"I think you can't possibly know the truth about someone unless you love them."
-Orson Scott Card, Speaker for the Dead
Thursday, July 31, 2014
SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD, by Orson Scott Card (5/5)
So I'm going to do some book reviews now. Not so much because I feel any particular need to make known my opinions, but because my memory, as far as memories go, isn't super, and in 8-12 months I know I'm going to need some sort of written aid to help me remember not only what happened, but also who did what, and what I liked about them. So yeah.
Speaker for the Dead:
I liked this book more than I thought I would. Loved it actually, and that was really surprising, because when I read Ender's Game about four years ago, my principle reaction was, Eh, kinda slow. The twist at the end blew me away, but struggling through 200 pages of cryptic dream sequence and battle school strategerie wasn't exactly my definition of "worth it."
Speaker for the Dead wasn't that. The stakes were monstrous right from the word "go," the characters were varied and relatable, and the world building felt so natural in its uniqueness that I never once felt the need to question it, even though, half the time, they spoke about it in Portuguese.
This book came out almost 30 years ago, so I'm a little late to the party, but I now get why Card is perhaps the biggest name in Science Fiction, ever. Ender's Game was Card's first exploration into Ender's world, and in several respects this was apparent. In Speaker, Card has perfected and mastered his world, and it makes this novel an exciting and thought-provoking read from beginning to end.
My beef with many works of SciFi is that the stories trend toward the unrelatable. The authors get so excited about their SciFi universe that the character development takes a back seat to the world development, and that rarely flies with me (pun intended), even in short stories, but especially in novels.
Not so in Speaker. The world feels so natural, so quickly, that both author and reader are free to focus on the tortured Novinha, the stoic Miro, and the singular Ender from the very beginning. It's the perfect storm of characters who fit naturally into their environment, even as the seek to change it.
My one criticism is small, but notable. For a work filled with deeply flawed, imperfect characters, Ender is surprisingly flawless. He's a genius, he's compassionate, he's perhaps the most perceptive and empathetic human being ever, and he's relentlessly driven to correct a wrong for which he, arguably, isn't to blame. He's pseudonymously published his own space-age humanist Gospel, inadvertently founded his own religion, he hates no one, understands everyone, and still has the time to become functionally proficient in Portuguese in under three weeks. All his B.M.'s are single wipers, he's pitch-perfect as both a Tener 1 and a Bass 2, and he's the most generous lover from here to Trondheim. Some guys just got it all.
And yet, despite his seeming perfection, Ender still manages to convince me of the difficulty of all his decisions, as though his 3000 year unbeaten streak were on the line with every one, and that's what makes him a true champion: he's got the goods, and he knows how to use them, just like this book.
5/5
Thomas out.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
On Pointing Fingers (Middle East Edition)
When it's time to play the blame game, you rarely find someone willing to point the finger at himself. (Time to use this here blog as my own personal pulpit for a minute, if you'll excuse me.)
Had a semi-heated conversation with someone today. It started over a video of a politician rebutting a young American Muslim woman over the idea that peaceful Muslims are being blamed for the actions of a few radicals. The politician made several good points, by way of analogy. Most Germans of the 1940's were good, peaceful people, but the Nazis still managed to kill millions of people. Most cold war era Russians were good, peaceful people, but the Soviet Union still killed millions of people. Most Japanese people were good, peaceful people, but the Japanese army still tore through east Asia during World War II. The woman's point was that defending the innocent majority is a politically correct, superficial gesture because the innocent majority was irrelevant; despite their own sentiments, they did not stop an evil entity (no matter how anomalous) from rising up and being allowed to control their culture.
Back to my conversation. Person 1 wants the good, peaceful Muslims to acknowledge that there is some issue intrinsic to Islam that predisposes its adherents toward radicalization. He wasn't saying that all Muslims were bad, or likely to become radical; he simply wanted Muslims stop pointing the finger at the US and take a gander at their own fuzzy navels. What exactly about Islam, Muslims should ask, is leading to this predisposition toward radicalization?
Person 1 used the example of the Catholic priest pedophilia scandal as an analogy. As a Catholic, you couldn't reasonably stand up and claim that the Catholic Church wasn't at least a little bit to blame for allowing those heinous acts to happen under its watch, right? Of course, that's reasonable. The Church really screwed the pooch on that one. Our bad, guys, we'll keep a closer eye on those pedos next time.
