Cybrpnk's Rantings

Okay, you people out there (I know there must be someone other than me who reads this stuff), I think it's time for me to start sprinkling in some more of that 'gee, this is actually a person and not a venom-spewing AI program' stuff. Today's topic, which is not wholly orthogonal to political ranting, is books. Figured I'd run down some of what I have been reading lately (complete with hyperlinks to Amazon, although I personally prefer actually buying things from your local independent bookseller).

Currently (and I'm thinking of adding a 'what is cybrpnk reading' module to this page), I'm reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (translation by Jay Rubin). This one is a loaner from my brother Sid, and I'm not really far enough into it to be able to say too much about, but include it here for completeness.

I just finished reading Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. Obviously I'm a big fan of cyberpunk literature, and Gibson is definitely a master. This one is less technical, but still has his signature hard-hitting prose and fabulous characters. The book includes some brilliant mocking of corporate branding, as well as some accidental, posthoc commercialism. Huh? Good question. He has his main character wearing a very specific item of clothing which did not exist when he wrote the book, but now does due to the book. Not an intentional piece of marketing, mind you, just echoes in the real world from the book. I haven't ordered one yet, but am seriously thinking about it.

Before William Gibson, I read Howard Zinn. A People's History of the United States : 1492-Present to be precise. This is a brilliant piece of work. A retelling of American history from the perspective of how our nation's development affected ordinary people. Having trained as a historian myself (including a minor in history on my Ph.D.), and having studied some of the same events he discusses, his scholarship seems solid. Certainly his political leanings are clear from the book, but the same is true of most historians once you know how to spot it. One cool moment for me was seeing the anti-nuclear rally in NYC on June 12, 1982, which I participated in, being discussed as a historic event.

And one more before that. Kevin Phillip's Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich. This book is brilliant. First off, it's written by a Republican (Phillips was an advisor to Nixon) who comes from a different era in politics. Reading him reminds you of the disturbing possibility that Richard Nixon may well have been more progressive than Bill Clinton. We really have swung that far to the right. Shocking. Phillips also has a fascinating analysis of America as being in the last phase of empire. Lots of charts and hard data, very unsentimental. He says many of the things people on the left try to say, but does it dispassionately, and is all the more devastating for it.

Definitely interested from hearing other people's comments on these books (or on anything else I've been posting). Just click on the word writeback that appears at the bottom of every post. If that isn't working for you, send me email.