Tom

Having watched the first season of the TV show I was pleasantly surprised by how fast paced the book is. I don't think the characters are particularly well rounded but I'm here primarily for the setting and that carries the narrative throughout.

Simple but not stupid, there is a universal appeal to people with pure sincerity.

The setup of Hill House as an antagonistic force is so compelling that the events end up feeling restrained and slightly underwhelming.

I love the idea of a house that has been built (or has morphed) to be disorientating. Lulling it's inhabitants into a literal false sense of security. I suspect that The Devil in the White City will make for a good companion piece in this regard.

Does a good job of covering the various reasons why the current approach to drugs is failing. None of it feels particularly surprising almost 10 years later but it's worth a refresher on why these policies fail on economic as well as moral grounds.

What would have elevated this analysis for me would be to further probe into the way in which the War on Drugs is driven by political interests outside of just protecting society from dangerous drugs. It's a cruel policy and the cruelty is partly the point here as it's useful to have a militarised border that separates more impoverished nations (amongst other benefits). A sensible book with sensible suggestions but nothing more than that.

A interesting look into the machinations of the bankers involved in the 08 bailout. Conveniently (and perhaps necessarily) leaves out the wealth extraction that caused the crisis and instead treats it more as an ill defined 'shortfall' that needs solving. Also gives too sympathetic a view of the individuals involved which again I think is inherent to this kind of account.