But just as it's not fair that the Catholic Church should shirk responsibility, it is also not fair that regular Catholics be made to answer for the crimes of the deviant. Is there something about Catholic teaching that led to a score of robed men molesting young boys? No, there is not. Is there something intrinsic to German-ness that predisposed its people toward Nazism? Also no. Is there something about proper Islamic teaching that's spawning terrorists in TNT-laden sport coats? Nope. That too is a false assumption.
There is such a thing as evil in this world. There is NOT such a thing as evil that arises in a vacuum.
Was Germany to blame for the rise of the Nazis? Yes. Was the Catholic Church responsible for the pedophilia scandal? Also yes. But you can't ignore the circumstances.
The original Nazi message wasn't "hey, lets go kill as many minorities as we can, that aught to make us feel better;" their message was "hey, the rest of Europe really screwed us with those war reparations, and it's looking pretty rough right now, but Germany was once great, and it can be great again, if you trust us."
Guess what those priestly pedophiles were, before they were priests. Any guesses? That's right. They were pedophiles. And last time I checked (which I admit, I haven't checked in a while, but I'll make an educated guess) on the application for Catholic seminary there isn't a Check Yes or No box for "Are you a pedophile?" Although there might be now. Who knows? Couldn't hurt.
The point is this--throughout the entire course of human history, when bad people are given an opportunity to gain power over others, they become very predictable. They deceive, they hurt, and they look out for #1. And the more it works out for them, the more they continue to do it. There isn't something wrong with Islam because a group of a-holes with an ax to grind have gone to one of the poorest regions in the world and spread misinformation and propaganda against the USA, then drawn the US into a decade-long struggle which, among other things, has reinforced their deceptions and hatred.
Was the US justified in wanting to root out Al Qaeda and eradicate them? I think so. Has it worked out so well for the Afghanis? Not so much. When the jerk who lives down the street and the jerk from out of town are shooting missiles back and forth across your front yard, the jerk from out of town might be justified in trying to blow your neighbor up, but who are you most likely going to blame when a rocket blows up your cat? Not the guy you're going to have to live with, when the fight is over. Better the devil you know, than the devil you don't.
To bring it back home, when we go out and about looking for someone to blame, don't expect anyone to stand up and volunteer their head for the chopping block. Unless he's the Brazilian National Team coach. That guy's a class act. And that mustache? Top notch.
During the pedophilia scandal, every Catholic with any kind of sense was quick to stand up and say, that's not us. That's not Catholicism. We reject those men as deviants who have abused their power and betrayed their faith.
After WWII, every German with any kind of sense stood up and said, hey, don't blame me! How was I to know? Those men lied to us all. I'm sheltering five Jews, three Gypsies, and a lonely Pollock in my sub-basement right now, go check.
Good people should always step up to fight against evil, especially when that evil has arisen within their own culture, but just because these people have a responsibility to fight against it doesn't mean they have a responsibility to answer for it. The nation of Islam, as a people, is partially to blame for allowing the recent rise and propagation of anti-Western radicalism. I think that's fair. But they should not be made to admit that something fundamental to the Islamic faith is the root of the problem. People looking for that admission just want something to blame, something to condemn. They fear the radical minority, but can do nothing about it, and so they need someone who is willing to step up and take their blame bullet. Somebody who won't shoot back.
But in the immortal, aphoristic words of Yoda, "Fear leads to Anger. Anger leads to Hate. Hate leads to the Dark Side." Start playing the blame game, and before you know it, somebody's making a trio of underwhelming prequels about your tragically misguided youth. And nobody wants that.
Thomas OUT.
Had a semi-heated conversation with someone today. It started over a video of a politician rebutting a young American Muslim woman over the idea that peaceful Muslims are being blamed for the actions of a few radicals. The politician made several good points, by way of analogy. Most Germans of the 1940's were good, peaceful people, but the Nazis still managed to kill millions of people. Most cold war era Russians were good, peaceful people, but the Soviet Union still killed millions of people. Most Japanese people were good, peaceful people, but the Japanese army still tore through east Asia during World War II. The woman's point was that defending the innocent majority is a politically correct, superficial gesture because the innocent majority was irrelevant; despite their own sentiments, they did not stop an evil entity (no matter how anomalous) from rising up and being allowed to control their culture.
