Doug Lewars's Blog, page 57

War in 140 Characters

War in 140 Characters: How Social Media Is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century by David Patrikarakos

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This was a fascinating and very well-written book. It concerns the relationship between was and social media but there are a number of ideas that can be extrapolated to less physical conflicts. The author focuses of three specific wars - Israel vs Hamas, Ukraine vs Soviet Union and ISIS vs pretty much everyone but Syria specifically.

The emotional and visual impact of posts are discussed relative to objective factual journalism and how people can be easily manipulated by the former. The production of fake news is also described alongside methods for determining the underlying truth. Lastly he notes that pure propaganda is not sufficient but must be coupled with manipulative recruiting techniques if radicalization is the objective.

One thing that fascinated me is the assertion that the objective behind using disinformation is not to create belief - although there are some who will buy into just about any theory provided it plays to their underlying paranoia and personal beliefs - but to create doubt. If people can be made to believe that every piece of news they read is questionable then they become increasingly isolated and forced into bubbles where every piece of news they consume is filtered in such a manner as to foster a sort of digital tribalism which is highly divisive and may eventually lead to conflict at a global level.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who uses social media - and who doesn't - and is beginning to question what is and isn't real.



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Son of a Trickster

Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


*** Possible spoilers ***

I'm being generous. I figure this book was worth 1.4 stars and I still rounded up. The first two-thirds of the book were painful to read. Then, as the supernatural events began, things improved considerably. Had I stopped reading there I might actually have awarded this 3 stars but then I came to the ending - or, perhaps, more accurately, the cessation of writing and I dropped my rating considerably.

The main character, Jared, is quite interesting. That's about the only good thing in the book. He's very sarcastic but that's okay. Unfortunately he's surrounded entirely by losers. Is the author truly asking us to believe that EVERY individual in a small northern town is a drug-addled, alcohol-soaked lunatic? It appears that such is the case. I haven't had experience with living in the north, nor have I ever lived in a small town so I don't know what the situation is like, but this book does not provide much incentive to travel to those places.

In this story Jared is aboriginal as are many of the supporting characters. In addition there are a number of individuals who are white. Ms. Robinson doesn't play favorites. Everyone is a loser. Everyone uses drugs. Everyone gets drunk - or is a recovering alcoholic. One can understand after reading this novel why the suicide rate is so high among certain segments of the population.

Jared is the son of a supernatural power - deity or demon is hard to say. He is the son of a Trickster and he sees things that others don't see. The world of the supernatural is not a pleasant one and those that inhabit it want nothing more than to kill humans - preferably by eating them. By the time the book ended I was beginning to hope they might be successful.

This is supposed to be a YA novel. I'm not sure why Ms. Robinson hates young people but from the nihilistic tone of the book I rather think she does. She certainly tries her best to depress the reader although I suspect that many young readers would become sufficiently bored by the first half of the book that they'd never make it to the end. I read it largely out of a certain stubborn unwillingness to abandon a book part way but perhaps I was mistaken and wasted too much of my time. Still there is a section in the story that worked and worked well. It wasn't a truly large section and both the before and after were awful but there was a small diamond among the coal.

Son of a Trickster was on the short-list for 2017 Giller Award thereby demonstrating that quite a few people liked it. I wasn't one of them. I'm not sure what it was that appealed to the selection committee although I have to concede that it was a well-crafted narrative - depressing perhaps and thoroughly nihilistic; but technically sound and well-written. Maybe that is sufficient.

I would not recommend this to any young person. Frankly I would not recommend it to anyone; however, for those who like to imagine that indigenous people are close to nature and to mysticism then possibly they might give it a try.



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Lincoln in the Bardo

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

If you've ever browsed bits and pieces of news sites and discovered that a morning or afternoon has passed and you've accomplished nothing, then that's the feeling you get from reading this book. It isn't unpleasant. It's mildly enjoyable; however, there isn't really anything to it. The story revolves around the death of Lincoln's son and his self-doubts regarding the civil war and his role and responsibility for waging it. But there isn't anything beyond that. Yes he's self-conflicted. Yes, he's devastated by the death of his son - probably less than a page of content. The rest of the story consists of comments by ghosts in the cemetery that have precious little to do with either Lincoln or his son. Overall this book is as vacuous as the ghosts who speak within its pages. There is nothing here - no plot, no real characters, nothing. You could get much the same thing by eavesdropping on people dining at a restaurant.

This book was the winner of the Man Booker Award for 2017. An internet search revealed that this award has been quite controversial over the years. It turns out that 'readability' is low on the criteria by which books are judged. In fact, there was some suggestion that readability is considered to be a detriment, that winning books should appeal only to some intellectual elite. Fair enough. So if you have pretensions of becoming an effete intellectual snob, then this book may be just what you're looking for. On the other hand, if you like a book with plot, interesting characters, and one that is reasonably focused then stay away from this one. You won't enjoy it.



