Jaime
This was very YA - I might have liked it better as a kid.
This was very YA - I might have liked it better as a kid.
The first half of this book introduced some novel and super-insightful frameworks for thinking about how society works, both on the individual level and at higher orders: the thinking ladder, the emergence tower, the thought pile vs speech curve, political genies vs golems. I kind of want everyone I know to read the first half so I can reference these concepts in any conversation.
The second half takes those frameworks and applies them to evaluating some major issues with the political left and right. I’m not going to attempt to explain them here because I think you need to read the first half of the book to be ready to be open-minded to the (IMO) quite valid concerns he raises.
The book wasn’t perfect - it got a bit bogged down with an over-abundance of supporting evidence in the second half. But it was a pretty enjoyable read (the illustrations add a lot!) and I’ll be thinking about it for a while!
The first half of this book introduced some novel and super-insightful frameworks for thinking about how society works, both on the individual level and at higher orders: the thinking ladder, the emergence tower, the thought pile vs speech curve, political genies vs golems. I kind of want everyone I know to read the first half so I can reference these concepts in any conversation.
The second half takes those frameworks and applies them to evaluating some major issues with the political left and right. I’m not going to attempt to explain them here because I think you need to read the first half of the book to be ready to be open-minded to the (IMO) quite valid concerns he raises.
The book wasn’t perfect - it got a bit bogged down with an over-abundance of supporting evidence in the second half. But it was a pretty enjoyable read (the illustrations add a lot!) and I’ll be thinking about it for a while!
“Delightfully humorous” is not quite how I would put it. There were some pretty funny scenes but the overall post-apocalyptic backdrop was still kinda grim. Still, I liked it
“Delightfully humorous” is not quite how I would put it. There were some pretty funny scenes but the overall post-apocalyptic backdrop was still kinda grim. Still, I liked it
Got a bit in and just…didn’t care about the characters or the plot
Got a bit in and just…didn’t care about the characters or the plot
I liked the plot enough to be curious how it ended but it wasn’t a particularly enjoyable read. It was painful watching Nathaniel make so many mistakes and seeing Bartimaeus just get ordered around. Maybe the series redeems itself in the end?
I liked the plot enough to be curious how it ended but it wasn’t a particularly enjoyable read. It was painful watching Nathaniel make so many mistakes and seeing Bartimaeus just get ordered around. Maybe the series redeems itself in the end?
A thought-provoking critique of how modern American government fails to accomplish goals, eg by focusing too much on process and not enough on outcomes. The book digs specifically into housing, clean energy, and scientific innovation/deployment.
A thought-provoking critique of how modern American government fails to accomplish goals, eg by focusing too much on process and not enough on outcomes. The book digs specifically into housing, clean energy, and scientific innovation/deployment.