Back to my conversation. Person 1 wants the good, peaceful Muslims to acknowledge that there is some issue intrinsic to Islam that predisposes its adherents toward radicalization. He wasn't saying that all Muslims were bad, or likely to become radical; he simply wanted Muslims stop pointing the finger at the US and take a gander at their own fuzzy navels. What exactly about Islam, Muslims should ask, is leading to this predisposition toward radicalization?
Person 1 used the example of the Catholic priest pedophilia scandal as an analogy. As a Catholic, you couldn't reasonably stand up and claim that the Catholic Church wasn't at least a little bit to blame for allowing those heinous acts to happen under its watch, right? Of course, that's reasonable. The Church really screwed the pooch on that one. Our bad, guys, we'll keep a closer eye on those pedos next time.
But just as it's not fair that the Catholic Church should shirk responsibility, it is also not fair that regular Catholics be made to answer for the crimes of the deviant. Is there something about Catholic teaching that led to a score of robed men molesting young boys? No, there is not. Is there something intrinsic to German-ness that predisposed its people toward Nazism? Also no. Is there something about proper Islamic teaching that's spawning terrorists in TNT-laden sport coats? Nope. That too is a false assumption.
There is such a thing as evil in this world. There is NOT such a thing as evil that arises in a vacuum.
Was Germany to blame for the rise of the Nazis? Yes. Was the Catholic Church responsible for the pedophilia scandal? Also yes. But you can't ignore the circumstances.
The original Nazi message wasn't "hey, lets go kill as many minorities as we can, that aught to make us feel better;" their message was "hey, the rest of Europe really screwed us with those war reparations, and it's looking pretty rough right now, but Germany was once great, and it can be great again, if you trust us."
Guess what those priestly pedophiles were, before they were priests. Any guesses? That's right. They were pedophiles. And last time I checked (which I admit, I haven't checked in a while, but I'll make an educated guess) on the application for Catholic seminary there isn't a Check Yes or No box for "Are you a pedophile?" Although there might be now. Who knows? Couldn't hurt.
The point is this--throughout the entire course of human history, when bad people are given an opportunity to gain power over others, they become very predictable. They deceive, they hurt, and they look out for #1. And the more it works out for them, the more they continue to do it. There isn't something wrong with Islam because a group of a-holes with an ax to grind have gone to one of the poorest regions in the world and spread misinformation and propaganda against the USA, then drawn the US into a decade-long struggle which, among other things, has reinforced their deceptions and hatred.
Was the US justified in wanting to root out Al Qaeda and eradicate them? I think so. Has it worked out so well for the Afghanis? Not so much. When the jerk who lives down the street and the jerk from out of town are shooting missiles back and forth across your front yard, the jerk from out of town might be justified in trying to blow your neighbor up, but who are you most likely going to blame when a rocket blows up your cat? Not the guy you're going to have to live with, when the fight is over. Better the devil you know, than the devil you don't.
To bring it back home, when we go out and about looking for someone to blame, don't expect anyone to stand up and volunteer their head for the chopping block. Unless he's the Brazilian National Team coach. That guy's a class act. And that mustache? Top notch.
During the pedophilia scandal, every Catholic with any kind of sense was quick to stand up and say, that's not us. That's not Catholicism. We reject those men as deviants who have abused their power and betrayed their faith.
After WWII, every German with any kind of sense stood up and said, hey, don't blame me! How was I to know? Those men lied to us all. I'm sheltering five Jews, three Gypsies, and a lonely Pollock in my sub-basement right now, go check.
Good people should always step up to fight against evil, especially when that evil has arisen within their own culture, but just because these people have a responsibility to fight against it doesn't mean they have a responsibility to answer for it. The nation of Islam, as a people, is partially to blame for allowing the recent rise and propagation of anti-Western radicalism. I think that's fair. But they should not be made to admit that something fundamental to the Islamic faith is the root of the problem. People looking for that admission just want something to blame, something to condemn. They fear the radical minority, but can do nothing about it, and so they need someone who is willing to step up and take their blame bullet. Somebody who won't shoot back.
