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Marshall McLuhan by Douglas Coupland

Back in 1995-1996, during my first year as a student at Uppsala University, while over at a friend’s place doing calculus assignments conversation strayed away from the integrals to an ad in a newspapers beside us on the table. It was a full-page ad for the Swedish postal service. (Back then Sweden actually had a postal service, with offices; but that is another story). I can not remember what the ad actually said, just that it had some text, probably a logo, and (in the background) the page was full of ones and zeros. Binary.

Nerds as we were we started joking about if the code actually meant something, or if it was just filled in to make the whole thing look more cyber (as the ironic lingo went back then). Our guess was the latter one. In any case, just for fun we took a sequence of 8 bits at random and converted to base ten. It didn’t make any sense so we shifted it one bit at time and repeated until we got a value that corresponded to an alphanumeric character in the ASCII table. (Yes, we knew the table more or less by heart, as I said, we were nerds, and proud.) Then, we checked the next byte. It did actually correspond to another letter. The whole thing was a text. It said, over, and over: the medium is the message the medium is the message the medium is the message…

This was how I experienced the legacy of Marshall McLuhan for the first time. It would be some years before I learned more about his work. After the wow-factor of the discovery wore off, and we found out that the message was due to some guy called McLuhan, we went back to our calculus.

Now Douglas Coupland has published a biography of McLuhan for Penguin’s Extraordinary Canadians series. I thought it was a must read when I saw it in my local book shop a couple of weeks ago so I picked it up and read it almost in one session. I currently live in the same city as Coupland, and could do with some more knowledge of other famous Canadians as well.

The book is set almost as a journey through Marshall’s life, from early childhood to death. Coupland seeks to describe the phenomenon McLuhan though life events, biology, and family. The thesis is that Marshall McLuhan was exactly the right man at the right time to channel the ideas, understand them and formulate them. If there had been no McLuhan someone else would have presented the same ideas Coupland writes – but it may have taken many years more.

Without knowing anything about the real McLuhan, I get the impression that the biography strives to be honest and balanced. It presents McLuhan as a human being. Maybe wired in his own special way; but a person with both faults and virtues. The book strives to not only explain Marshall’s genius and motivations but also his ideas, and in true Douglas Coupland fashion this is not only achieved trough what can be called the semantics, but also using form and syntax.

While Coupland deserves credit for the text, Penguin deserves similar praise for the design, typesetting, and form of the hardback edition I bought (yes, I know, hardback from Penguin…). It is simply beautiful, and very pleasant to handle and read. From the type up to form and paper.

On the negative side I feel the book might be somewhat too shallow, a bit too short. More could have been said about Marshall’s work and theories for instance. On the other hand, that would have made the book much more dense, and probably not so easily accessible. There are probably much more complete works on Marshall McLuhan’s teachings elsewhere, but not written in the same style.

All in all I think that Douglas Coupland make an excellent job of conveying both the character McLuhan, and the effects of his work. After reading the biography I am more convinced than ever that I should try to find some time to study the work of McLuhan, inaccessible as they may be.

Marshall McLuhan by Douglas Coupland is an entertaining, interesting and easy to read biography of a great Canadian. I felt I learned something.

.L

By the way. A short while after the ad-decoding, after another calculus assignment, the same friend borrowed me a book called Microserfs. I had never heard of the author, but I once I started, I read the book in one session.

Posted 13 June 2010 † lukas § Reviews ‡ Comments (0) °

Bike build

I spent some of my spare time during the spring at the UBC bike kitchen, building a bike from parts. I realized that the bicycle has been my primary vehicle for the last 15 years or so, but that I couldn’t do much more than fix a flat tire. Figuring that the best way to learn was to get my hands dirty I bought an used frame, and a mismatching fork for a few dollars and started going to a build your own bike class.

It was loads of fun  and I learned a lot!