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Grantchester Grind

Grantchester Grind by Tom Sharpe

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

It is, of course, impossible not to like a Tom Sharpe novel. Admittedly, this one isn't as humorous as his earlier works but it was still enjoyable. He was older when he wrote it and probably had come to view the modern world with a certain degree of skepticism. The book seemed to be a certain passing of the academic torch to younger hands - not that younger hands wouldn't likely burn themselves with it but such things happen. I would recommend this book to an older reader.



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Avenue of Mysteries

Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

Even in fiction one can sometimes learn something factual. In this case, I learned never, ever, to take Beta Blockers. I checked the internet for side effect and they're exactly as John Irving described. Mind you Jaun Diego was tinkering with his dosage which made a bad situation much worse; however, they do cause the kinds of confusion from which the protagonist suffered. Jaun Diego was 54. His thought processes were closer to someone who was 94. I've been around individuals suffering from dementia but among the elderly it's understandable. Frankly I think that death would be preferable to the drifting confused state the protagonist experiences in this novel.

John Irving adds a touch of the supernatural to this book - something of which I entirely approve. Basically one of this themes is that mysticism, religion and reality all overlap to some extent. I like that idea. Some don't.

One reviewer remarked that this book shouldn't be read by anyone under 50. Personally I would raise that to 65. I do not recommend this for young people. I believe they will find it frustrating in the extreme. The pacing is quite slow. Reading it was almost a hypnotic experience but it totally lacked the edginess of some of his earlier works. Even the humour was muted. There were a couple of scenes where I found myself chuckling but they were few. One line I did particularly enjoy, however was, "Novelists aren’t at their best in the truncated world of text messages." As someone who writes, and as someone who detests texting, I got quite a chuckle out of that observation.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. As I said, I don't recommend it for younger readers but for those who are prepared to take their time with a book, this one is excellent.



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The Fifth Season

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

I have a love-hate relationship with this book. I loved the world-building and I loved the pacing of the plot. It's a great story and it has great characters. On the other hand, I hated the use of second-person present-tense and the confused timeline. In addition I hated the preachiness of the political ideology that lurks just below the surface.

This is the first of the three-volume work and it happened that I read book number two before book number one. It didn't detract much from the story although I did find it a little confusing because the author overlaps part of the timeline so the second book starts of in pretty much the same place as the first started as opposed to where it finished.

After finishing the second volume I decided that I wouldn't read either the first or the third and I read this as much by accident as design. This, the first volume, was the winner of the 2016 Hugo and the second won in 2017. I happened that I'm reading through a number of award winning books and that's why I stumbled onto this one. Having come this far I might read the third - and then again I might not.

The Hugos have been dogged by controversy over the past few years. First the awards were given to books glorifying the political left. Then, voting blocks formed to force the awards back to sci-fi. Now once again, the left has flexed its muscle and books are judged on ideology as opposed to quality. What it basically means is that the genre has polarized into political camps and there is no middle ground. It does however, simplify things a little. Those on the left will love Hugo award winners. Those on the right will hate them. Therefore, it's quite easy to know before reading whether you will love or hate any book that has won a Hugo. In addition, books are now being judged as much by the author as by the story. That, too, is intensely political. If you happen to be a white, male, Baby-boomer, you're completely wasting your time if you pick up a Hugo winning and probably even a Hugo-nominated book.



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I Am a Truck

I Am a Truck by Michelle Winters

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This was an interesting book. The characters were a little strange but that just makes things interesting. I suppose the moral - if there was one - was to look to the future and not get bogged down in the past.

Much of the dialog is in French mixed with a few words of English but even with my rudimentary High School French I had no difficulty and only once had to resort to Google Translate to get me through.

The thing about fiction is that it's just that - make believe. However if something close to a reader's experience is altered without an explanation it tends to grate. So, for example, aliens landing in the local park is just fine. I've never experienced that but I can accept it as a possibility. Likewise, a story set in a land of elves, dwarves, goblins and other fantastical creatures is also acceptable because it is so remote. But if a character drops a raw egg on the floor and the shell doesn't break that doesn't seem likely. In the case of this book, one of the characters is struck straight on by an eighteen-wheeler traveling at highway speeds and survives. I found that to be too unbelievable for comfort. Nevertheless, outside of that one thing, the story is well crafted and quite enjoyable.

This book was on the short list for a Giller Prize. I think that's stretching it a bit - or a lot - but it's still enjoyable and worth reading.



