Осінь в Києві

Review: Голова змія

Голова змія by Łukasz Orbitowski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Цікавий сучасний польський письменник, який за допомогою містики та темного міського фентезі переосмислює неврози, з якими стикнулося польське суспільство при переході від соціалізму до капіталізму. Саме це, гадаю, може бути особливо цікавим для українського читача.

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Review: The Mongoliad: Book One

The Mongoliad: Book One by Neal Stephenson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really like Stephenson and he did a good job here, with this era and area of special interest for me.

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Review: Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy

Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy by Francis Fukuyama
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting and gives a nudge to thinking over many current processes in my country.

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Review: Quantum Night

Quantum Night by Robert J. Sawyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quite an interesting attempt to describe a quantum hypothesis of consciousness through the prism of SF, adding thrill with a psychopath tematics.

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Review: Behemoth: Seppuku

Behemoth: Seppuku by Peter Watts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One fascinating piece of hard SF. Strongly recommend!

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Review: The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution

The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution by Francis Fukuyama
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just finished first volume, since the prehistoric times to the French Revolution. Not saying I learned something cardinally new, but it's a decent book with good examples of political development of different nations.

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Review: Франческа. Володарка офіцерського жетона

Франческа. Володарка офіцерського жетона by Дорж Бату
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Прочитав з великим задоволенням.

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Review: Starfish

Starfish by Peter Watts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"A starfish," Acton tells her, "is the ultimate democracy."

Clarke stares, quietly repelled.

"This is how they move," Acton is saying. "They walk along on all these tube feet. But the weird thing is, they have no brains at all. Not surprising for a democracy."

Rows of squirming maggots. A forest of translucent leeches, groping blindly into the water.

"So there's nothing to coordinate the tube feet, they all move independently. Usually that's not a problem; they all tend to go towards food, for example. But it's not unusual for a third of these feet to be pulling in some other direction entirely. The whole animal's a living tug-o-war. Sometimes, some really stubborn tube feet just don't give up, and they literally get torn out at the roots when the others move the body someplace they don't want to go. But hey: majority rules, right?"

Many readers of hard SF know Watts by Blindsight, but his first major book is definitely worth reading.

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Review: De kracht van het paradijs: Hoe Europa kan overleven in de Aziatische Eeuw

De kracht van het paradijs: Hoe Europa kan overleven in de Aziatische Eeuw by Jonathan Holslag
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

В українському перекладі: «Сила раю. Як Європа може бути попереду в азійському сторіччі». Книга голландського вченого Йонатана Голслаха малює доволі сутужну картину сучасного Європейського Союзу, особливо коли це дається в комплекті з виразними описами глобальних викликів та небезпек, що вже чатують на європейську цивілізацію. Втім автор висловлює обережний оптимізм та наводить кілька рецептів, які, на його думку, можуть зарадити справі. Книга дещо розтягнута, як на мене, забагато "води". Але можливо це моє бачення, як людини, що постійно читає щось про ЄС та про глобальну політику. Українцям буде корисно вивчити такий "погляд з середини" на ЄС, без демонізації чи ідеалізації спільноти, з якою так багато хто з нас пов'язує певні надії.

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Review: The Ghost Brigades

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A very interesting SF novel, the second book of the Old Man's War cycle. A lot of interesting reflections on the consciousness and its possible discrepancy with the intelligence. Reminded me Blindsight by Peter Watts - both books were published the same 2006 year so it's hardly one influenced the other.

"Why would knowing they lack consiousness matter to them?" Jared asked.
"Why did knowing that she couldn't eat from the tree of knowledge matter to Eve?" Boutin said.

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Review: Забуті історії міст: як багатство та культурний розвиток здобуваються толерантністю

Забуті історії міст: як багатство та культурний розвиток здобуваються толерантністю by Ari Turunen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An interesting collection of historical essays on several illustrious cities, from antiquity to modernity, which reinforces, in general, a fairly simple idea: an open inclusive society contributes to the development of trade, science and art, which, in turn, makes such a society richer more attractive.

