Stuart Aken's Blog, page 211
July 26, 2015
A Renewed Regime.
Sundown on Thassos – A self-indulgent reminder of a happy 2 weeks in the sun! Way back in 2014, that’s last year in case you’re not sure, I was writing fairly regularly and working on a couple of projects. But, in the middle of that year, we made a momentous decision: we would move house from our domain of 14 years and settle in an area of the country where we wanted to spend our retirement. One outcome of that decision was a severe disruption to my writing habits. So much to do, so many thin...
July 20, 2015
Running for ME/CFS no. 42
Swimming in the Med after jumping off the boat! This week asked for a Wednesday session of 6 times 3-minute runs alternating with 2-minute walks. However, after the last fortnight’s issues, I decided to do a straight 20-minute run initially, to get back into some sort of pattern. That turned out to be no problem and I actually covered a little more ground than usual.
Friday called for a 4 mile run/walk with alternate 2-minute runs and 1-minute walks. I took a route through the village down to...
July 17, 2015
Slam, by Nick Hornby, Reviewed.
Much to the probable annoyance of nearby sun-lounger occupiers, I read this on holiday by the pool. Annoyance? Yes; the book had me laughing out loud with its wit.
This very funny and often moving story is told through the voice of boy growing from near 16 to 18 years old. He becomes embroiled in a trap by accident and suffers the social and emotional consequences of what might otherwise have been a fairly commonplace adventure.
There is real insight here, coupled with empathy, humour and so...
The Prey, by Andrew Fukuda, Reviewed.
This science fiction novel was found in the small library of the hotel where I holidayed on the Greek Island of Thassos.
Although this is the middle book of a trilogy, it stands quite well on its own.
The depictions of both a world strangled by the genetic mistake of a fanatic and a sub-society living in a false world of hypocrisy and self-delusion are brilliantly devised and realised.
The characters hum with real life and emotions in this dystopian tale of hope. There are missing details of...
July 16, 2015
Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro, Reviewed.
Discovered in the small hotel library whilst holidaying on the Greek island of Thassos, this book was one I’d always intended to read. I’m glad I did.
It’s an imaginative, moving and subtly horrifying romance about organ donation based on the use of clones. Told in 1st person by Kath H, it begins by recounting the way she was brought up in an institution designed for that job. Only over time does she, and we as reader, learn that her purpose is to provide replacement organs for ‘real’ people...
Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari, Reviewed.
Subtitled, ‘A Brief History of Humankind’, ‘Sapiens’ is a work of extraordinary scholarship presented in very readable form. There’s a great deal of humour here, carrying the message. The whole text is readily accessible without any dumbing down.
Thought-provoking, mind-enhancing, terrifying, encouraging and illuminating, this piece of work encompasses many disciplines. It examines human endeavour and attempts, very successfully, to explain what we, Homo Sapiens, are, were, and may become. T...
Returning to the World of Technology
On the beach in Thassos Town. On 25th June I wrote a longish post on the way technology seems to have taken the role of master instead of the servant it was intended to be. You can find that post by clicking here.
This is the follow-up post I promised then.
How did I manage without an online presence, without the ubiquitous 24/7 connectivity of today’s society?
Was I able to resist the temptations of digital connection with the world? Yes, and no. I was on holiday, away from home and in a for...
July 14, 2015
Where There’s Smoke, by Penny Grubb, Reviewed.
This great crime tale in the P.I. Annie Raymond series see the detective back in Hull, working with people she’d much rather forget.
As with all Penny Grubb’s fiction, there is much more going on than meets the eye at first. Annie is at once suspicious, as she is sent back to her old tramping ground and placed with a boss in whom she has little confidence, on a case that grows more complex by the page.
Using her usual consummate narrative skill, the author takes the reader on a journey into...
July 13, 2015
Running for ME/CFS no. 41
The drive leading to the hotel. Okay; so I was due to do a 25-minute brisk walk each of the Sundays I was away. No problem. In fact, we walked a good deal on the island where we holidayed, much of it on steep and rocky slopes. So I fulfilled that requirement.
On the Wednesdays, I was expected to do a mix of alternate running and walking, and I managed the first of these sessions quite easily, using the stony and sloping drive that led from the main road to the hotel. The second attempt never...
July 12, 2015
1 Day to Reconnection.
The final scheduled post on this topic. Did I make it? Hopefully, Tomorrow, I’ll at least give you a clue!
http://stuartaken.net/2015/06/25/technophobe-technophile-or-technosceptic/
Filed under: Author, Creative Writer, Organisation Tagged: Author, Connection, Technology