I tried to recycle as much used stuff as I could by scavenging the workshop-bins for used parts, or buying second-hand around Vancouver. I did end up using some new parts as well, either because I could not find a suitable used part in time, or because (for the wheels and break pads) it felt safer: the  wheels are new (the rear one I built from scratch, with new rim and spokes, but with a used hub), as are the tires, and the cranks for instance. Derailleurs, seat, frame, fork, brakes (not the pads of course), handlebars, and a lot of other parts where second-hand though. Trying to rummage around for good but used parts was really fun!

Yes, I would like to build a second bike. There is so much I learned and that I would like to improve. My first build did not turn out the most ergonomic one, though it is really fun to ride, so I want to have another go. Keeping my eyes open for a nice used frame and some funky parts. Doesn’t seem to be any rush this time.

Some picture below with details in the captions.

.L

Posted 01 June 2010 † lukas § Personal ‡ Comments (0) °

Computer Game – Digital: A love story

I have fond memories of playing computer games on the Amiga 500.  Trying to learn programming all by myself. Nowadays, programming is something  I do daily, but it does not have the same appeal. Gaming I don’t do as often however. I do not know why. Lack of time, and also a lack of good stories I think. It was always the stories for me. That is why I learned how to program. To tell stories. More than the graphics.

Last week I did however play a game. I played it from start to finish in two evenings. Captivated. Not that it is that long, but it is very entertaining. It is called Digital: a love story, and is available for free under a CC license for Linux, Windows and Mac OS.

It is “set 5 minutes into the future of 1988″ and it does in some magical way capture just the feeling computer had for me back then. All of it is set on the Amie Workbench, intentionally very similar to Amiga Workbench 1.3. I saw the mouse pointer and a big wave of nostalgia swept over me. Then came the chip tune music.

Still the best thing is the simple but sweet story. It is an adventure game where you start your new Amie computer for the first time and find out that you can log into BBSes (Buletin Board Systems; Wikipedia link if you weren’t around back then). So you phone up a system (in game), and you can read messages from other users on the BBS.

I spent a few minutes in that sea of nostalgia reading the few messages I saw on the first BBS, recognizing the language and the style, wishing the world could be like that again. Replying (this is easy, just click reply. The game mechanics acts as if you wrote something fitting into the story) and poking around. Then I got some replies to my replies, and a very nice little story was unfolding.

Christine Love, who wrote Digital, has gotten the language of the posts very time-typical of computer systems of the late 80ies and early 90ies, and it does convey a feeling that I have not had in years. A memory of when computers were somehow still mysterious and exciting. When there were still things to know and figure out. Not only the text is well researched and have the right tone. Also the game itself, and how it plays fits well into the time. There are some repetitive tasks, such as typing in the phone numbers of the BBSes and logging in that logically did not have to be there, but that remind me so very much about how games and systems were back then. They must have been planned!

Well, I know I am on a nostalgia trip. But seriously, what I like the most about Digital: a love story is that even though the game is simple the story itself is captivating and shows that you do not need a lot of fancy graphics and a huge team of developers to construct possibly one of the best games of the year.

.L

Posted 11 May 2010 † lukas § Reviews ‡ Comments (0) °

Useful Software: Todoist

I have to confess that I am not a typical todo-list person. I wish I was, but as with much else I lack the discipline… even to make todo-lists.

I do try however, and I found that a digital version of my list of things to fix, stored up somewhere in the cloud is pretty neat.  There is a bunch of them out there of course, and I have to admit I have not even looked at most of them. I stumbled on todoist a couple of years back and has been using it since.

The key feature of this software, lacking in many other similar applets is the possibility to construct hierarchical lists. For persons like me who might write down “Build  simulation system for <something or other>”… or “Construct telescope” as a thing to do; and then realize that this is a one year project… that can be divided into a number of sub-projects, each one with a set of tasks to be accomplished… well, a hierarchy-feature is worth a lot. Very good to write down ideas and projects.

Tasks can also be colour coded, sorted, seached and, time stamped. I use some of these features. Not all.

Another nice feature is todoist-anywhere which is a javascript thingy that plugs in to the browser bookmark bar, and also integrates into gmail. Thus, there is no need to keep a todoist tab open the whole time.