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Review: The Post-American World

The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's funny to observe how overwhelmingly things changed in a decade after this publication. As the saying goes: 'If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.' Though even as US became more imperial with a new unexpected president, and all hopes for the democratisation of Russia are in ruins with the actual revival of the Cold War atmosphere - the moral idea of the book, if I may to use this characteristic, is still so much appealing: for US, as the single superpower of our globe, to lead not with fear and isolation, but with openness and inspiration.


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Review: The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy

The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy by Daniel A. Bell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It has long been a generally accepted fact that we live in an era of crisis of liberal representative democracy. The China model is an attempt to analyze a political alternative to the classical Western democracy: a meritocratic system which is used for many years now in China by the ruling Communist Party. While the author himself recognizes the fact that it is highly doubtful for the Western population to accept any other system than 'one person - one vote' (even facing the dismayal incompetency of the democratically elected populists), this book could be a thought provoking insight into the alternative ways of political thinking, something that could become - who knows? - an escape from the current cul-de-sac of the Western electoral policies.

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Review: A Legacy of Spies

A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“I’m a European, Peter. If I had a mission – if I was ever aware of one beyond our business with the enemy, it was to Europe. If I was heartless, I was heartless for Europe. If I had an unattainable ideal, it was of leading Europe out of her darkness towards a new age of reason. I have it still.”
― John le Carré, A Legacy of Spies

A swansong of George Smiley with these beautiful words in the end. I couldn't agree more.

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Review: Intelligent Research Design: A Guide for Beginning Researchers in the Social Sciences

Intelligent Research Design: A Guide for Beginning Researchers in the Social Sciences by Bob Hancke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In this quite short book the author managed to give more than a couple of good advices on the academic writing, especially methodology. If you are interested in a PhD or preparation of a scientific paper, this is definitely your reading.

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Review: The Spy Who Came In from the Cold

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An immortal classics of a spy thriller from the true knight of the cloak and dagger, John le Carré (nom de plume of David Cornwell, an agent of the British intelligence service). As always, written in beautiful English, intriguing and capturing. This novel put a high standart for the spy literature and was brilliantly screen adapted with a iconic Richard Burton as a main character.

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Review: The Man with the Poison Gun: A Cold War Spy Story

The Man with the Poison Gun: A Cold War Spy Story by Serhii Plokhy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The study of the Cold War history which fascinates you like a spy thriller. Detailed, grounded on many various sources, this account of a clandestine war waged by Kremlin in Soviet times would be definitely interesting for those who oppose Moscow nowadays, as times may change but their methods stay the same, if not became more ruthless and devious.

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Polar (2019) - blood on the snow

It's not just a brutal gore (though it has enough of it).

It's a philosophical tale of violence and retribution.

The one and only brilliant Mads Mikkelsen, playing main character, goes through the painful transformation, the divine ordalia, as he passes through the hanging and loses his eye, as Odin did, to obtain a new wisdom.

Also, I would like to point out Katheryn Winnick (Катерина Винницька), a Ukrainian from Canada, she did masterfully in Vikings - and now she is very persuasive in the role of Vivian, the exquisite assasine master.

Strongly recommend if you're into such kind of stuff

Review: Lód

Lód by Jacek Dukaj
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Odkryłem dla siebie ciekawego polskiego autora. "Lód" to powieść, w której alternatywna historia i geopolityka spotykają się z głęboką refleksją na temat metafizyki i ludzkiej psychologii. Wszystko to napisane rozrzutnym i fascynującym językiem. Książka zaprasza czytelnika do labiryntu, w którym można spotkać dziwaczne stworzenia.

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Review: Behemoth: The Structure & Practice of National Socialism, 1933-1944

Behemoth: The Structure & Practice of National Socialism, 1933-1944 by Franz Leopold Neumann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Behemoth is one of these books on History that gives you a fresh perspective on the modern events. Neumann made a scrupulous vivisection of the Nazi regime, analyzing it not only as a political scientist but also as a legal scholar. Thousands and thousands of III Reich normative acts, from the edicts of Führer himself to the circulars of local councils (not mentioning the vast and deep analysis of the practice of Nazi judicial system), were weighted in the ruthless academic manner.

The light that was shed on the various techniques of the mass manipulation used by Nazis could definitely be used nowadays to find a path from the abyss of populism in the modern politics.

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