the table for governments that are as cruel to their citizens as North Korea or Syria, but I also don't know how to address the concept of human rights when America puts so many of its citizens in prison and has a death penalty.  America does not seem to have a concept of right and wrong that is consistently applied, but we seem to be a country of compromises struggling to find a path between right and wrong.  Given that, are we really ready to step up on the World stage and lead by decree rather than find a way to consensus that is deeper than a simple beauty contest?

Kissinger doesn't answer these questions even with his carefully considered approach, but his book offers some insightful issues and some reasons to question ourselves and our direction.

It is hard to recommend this book.  I'm not sure what is right and what is wrong in the book, but there is so much content that I'm uncomfortable becoming a follower of Kissinger's theories as presented (the breadth of this work is staggering and yet, at the same time, wildly incomplete--I fear that some really important things have been glossed over because they are not consistent with his theories, but I don't know enough details about all of this to be able to identify where this may have happened).  It worries me that a potential leader like Hillary Clinton read this book and concluded, "No other nation can bring together the necessary conditions and provide the necessary capabilities to meet today's complex global threats."  I read this book and think, "Holy crap, there are a whole bunch of things we aren't considering and if we don't change our approach from one of fear to one of compassion, really bad things are going to happen."  I worry that there are tons of misunderstandings (some intentional, like the explanations for the Iraq war and Putin's invasion of Ukraine) and that there needs to be some voice of reason that tries to link the narratives of diverse cultures into a broader sense of the common good.  While I love and respect my country, I question whether this is an area at which America excels.  I'm really worried about Clinton's suggestion that, "Sustaining America's leadership in the world depends on renewing the American dream for all our people."  I find it hard to believe that looking inwardly is going to lead to fruitful international leadership and I think this is something that Kissinger cautions the reader not to do.

The War of the Flowers, Tad Williams

 

The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams is a book about which I knew nothing when I bought it.  I had recently met Tad Williams at a book signing and had enjoyed his Memory, Sorrow, and Thorne series.  The dude is awesome.  Even his cat books.

Started:  2/17/2016

Completed: 5/23/2016

Recommendation: strongly recommended

Recommended By:  Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

chirurgeon -- archaic form of surgeon

dobber -- a person who secretly tells someone in authority that someone else has done something wrong.  It is also slang for male anatomy.

Review:

Early in the book is a simile that suggests hospitals are like T.S. Eliot poems.  I was not able to find a poem that embodied this imagery, but I did not look very hard. 

This book is truly an epic tale and a short review of a few paragraphs seems trite.  I like the general idea that magic has rules at that concept is explored in this book.   I also like the unwitting or anti-hero.  Finally, the idea of effectively the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object also peaks my interest.  This book has all that and the most delicious character, Applecore.  

Amongst concepts and imagry that frequently exceeds  imagination, the author exposes the gritty underbelly of Fairy in a journey to a place that is impossibly real with issues just as horrifying as those in the mortal realm.  

It is a good read with well crafted prose, some fantastic story lines, and a glimmer of hope for those who cannot imagine the hero within.

Arms of Nemesis, Steven Saylor

Arms of Nemesis: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Steven Saylor is part of the Roma Sub Roma series which I have enjoyed.

Started:  2/6/2016

Completed: 2/17/2016

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Recommended by:  Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

desultory --lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm

encaustic -- using pigments mixed with hot wax that are burned in as an inlay

Review:

Great, just great.  I could hardly put this book down.  Each evening as I sat and read this book, I had to decide it was time to stop.  There was no good stopping point, no good pause, nothing.  Just a great book all the way through.  I usually don't like mysteries because they are almost impossible to decipher, but all the data was there all the time.  It was fantastic.

I also enjoyed the detail (both good and bad) about ancient Rome that littered the book like the detritus of a triumphant battle.  What a great author.

The Tale of Genji, Lady Murasaki

The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki as translated by Arthur Waley is traditionally identified as the world's first novel.  It was written in the 11th Century.  I have no idea why I picked it up.  The cover and back cover do not encourage me to read it now, so there must have been some other reason I chose it.  Perhaps it is a revisiting of classical literature that one might have expected to have read in high school.  I have no other explanation.

Started:  1/29/2016

Completed: 2/6/2016

Recommendation: Not Recommended

Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

augue -- malaria or some other illness involving fever and shivering

blue-stocking -- a derogatory term for an intellectual or literary woman

censorious -- severely critical of others

coquetry -- flirtatious behavior or a flirtatious manner

effacement -- to wipe out; do away with; expunge

loggia -- a gallery or room with one or more open sides, especially one that forms part of a house and has one side open to the garden

lugubrious -- looking or sounding sad and dismal

parlous -- full of danger and uncertainty; precarious

plashing -- splashing

postilion -- a person who rides the leading left-hand horse of a team or pair drawing a coach or carriage, especially when there is no coachman

preponderant -- predominant in influence, number, or importance

prosody -- the patterns of rhythm and sound used in poetry

viand -- an item of food

Review:

This is a story of court intrigue and basically follows Genji's effort to bed every woman of beauty in the land.  There are a few interesting sub-plots but the structure of the story is more of x happened then y happened without a lot of insight into the how or why behind it.  There was a huge amount of poetry exchanged (which must have titillating in its time), but, for the most part, the story was rather base.  At some level there seems to be a deeper meaning that love (or lack thereof) can kill, but that meaning is so well concealed in allusion and secondary reference that it is not well substantiated.  I read the book, but I did not enjoy it.  It was not so horrible that I had to stop reading, however.  The prose was interesting, stilted and yet somehow poetical as well.