All in all I am quite happy with the software. It is free of course, and rather useful. As I wrote above, I did not do any survey on todo-software, but until I discover something even better I can only recommend this one.

.L

Posted 12 March 2010 † lukas § Everything else ‡ Comments (0) °

Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine

I read Last Chance to See almost 20 years ago. In Swedish. The translation had just arrived to the small library next to my school. As someone who just had gotten his first bite of the Hitchhiker’s, I saw the name of Douglas Adams on the front page and grabbed it. I never regretted that. In fact I think it is some of the best I ever read by Adams. Maybe just because it isn’t as well known.

Yesterday I finished it again. (This time in English.) Passing through London a month ago I was overjoyed to see it back in print. (I have been keeping my eye out for a copy for some years.) I can say it is still as good – no even better – as I now read it in original language.

The book is about endangered species.   In the late 1980s Douglas Adams and co-author Marc Carwardine made a handful of trips to places around the world to trying locate and report on the status of some of the most endangered and fantastic animals. From Komodo dragons to the now famous Kakapo‘s of New Zealand. They also made a series of radio shows for BBC I believe, though I have still to listen to them.

Not only the animals, but also the trips themselves are described in Adams remarkable and witty style of writing. The book manages to capture the very unique thing about each species as well as the serious danger they are in; all while being extremely funny. I find my self in fact giggling when reading it; which in some cases, like on the bus, actually may be even more alarming to other people around me than laughing out loud. Not that the book did not make me laugh mind you. There was plenty of that as well.

In fact I remember that after reading Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy – and subsequently everything else that Adams had written – my own style of writing was very much influenced by that. I wanted to try to be just as funny, finding just that special absurd and special form of humor. If I ever was on the right track I am afraid I surely have lost it in the jungle of academic manuscript writing. Maybe I should go look for it again. I will be darned  I think that academic writings could just use a little more Adams!

Anyway, the purpose of the book is clearly not only to entertain. It does point out some of the more alarming facts about the possible extinction of many unique species. The title is no joke either, when Adams and Carwardine went on their trips more than 20 years ago there were just a handful individuals of each species left. Since then at least one, the Baiji – Yangtze river dolphin, has gone extinct.

When I read the book the first time it opened my eyes  to the problems of extinction and conservation beyond pandas and blue whales. Last chance to see was well worth re-reading now 20 years later. It is still as important as ever. Although I believe the problems are more widely know now. It may be said that Last chance is not thorough in some way or other, maybe not covering all endangered species (unfortunately next to impossible). It doesn’t matter because it is so very well written. Both serious and extremely witty. A disarming, yet serious introduction to an important subject.  I can only recommend it!

I guess the reprint  due, at least partially to the 20 year anniversary of the book, but also to the new BBC television series. Here Carwardine  in the company of Stephen Fry try to find out what happened to the species in the original book. This TV series is really worth to watch as well if you have the chance. Carwardine is very knowledgeable, and Fry is as charming as always. Brilliant in fact!

But as always: read the book first!

.L

Posted 11 February 2010 † lukas § Reviews ‡ Comments (0) °

Useful software: Mendeley

First out on my text on useful software then is Mendeley. This is a rather handy application to help organize and manage academic articles and manuscripts. The developers behind Mendeley describes it as itunes for research papers… though I never liked itunes I find this specific piece of software very useful.

Like many other researchers I used to organize preprints and papers in a hierarchy of folders named after authors and years. Then I strived to have a global bibtex file in synch with this.  Though, I am kind of lazy (also like many others, but of this I can only speculate) and usually nothing was ever up to date. The bibtex files got old; the PDFs named with whatever name they were given from the content system where I downloaded them, and so on. It was a file structure version of my student room in Flogsta, Uppsala, back around 1995: somewhat untidy with no improvements in sight (though the flat at that time also had a sofa smelling like cat urine, and a toilet looking like it needed a shave; but I digress).  I had been toying with the idea of writing some scripts that parsed the whole directory structure and cleaned things up a bit… but well, those things take time.

