36 - Wizzywig, Portrait of a Serial Hacker, by Ed Piskor, 286 pages, Top Twelve Productions, 2012
WHY I PICKED IT: Stumbled onto it in a book store
ELAPSED TIME: 3 days
RATING: Good
The story of how this kid became a hacker, how obsessed he became, the unintended consequences of seemingly inconsequential decisions, the fear of the establishment, the violations of the criminal justice system, and the struggle that any ex-con must have to find work. I think this story demonstrates the extent to which the establishment will go to protect itself from those looking at open source as the mechanism for societal change.
I don't often read graphic novels, but this was quite enjoyable
This blog is a simple review of every book that I read... For all books I’ll tell you why I picked it, how long it took me to read it, and give it a rating (burn it, not good, meh, good, very good, and required reading). I ask (encourage?) all readers of my blog to post their thoughts of any of the books in my comments :). Thanks!
Monday, October 22, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
2012-35 - The Borrower, by Rebcca Makkai
35 - The Borrower, by Rebcca Makkai, 324
pages, Penguin Books, 2011
WHY I PICKED IT: Stumbled onto it in a book store
ELAPSED TIME: 1 week
RATING: Meh
This is an interesting story.... Lucy Hull is a young librarian and has been kidnapped and is the kidnapper of her favourite patron: 10-year-old Ian Drake. The story is fairly engaging - why Ian ran away from home (he is unhappy with his parents), why Lucy is okay with it (they're religious zealots who are trying to reprogram what everybody in town is assuming is his future sexual choices), Lucy's Dad's life (he's a Russian mobster who's experiences in communist Russia come out of the story slowly, but quite interestingly).
Makkai is a good writer, who writes some great sentences... Ultimately though, the book is about 75 pages too long...
WHY I PICKED IT: Stumbled onto it in a book store
ELAPSED TIME: 1 week
RATING: Meh
This is an interesting story.... Lucy Hull is a young librarian and has been kidnapped and is the kidnapper of her favourite patron: 10-year-old Ian Drake. The story is fairly engaging - why Ian ran away from home (he is unhappy with his parents), why Lucy is okay with it (they're religious zealots who are trying to reprogram what everybody in town is assuming is his future sexual choices), Lucy's Dad's life (he's a Russian mobster who's experiences in communist Russia come out of the story slowly, but quite interestingly).
Makkai is a good writer, who writes some great sentences... Ultimately though, the book is about 75 pages too long...
Monday, October 8, 2012
2012-34 - Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed, by Claire Magone, Michael Neuman, and Fabrice Weissman
34 - Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed, by Claire Magone, Michael Neuman, and Fabrice Weissman, 258 pages, Columbia University Press, 2011
WHY I PICKED IT: It's an MSF book
ELAPSED TIME: 3 weeks
RATING: Very Good!
Gaining access to distressed populations to provide Medical Relief requires ongoing negotiations and tradeoffs with conflicting parties and interests. Each of the first 12 chapters addresses the tradeoffs required in different contexts. From Myanmar (who didn't want anybody to talk about what was going on), to India (where the political impact of bringing in "western food" when they have their own plan to feed their population was considered neo-colonialist, despite chronic malnourishment in some children). From Afghanistan (where you have to negotiate access with individual warlords), to Somalia (where you have to negotiate the same type of access AND have armed guards from those warlords protect you in their areas).
The authors address the militarization of humanitarian aid, and the impact on relief efforts, and the challenge of témoignage (to bear witness):
a) If you say something that a local warlord doesn't like, your words can be used to exclude you from access to the people who need your help (or worse, put people who helped you in harms way).
b) If you raise awareness of "crimes against humanity," your words can be used to rationalize a "just war."
c) If you say nothing, you risk being in a position of complicity... perhaps ensuring that people have a full belly when their government exterminates them, or more likely enabling a government's lack of care for its own people with no international political pressure to change.
This book is required reading for anybody wanting to do international relief work... and a very good read for everybody else.
WHY I PICKED IT: It's an MSF book
ELAPSED TIME: 3 weeks
RATING: Very Good!
Gaining access to distressed populations to provide Medical Relief requires ongoing negotiations and tradeoffs with conflicting parties and interests. Each of the first 12 chapters addresses the tradeoffs required in different contexts. From Myanmar (who didn't want anybody to talk about what was going on), to India (where the political impact of bringing in "western food" when they have their own plan to feed their population was considered neo-colonialist, despite chronic malnourishment in some children). From Afghanistan (where you have to negotiate access with individual warlords), to Somalia (where you have to negotiate the same type of access AND have armed guards from those warlords protect you in their areas).
The authors address the militarization of humanitarian aid, and the impact on relief efforts, and the challenge of témoignage (to bear witness):
a) If you say something that a local warlord doesn't like, your words can be used to exclude you from access to the people who need your help (or worse, put people who helped you in harms way).
b) If you raise awareness of "crimes against humanity," your words can be used to rationalize a "just war."
c) If you say nothing, you risk being in a position of complicity... perhaps ensuring that people have a full belly when their government exterminates them, or more likely enabling a government's lack of care for its own people with no international political pressure to change.
This book is required reading for anybody wanting to do international relief work... and a very good read for everybody else.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)