The Imaginary Museum — Ben Eastham
This is an essential essay on contemporary art. The author takes us on a tour through a fictional contemporary art museum containing real artworks. He talks a bit about the works, offering insights that allow us to appreciate them more. … Continue reading
300 Arguments – Sarah Manguso
Think of this as a short book composed entirely of what I hoped would be a long book’s quotable passages That’s one of the “arguments”, which neatly describes the book. It’s easy to review a book like this: all I … Continue reading
The Stanley Parable
This is the best computer game ever. And it’s much more than just a game. The Stanley Parable is a unique and brilliant game which is not a game. No guns, fast cars or abstract puzzles: the entire game is … Continue reading
Mystery & Manners – Flannery O’Connor
Flannery O’Conner was a 20th-century American writer who* I discovered through a cryptic reference in the computer game The Trolley Problem. This book is a posthumous compilation of her non-fiction writing, including some lectures she gave about writing (one of … Continue reading
A Children’s Bible – Lydia Millet
One of the blurbs describe this as a “funny dystopia” and I can see why, though I feel that would be a misleading way to describe the book. The setup is not dystopian – it seems to be the present … Continue reading
The Trolley Problem
The Trolley Problem is a famous ethical dilemma asking whether we should cause something bad to happen in order to prevent something worse. If a runaway trolley is about to run over 5 people, is it morally right to divert … Continue reading
The Gift of the Gab – David Crystal
This is a pretty good guide to effective public speaking – its centrepiece is a very detailed analysis of Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can” speech from 2008. Actually I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would – … Continue reading
War and Peace — Leo Tolstoy
The War is Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812, which disrupts the Peace of Russian high society in Moscow, Petersburg and various country estates. We follow several aristocratic families as the war begins, gets worse, turns around and finally ends. … Continue reading
The Anomaly – Hervé Le Tellier
This speculative fiction is set in the present day just as we know it now. One day, an inexplicable and apparently impossible event happens; this novel is about how this affects the people involved, but also governments, media and everyone … Continue reading
The Situation is Hopeless, But Not Serious – Paul Watzlawick
The situation is hopeless – but not serious. I just love this phrase. It does seem true to me that it applies to many situations in life, big and small. Sometimes yes, the situation you are faced with is hopeless. … Continue reading