I had a quick look around the web for software, and found quite a few web-based applications to organize papers and references. While many of them looked nice enough, I am not always on line with my laptop. When I am travelling I sometime find it convenient to have access to my references without the Net. I wanted a desktop application. At the same time, it needed to be able to synch with my workstation at the university where I do most of my work. I was not very optimistic about finding a software with those features ready.

Then a couple of colleagues independently tipped me off about Mendeley. I tried it, and it actually does what I want, and works quite well!

Mendeley screen shot

Screen shot from Mendeley Desktop 0.9.5.2; The leftmost pane contains categories; in the middle the articles in a certain category is shown; and to the right are tabs with user notes and bibliography data. Double clicking on an article will bring up a PDF viewer if a copy of the article is associated with the entry.

It knows how to parse PDF files so that it can import bibliography data directly from a paper you have on the hard drive. In my case I imported my whole directory structure, then it was only a couple of hours work to fix the few errors where it had gotten facts wrong. The software can also search for information on a title in google scholar, and other databases to find relevant bibliography data. This feature works quite well, though not perfect. Still it is a very useful feature.

PDF files can be associated with bibliography entries so that if you have a preprint of an article you can easily tag it to the entry. Though entries do not need to have a file of course, and more practically it can just contain the web address of the document.

To synchronize the data between different computers one can create an account at www.Mendeley.com, and the software will automatically upload any new bibliography information. PDF files are not synchronized by default, partially because one only have a limited space on the Mendeley servers, and also for legal reasons one can assume. In any case, the bibliography data is the important thing here. In fact, one may actually add entries and edit the bibliography data only using the web interface if one so desire. Quite useful sometimes.
Mendeley also knows how to interact with many of on line academic publishers and digital libraries, so that one can import directly from the browser. Unfortunately this functionality did not work perfectly last time I checked  but it is not a major problem for me, and there seems to be improved versions of the software released quite often.

I should also mention that Mendeley can (if ordered to) rename and arrange all PDF files on disc in a directory structure (so that you don’t have to do it yourself). It can also keep a global bibtex file up to date with all the entries. I really appreciate that this information is mirrored in the file system and not in a crazy database some where (even if Mendeley has those as well). I probably should note that one is also able to export to OpenOffice and even use it with Word. Though I do not use any of these for scientific publication (as it would drive me mad!!) so I have not tried those features.

There are many other useful features such as creating categories, and sharing bibliographies with other Mendeley users and so on. Too much to write to go in to, but I find most of them easy to access and the interface intuitive.

Using the software is free. Though I believe there is a pay-for web account with more space, but I may remember just that piece of information wrongly, as I am not using it. Though I have to say that I could imagine paying for this software, I like it that much.

Mendeley is available for Linux, MacOSX, and Windows, which is quite nice. It is not, however, Open Source. This is a bit sad, because I think that some of the early bugs still in the code would be fixed by now, more features added, and that would also make me a bit less worried about having versions that will run on my computer in the future. Still, it is important to point out that most of the important data can be automatically exported to well known formats as the software works. This makes it easy to change to another software, and the data is relatively easy to interpret, if Mendeley is discontinued or if I find something better.

Thus far however I am very pleased with Mendeley, it really fixed a potential problem for me and I do not think I will stop using it any time soon!

.L

Posted 05 February 2010 † lukas § Reviews ‡ Comments (0) °

Useful things and high tech stuff

What defines something useful, and what defines something truly high tech? As for the last, I have gradually come to, regard electric devices as high technology. It might be that I have been working with computers since my early teenage years, but I think that it has to do with the fact that electronic gizmos are so commonplace nowadays. Everyone has them. And then, if a new laptop with slightly more memory and a fancier design-shell is released. So what? It still does not make it high tech. Not to speak of the potential usefulness.

This is not me trying to be a hipster (or whatever they call them people nowadays). I still like electronic things, and they can be absolutely cutting edge of course. I think what bothers me is elegance. There is a lot of very elegant engineering and research out there, in electronics, devices, and design, but not very much in consumer products any more.

