i liked this more than i should admit. i would have loved it at 19. still my post-apocalyptic dream to scratch geometric proofs in the dirt with a ragged band of survivalist mathematicians. learned a bit about orbital dynamics.

Seems to be little known history, wedged between the more famous greats of Franklin’s life and the birth of America and even the French Revolution. It took too long for me to read—it’s fascinating, beautifully written, and absolutely full. Turns history a little inside out, in a good way. And inspiration for any American who finds himself in unfamiliar circumstances abroad.

A brilliant, cranky, opinionated, adventurous travel companion who really knows what good travel means. Didn’t always agree, by far, but what a journey. Be inspired and learn something.

inspiring humanitarian story. go kindly.

ongoing relationship of network vs hierarchy thinking and organization

very very eurocentric

hierarchies .. from human family relationships. reseen in mythologies. animal understandings.

p62 narrative -> analytic
(dinesh on hindu mythology (“or history”) [an essential necessity of human mind?]

p65 narrative -> analytic
openstreetmap -> GIS
“maps tell stories”

p119 revolutionary power of new communities.
the revolutions has a shelf life?

technologies embodies multiple competing values .. that emerge along some worn path from innovation to dogma (pp, r, tv, www)

ends too lightly

Will Self at his most brutal. Too bad he is such a clever wordsmith.

I was hooked as soon as soon as Dylan gets his bike stolen. How Lethem captured what life is like as a child - the secret worlds, the pure terror and confusion that’s there too much - wonderful. Of course totally fascinating to see this unfold in Brooklyn. Brilliant writing.

The second and third parts of the book were maybe not necessary. He acknowledges it himself in the staged movie pitching scene—there’s no ending, it just goes on and on. Would’ve been better to end leaving the haze of childhood.

Like other Will Self books, for me, it started off disappointing and just got better and better. The basic premise is of course ridiculous, and sometimes the chimp dialogue almost grating .. but it’s great fun, he did great research into Chimpanzee socializing, and by the end humans do look to be like a very peculiar animal.

I picked up this book after reading an interview on BLDGBLOG.

Books that are set up for sequels just don’t do it for me. Formulaic writing and just basic character development. I know, it’s pulp fiction, but I just don’t feel like it’s worth investing my time unless there’s something interesting in the work itself, and not just the content. Don’t just tell a story—use the language!

There are parts which are good. He’s very skilled at descriptions of architecture, of the science, of the processes at the NSF. I just wish he’d gone right into the disaster—this is what I was counting on!

strange seeing parts of your life in fiction