"Matter" by Ian M Banks is a return to his culture universe (a place reminiscent of the UK but after a trillion years of evolution... witty, dry, casually superior to the savages, cultured). I read all of his books the moment they come out. He's created a complete, self-consistent, and at times brutal setting for his characters. Things you can do in the culture? Think about it and start your body shifting from man to woman, lose a leg and regrow it, work because you feel like it, live mostly forever, sublime when you get bored. Things you can do if you're part of special circumstances (understated way to say that you're a part of the culture that is sorta the MI5 or CIA, Peace Corp, Warrior Class)? Shoot laser beams from your fingers, move fast enough to ignite the atmosphere, take over most machines and environments by thinking about it, and generally being a pretty bad a... It is escapism, but hey, once in a while that's what we need, no?
"The Assault On Reason" by Al Gore is a serious indictment of the political system and in some ways the citizenry of America. His claims are brutal and well documented and highlight a decline that has been slowly reducing our ability to talk, think, or act reasonably as a country. Much of it can be attributed to corporations now being treated as citizens (thanks to a supreme court decision from earlier in the century corporations now have freedom of speech and I guess to bear arms too...), the rise of one way communications (TV) focused more on entertaining than enlightening, the move towards constant campaigning instead of governing (instigated by the previous two developments) and the shift from being interested in the best interests of our country to being driven by party ideologies by some less than forthcoming leaders. Is there hope? He thinks so, though we have to hold people accountable, stop focusing more attention on the sensational story du jour (read Anna Nicole Smith, OJ, and the other media created hype machines) than on the fate of our world, and start using two-way methods more deliberately (read internet, public forums, and generally getting off our bums). Depressing, good.
"Brave Story" by Miyuki Miyabe was a long "wizard of oz-style" road movie kinda book, probably aimed at young adults rather than not as young ones. Coming of age fantasy set partly in Japan and partly in an otherworldly place that echoes the best and worst within us.
Other stuff?
Wyclef Jean's new album... Carnival II, is solid, "Once" inspires, Daniel Day Lewis is mesmerizing, and "Be Kind, Rewind" makes me want to go out tomorrow and swede life again. Nuff Said.
No comments:
Post a Comment