While trying to figure out why, I realized that part of what bothers me is continuous consumption of power. I do not find it elegant. A device that only uses energy to change states, is more appealing to than something that require power to stay turned on. I think that is the essence of it. Maybe that is why I find e-ink displays to be some of the most potent and useful technologies on the consumer market today. Or maybe it is just because I am a book worm? Why knows?

Then we have devices that only require energy when assembled, but that is still very high technology. Like novel materials for instance. New bicycle design, new glasses, new running shoes, new swim suits. Very, very high tech, but still not requiring external power once it is produced (though it is outside the topic right now I do think we should include the full energy cost of the product. Some of the examples I gave are probably both expensive to produce and recycle in an energy/environmental framework).

In general, useful things are: good software that make my life easier, good long lasting equipment, recycled things, and high technology that improve on things in stead of just being new.   Yes, I know, I just wrote software. Something that clearly can not run without a continuous stream of electricity on the computers of today. I don’t know why I still find some software elegant and more than a tool. Maybe because I think of them as disembodied algorithms? Who knows?

On a related topic: I have been thinking of writing reviews (or rather short texts) on useful – but maybe less known – things for some time now, but never really gotten around to it. I mean, I do it for books, so why not other things? I guess the above writings started out as an introduction to that series of texts, and then just went wildly off topic. Just because one finds something useful does not mean it has to be elegant. Still the text shall not escape its purpose, and will hereby be the introduction to a short list on things I find good!

.L

Posted 04 February 2010 † lukas § Everything else ‡ Comments (0) °

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

Anathem is probably the best piece of fiction I read last year (2009). I like Neal Stephenson‘s work. Read the classics Snow Crash, and Cryptonomicon some years ago, and the lack of time is the reason I have not gotten through Baroque cycle yet.  I was really glad when I found the time for the shorter Anathem  recently. My expectations were high. I was not disappointed.

The book is set on a planet not unlike earth, but clearly not earth. History has taken a different course, and for a few thousand years on Arbre (the name of the planet) gifted people live in a cloistered environment called a concent. The facilities are gated and almost completely sealed from the outside world. Concents are only open to the outside world at certain times, every single, tenth, hundredth, or every thousand years. The scholars staying there live a simple life.

The arrangement is historical in order to separate technology and science. As a protection after some very horrible events in wars long ago. Theory is developed within the walls and technology on the outside. The cosed gates limit the pace theoretical knowledge reach the world outside. Thus the outside world has technology and engineering, but no basic science, while on the inside are not allowed to know the implementation of anything but the simplest tools. The life style is maintained by rules and rituals.

The story is told by Erasmas, a young man just about to finish his first 10 year term within the walls, and preparing for a week in the out side world before the gates will be shut anew. At first Stephenson let us follow cloistered life work for Erasmas and his fellow scholars. Soon the story changes however. Something is happening in the outside world, and inside the walls some people know something. It develops to an exciting adventure story with many philosophical elements. This is not classic science fiction, neither an adventure story. It is something more. Perhaps one could coin it metaphysical fiction, or science adventure.

In a way the themes in Anathem is a natural continuation of Neal Stephenson’s earlier work (even though I am not sure they were written in publication order). From the cyberpunk in Snow Crash, providing insights into virtual worlds and the information theory themes of Cryptonomicon, one can trace Stephenson’s interest to scientific history. Enter the Baroque cycle. Next it is natural to look at some philosophical implications. Like the Leibniz metaphysics and for that matter Plato’s world of ideal forms; touching the discussion of conciousness and the multiverse. It may seem strange that it is possible to tie this in to a fiction book as Anathem, but the result is good.

I still have to figure out many of the references to philosophy and mathematics that appear in the text. Though Stephenson provides a list of sources which will come in handy. One source of inspiration throughout the book that I did recognize is the thoughts of Roger Penrose, especially his book the Emperor’s new Mind. Stephenson acknowledges him directly in the appendix appendix, but there there are by references to tiling problems in the story as a hint to Penrose.