But in the immortal, aphoristic words of Yoda, "Fear leads to Anger. Anger leads to Hate. Hate leads to the Dark Side." Start playing the blame game, and before you know it, somebody's making a trio of underwhelming prequels about your tragically misguided youth. And nobody wants that.
Thomas OUT.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Quote of the Week for 7/7/14
"Man is least himself when he talks in his own personae. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."
-Oscar Wilde
-Oscar Wilde
On Podcasts
I've found my new thing that I'll be really into for a while.
I've got to thank my brother for this one. I'm a visual learner (my excuse for mediocre grades on all my Spanish listening exams), and usually have a tough time concentrating on and engaging with aural media, but early this spring he suggested I try a podcast out for one of my frequent 7 hour drives between Nashville and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and I've been hooked ever since.
I'd always struggled to stave off the boredom during the marathon trips, but podcasts proved to be the perfect solution. No hunting for a good local radio station, no droning monotone of a book on tape, just interesting people talking about interesting things for a couple hours at a time. You can find a podcast for just about anything you're interested in, but I find the podcasts of comedians the most entertaining. Turns out funny people can be funny all the time, talking about anything, not just when their reciting a script or performing a stand up.
I started out with the Joe Rogan Experience, 1) because his podcasts are 3 hours apiece, 2) he consistently brings on very interesting and insightful guests, and 3) because it's the only one I knew about. It was a good choice. Joe Rogan is the perfect mix of entertainer and pseudo-intellectual to keep an audience engaged, laughing and thinking, for the full 3 hours. Turns out he's the 2nd most popular podcast in the world for a reason. And maybe the best part was that many of his guests had podcast of their own, and my tastes quickly expanded out from the JRE.
My podcast consumption is now what one might call "next level." Enabled by the aforementioned frequent road trips, I diversified my listening experience to include such auditory gems as Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast, Fighter and the Kid with Brendan Schaub and Bryan Callen, and several Grantland podcasts including the Andy Greenwald podcast and my personal favorite, Men in Blazers. The podcast, more than anywhere else, is a medium perfectly suited for showcasing great personalities, and all long as people continue to support these personalities, the entertainment potential is potentially limitless.
There are podcast streaming and downloading apps available for both the iPhone and Android. I use the aptly named Podcast Addict. Try it out. You'll either like it or you won't, but it's free and it's different, and did I mention it's free?
Thomas out.
I've got to thank my brother for this one. I'm a visual learner (my excuse for mediocre grades on all my Spanish listening exams), and usually have a tough time concentrating on and engaging with aural media, but early this spring he suggested I try a podcast out for one of my frequent 7 hour drives between Nashville and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and I've been hooked ever since.
I'd always struggled to stave off the boredom during the marathon trips, but podcasts proved to be the perfect solution. No hunting for a good local radio station, no droning monotone of a book on tape, just interesting people talking about interesting things for a couple hours at a time. You can find a podcast for just about anything you're interested in, but I find the podcasts of comedians the most entertaining. Turns out funny people can be funny all the time, talking about anything, not just when their reciting a script or performing a stand up.
I started out with the Joe Rogan Experience, 1) because his podcasts are 3 hours apiece, 2) he consistently brings on very interesting and insightful guests, and 3) because it's the only one I knew about. It was a good choice. Joe Rogan is the perfect mix of entertainer and pseudo-intellectual to keep an audience engaged, laughing and thinking, for the full 3 hours. Turns out he's the 2nd most popular podcast in the world for a reason. And maybe the best part was that many of his guests had podcast of their own, and my tastes quickly expanded out from the JRE.
My podcast consumption is now what one might call "next level." Enabled by the aforementioned frequent road trips, I diversified my listening experience to include such auditory gems as Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast, Fighter and the Kid with Brendan Schaub and Bryan Callen, and several Grantland podcasts including the Andy Greenwald podcast and my personal favorite, Men in Blazers. The podcast, more than anywhere else, is a medium perfectly suited for showcasing great personalities, and all long as people continue to support these personalities, the entertainment potential is potentially limitless.
There are podcast streaming and downloading apps available for both the iPhone and Android. I use the aptly named Podcast Addict. Try it out. You'll either like it or you won't, but it's free and it's different, and did I mention it's free?
Thomas out.
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