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Salajeeb!

Salajeeb!

This is my latest book. It is the third in the Buck Slade series that started with 'Life is a Longshot' and continued with 'Tigers and Terrorists'. Although a series, each book can be read by itself because the plot isn't continued.

A political group from a little-known Middle-Eastern country called Salajeeb has abducted the premier of Ontario! But why would they possibly want him? Join Buck Slade and his team as they travel to a far-off country where intrigue and danger seem to lurk in every corner and behind every bush. Can they rescue the Premier? Does anyone want them to? Take a look and find out!

Perhaps another half-hour passed and then a different flight attendant came by.
“We’ll be serving our in-flight meal shortly,” she said, “Would you prefer fish or chicken?”
“Chicken,” said Bobby.
“Okay,” she replied making a note on her pad.
“Uh, can I have chips with that?”
“I’m sorry sir but the vegetables are standard. We only have mashed potatoes.”
“Oh, Okay.”
“And you sir?” she asked looking at me.
“I’ll have the chicken as well.”
She noted that and then said, “Uh, do you think I should wake up the gentleman beside you to take his order?”
I turned and looked at my seatmate. He face had taken on a noticeably grey pallor.
“No I don’t think so. I think he’s dead.”
Her face brightened, “Oh good, we were starting to run short of the chicken.”
“Right.”
“I mean it wouldn’t be so bad if he ordered fish but almost everyone seems to want chicken.”
“I quite understand. His being dead will make your life easier.”
“Exactly.”
“Pity more people couldn’t follow his example.”
She nodded, “You’re absolutely right. The dead ones are always our best passengers.”

Transit

Transit by Rachel Cusk

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

A woman has a number of encounters with friends, family and tradespeople. That's it. That's the entire plot of this book. Nothing happens. We learn so little about the narrator that the author might as well have written the book in the third person. The characters we meet are sketched out lightly. We might learn a few things about them but precious little. I have no idea why the author even bothered to write this book.

One gets the impression that the author believes that all the characters - and possibly the entire world - is deep to the point of being utterly inexplicable. Then she turns over rocks for a couple of hundred pages while examining, with a biologists intensity, and a scientist's objectivity, what she finds under them. This isn't a story. At best it's an author's sketch pad or perhaps a fictional diary. The entire book is an illusion of intellectual discovery. I do not recommend it to anyone who opens a book and expects to find something of a plot between the covers.

Transit was a runner-up for 2017 Giller Award thereby demonstrating the depth to which Canadian Literature has sunk. I enjoy Canadian Literature. I've enjoyed books by Margret Atwood, Margret Lawrence and even Mordecai Richler. They wrote stories. Transit is nothing more than intellectual twaddle spread over a number of pages.

Okay let's be fair. The author may not say anything but she is a sufficiently qualified wordsmith that she says nothing in a manner that is very pleasant. Her words are almost hypnotic. They flow nicely. Reading this book is much like listening to music. It may not mean much but it sounds good.

Many of the reviews on Goodreads are positive so some people clearly enjoyed it. It may be that a younger audience would make up Ms. Cusk's target audience. I could easily imagine myself, back when I was in university, sitting around with a group of friends discussing the deep impenetrable mysteries of the universe and the meaning of life as laid out in books such as this. That was before it was known to be 42. Referencing this sort of thing, we'd attempt to demonstrate that we were dark troubled souls of great sensitivity - mostly in the vain hope that we'd get laid but we didn't dare admit to that sort of thing. So by all means, if you are filled with the torments of adolescent angst, this book will provide you with a number of quotes that might make you seem deep and introspective, steeped in the nihilism of postmodernism. Those who are past that sort of thing might be better off finding something else to read.



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Turbo Twenty-Three

Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

With Janet Evanovich you know what you're getting before you start page one. Some don't like that. I do. I don't read Ms. Evanovich for her deep insight into the human condition. I read her books for fun and she delivers quite nicely. Being part of the mystery genre there is always a murder and frequently a few of them. In this case the first murder is particularly innovative and I thought it was a great idea. As always, there are quirky characters - the regulars within Stephanie's family and the various skips she is pursuing.

I don't know if Janet Evanovich earns enough money from book sales but if she doesn't, she has a brilliant career in marketing that she could exploit. If she received income from product placement - particularly junk food - she could become rich. It is impossible to get through one of her books without craving fried chicken, pizza and, of course, donuts. In this book she added ice-cream to her repetoire.

Turbo Twenty-Three contains many of the same tropes that appear in all the other books. There are a few pithy comments and a couple of laugh-out-loud comments provided by Lulu. I enjoyed it and I think those who are fans of Evanovich and this series will enjoy this one as well.



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