Another impressive thing with Anathem is the language. While still writing in English, Stephenson manages to introduce new words, or rather new forms and spelling in a way so to convey a feeling exotic languages while still making perfect sense in English. So the book reads like the languages of Arbre in a way. This technique is very different from how alien languages is treated in some other fantasy/sci-fi books I have read; where it seems that the only purpose of a language is to sound strange and exist outside English. Instead Stephenson has mastered the art of extending English. The result is superb!

If I need to point out something negative with the book it is that ending  just sneak up on you without any actual narrative climax in a way. The story is fascinating, and the plot develops. Then you realize the book is over. It somehow give the feeling of a series of events. However, the journey is more important than the destination, and there is nothing wrong with the ending. Just the sudden appearance.

Whether you are interested in physics, math, philosophy of reality, or  adventures, Anathem is food for thought. Now, if you are interested in all of the above then it is great literature.

.L

Posted 13 January 2010 † lukas § Reviews ‡ Comments (0) °

The Taltos books (due to reading up to Jhegaala)

During the autumn I read the last instalment in Stephen Brust‘s Vlad Taltos series: Jhegaala. Again I put off the review due to work and life, but when I started to write it up this morning I realised that I should probably write up a bit on the whole book series as this is the 11th book. Thus this is more a review of the complete series up to Jhegaala more than on that specific book.

The books tells the life of said Vlad Taltos and is set in a very intriguing futuristic fantasy world. Humans are a minority in the mighty Dragaeran empire where most of the books are set. Vladimir Taltos is one of the few humans (called easterners by the Dragaerans – who logically consider themselves human – though considered ‘elfs’ by the easteners [our kind of human]) not living the life of a second class citizen. He is an assassin when the series start; working for one of the houses of said empire. The series of books follow his life and deeds.

Does this sound like a standard fantasy introduction to you? Yes, I realize that. It probably is! But it is pure entertainment. One of the reasons why I am reluctant to read fiction is not that I consider it a waste of time, but because some fiction books can get me hooked. Hooked in a very unhealthy way. This happened a lot when I was a child and teenager. I remember reading Robin Hood, Treasure island, and The Hobbit in class by sneaking them among my school books (and imagining that my teacher did not see. I guess she did, but figured that it was better that I was reading than staring out of the window daydreaming – my other main occupation during classes at that time). As a teenager I used to stay up very, very late reading. I just could not put down the book until it was done. I developed an interest in other things as self preservation one could say.

Anyway, the Taltos series hooks me in that way. My friend Bastian borrowed me the first couple of books for a weekend a few years back.  I read both in one session. Then begged him for the rest, and have been following it since.

What get me so focused on the Taltos books is mostly the way the world is presented, that Brust hints at future events and build a world structure that is more interfered by the reader than actually outspoken. Something alike the planting of clues by Rowling in the Harry Potter books of, or the  conjuring of a (almost) stringent – though fantastic – Discworld by Pratchett. Not that the style of the Vlad Taltos books are anything like, or even a combination, of those two bodies of work, but they are probably books read by many, so you will get my meaning. Brust has his very own style. Or should I say styles, because it keeps changing, especially between the early books. It is like Brust is trying out different ways of telling the stories, writing in different narrative modes, and borrowing from many genres.

This could give the impression that the books are somewhat unpolished, however I believe it an illusion; Brust is merely trying out styles and paying homage to the classic literature that inspired him. From detective stories, and pulp crime fiction, to classic adventure stories e.g. The three musketeers. Of course it is impossible that all books have the same quality, and in my view a few of them are not as compelling as the others (though still good). The funny thing is that it seem that other friends that have read the books does agree on this, but not on which books we like more or less. Guess that is a good sign.

You are probably somewhat annoyed that I said so little of the story up until now. I just do not know what to tell you without giving too much away. The series is up to 11 books now, and counting (with the addition of a few other works by Brust set in the same world). It is far from finished, but there is no direct epic theme or quest set through the whole volume, as in for instance Jordan’s The Wheel of time. There is simply stories, and episodes from Vlad’s (very exciting and adventurous) life, but during the course of the books one start to sense something bigger in the background. That is what make it so thrilling.

