All Consuming : mikelmaron

Consumed "Delta Primer: A Field Guide to the California Delta"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Sat, 09 May 2009 19:50:07 GMT

Delta Primer: A Field Guide to the California Delta

by Jane Wolff

WORTH IT!

A story about "Anathem"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:07:25 GMT

Anathem

by Neal Stephenson

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.

Consumed "Anathem"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:07:25 GMT

Anathem

by Neal Stephenson

WORTH IT!

A story about "A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, And the Birth of America"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 18:08:21 GMT

A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, And the Birth of America

by Stacy Schiff

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 story about "Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 02:39:01 GMT

Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown

by Paul Theroux

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.

A story about "Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations . . . One School at a Time"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:05:52 GMT

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations . . . One School at a Time

by Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin

inspiring humanitarian story. go kindly.

A story about "Glut: Mastering Information Through the Ages"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:10:53 GMT

Glut: Mastering Information Through the Ages

by Alex Wright

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

A story about "My Idea of Fun"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Sun, 25 May 2008 01:43:32 GMT

My Idea of Fun

by Will Self

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

A story about "The Fortress of Solitude"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:55:47 GMT

The Fortress of Solitude

by Jonathan Lethem

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.

Keep going

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:50:01 GMT

Great Apes

by Will Self

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.

A review of "Forty Signs of Rain" (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:04:16 GMT

Forty Signs of Rain

by Kim Stanley Robinson

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!

A story about "Spook Country"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:36:26 GMT

Spook Country

by William Gibson

strange seeing parts of your life in fiction

A story about "Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 20:38:58 GMT

Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals

by John Gray

devestating!

A review of "Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 20:13:03 GMT

Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another

by Philip Ball

There won’t be much surprising for anyone familiar with “complexity science” but Philip Ball as usual is a very clear and clever writer, and this is worth reading or recommending to someone new to the ideas.

New to me was the inter-relationship of the social sciences and physics. Lately we’re used to applying concepts from physics to societies and considering it innovative — however statistical mechanics, entropy, heat, we’re all deeply influenced by statistical methods developed for census and social study (like average height in a population)

A review of "Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming"

nobody@allconsuming.net (mikelmaron) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 07:53:27 GMT

Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming

by Paul Hawken

This was a frustrating read. On one hand, he has a very wide perspective on pressing issues in the world, and the ability to plunge into detail with ease. And not only in the environment/social justice/indigenous rights movement that’s the focus of the book, but well versed in science, philosophy, history. The tight sections on the history of environmentalism, or stories on particular instances in his own work as a management consultant with an environmental bent and stories from others are interesting and compelling.

Where it completely fails me is in the synthesis, both in the overall scale and in small conceptual jumps between ideas. At the small scale, he’s overtaken with the idea of lateral thinking, which I should enjoy, but comparisons of protests to Eskimo myths, and the human immune system to social movements, lack any poetry or keen insights or substantial reflection. The phrase “The Movement” itself grates hard.

I disagree with the entire thrust of the book, that there is a movement, that it is unique. Environmentalism is not exceptional or unique in its embrace of networked social structures .. with free flow of information that’s what today’s world looks like, including corporations, terrorist organizations, and governments. And environmentalism and social justice certainly do have their share of ideology .. pragmatism and ideology exist in parts everywhere.

Essentially, he’s drawn a convenient boundary around stuff he likes and stuff he doesn’t like, yet at the same time including everyone in this movement. It’s a quite familiar progressive American perspective, that is lacking perspective, very reactionary, and revelling in ideas that share roots with the things he despises.

Sure I’m pretty negative about the book. I’m sure he’s a very engaging speaker and quite effective. I suppose I’m hoping for something much more forward thinking, whole thinking. It’s still isolating out the typical villains, and that kind of thinking is definitely a dead end.