I could not say if Brust planned it this way or if he just make it up as he goes, but in any case it is quite entertaining. And entertainment is the word best describing the books. Rarely does he comment on our own world (as the tradition is in Science Fiction) or, as stated above, set up a multi-volume epic quest in the first books (as is too common in fantasy). Simply said the only major quest line is the mental development of Vladimir Taltos. Brust writes in a way that entertain, stimulates my need to see something bigger working in the background, and at the same time make me enjoy the reading quite some.

So, just now I managed to write quite a bit of text after reading Jhegaala, without saying anything of the book itself. Just about the series, and I haven’t even said what that is about! Sad I know. Well, I just can not without giving some of the story away. Vlad travel east to the land of humans, outside the empire. This is due to some events that happened in some earlier books, but before some others that has already been told as well, and does explain some things hinted at in those books.

Don’t go an buy it just yet though. Or rather do that, but then also buy the 10 previous books as well and read them in the order they were published (this is often a topic of argument when it comes to the Taltos books as they are not published in chronological order, though I do insist that you read  them in the order they were published.  The first book, Jhereg, was published already in 1983, but has since then been reprinted as part of the collection of the first three books bearing almost the same name.  Might be a good place to start. Work your way forward in publication order from there (and don’t expect Teckla [unrelated this is not one of my favorites], the last part of the Jhereg collection, to conclude anything  – the story continues, you need to read the rest of the books as well).

Finally: I can not remember if this is the case in all books, but some of my memories of the last few books is Brust’s uncanny talent for describing food and cooking. I have never been so hungry for proper food while reading before, nor so close to ever start drinking coffee.

.L

Posted 28 December 2009 † lukas § Reviews ‡ Comments (0) °

Ringworld by Larry Niven

Better late then …

My book reading has declined with as I have been getting back into the never ending flood of scientific articles competing compete for my attention. Funny enough, it has not declined as much as my apparent lack of writing even short reviews here. Sad. I have, in fact, been able to read some fiction during the autumn, but been to lazy to write any updates. I hope to remedy this right now by catching up on some of the books.

In September or so I felt like reading some science fiction again, and maybe even catch up on a classic. Said and done, I went out and grabbed Ringworld, a book I have been looking at it in the book shops for years but never picked it up. Larry Niven’s work is known as a masterpiece, and has inspired a lot of later literature.

The main protagonist is Louis Wu, human inhabitant of earth, some time in the future is contacted by a Puppeteer – one of the few alien races that the earthlings have had any contact with – called Nessus. The alien want Louis to help him mount an expedition. The destination is not imminently clear, but the puppeteer is very specific on the type of crew members he want. Louis and Nessus are in time joined by Speaker-To-Animals, from a race that has been at war with humanity several times, and by Teela Brown – a human chosen for her luck. The book tells of their journey and exploration of the distant Ringworld.

In my opinion this is an old school science fiction story, and I mean that in the absolute best possible way. Exploration and ideas has priority over the intrigues. Do not misunderstand me, there is a solid, well written story there and the character interaction is very nice. However, what impress me the most is the grandiosity of the ideas that is presented in the book, and how said characters and story is used to present them. The main concept might be the Ringworld itself. Inspired by the Dyson sphere it is one of those fantastic ideas that seems – at least ot me – to be one of the marks of the science fiction classics of the 1960′s and 1970′s. The exploration of what lies ahead of humankind through great fiction and great thinking.

There are a few passages where the age of the text shows. Ringworld was first published 40 years ago. For instance the time frame for some evolutionary ideas seem kind of short in my opinion. On the other hand 40 years ago genetic science was brand new. That is part of science fiction aging proces, and more importantly the idea is still as fascinating.

I would really recommend this book as one of the classics in SF literature. Why not pick it up on your next flight? It will be worth it, guaranteed. Ah, and if you, your kids, your workmate or any other gamer thought that Halo world came out of nowhere… read it!

.L
Posted 15 December 2009 † lukas § Reviews ‡ Comments (0) °