Robin Banks > Recent Status Updates

Mostly this happens in 2001. It's a dystopia written in 1990 so global cooling is a main problem, along with the Japanese takeover of everything.

Begins with a political screed against conservatives, continues with a fairly formulaic story of feeling trapped by the idea of marriage. I'm still reading and hope it improves.

Anti-religion seems like the dominant theme: three topics tackled here: According of S. Hossenfelder, there was no creation though there was a Big Bang. Entropy is an emergent property, so there is no arrow of time, free will is false. Everything is pre-determined, except for quantum variations and those are just small and random. I hope for good stuff in the last 100 pages, but am not optimistic.

Interesting. I'm getting a better understanding of how the Revolutionary war was financed -- naval prizes and piracy, much of both handled by Robert Morris. Large ships don't seem to work well for us.

I'm enjoying it so far. Congress creates a navy in fall 1775. They set off before Washington takes command in Boston, and are back in Philly with prizes being refitted before independence is declared. The Brits are regularly described as pirates.

Sabine doesn't believe in God because she doesn't believe in entropy, or simple pictures of the Big Bang, or versions of quantum mechanics that tend to suggest a god. Similarly she finds free will a-scientific, but thinks Dawkins overstates, and is insulting to Islam.

Sabine doesn't believe in entropy, or linear time, because quantum physics works best without them. And she's a reductionist, believing that who we are is derivable from our atoms and molecules. My sense is otherwise: that the only things of interest, the only things that are things, are high-level structures.

She's a good physicist, committed to explaining what it all means with no math so far. The problem, in my opinion, is that this is impossible. What we know of nature is known through mathematical descriptions and there are infinitely many ways to sett up the equations. We can explain any particular equation setup, but it's generally useful, it just useful with that particular setup.

It started OK, but I have a bad feeling about the sleuths, and about the crime. It seems like a professional hit, more or less, with one victim shot, and the sleuth pistol whipped. But the men-folk don't want to tell the police. Why? I assume that girl power will win out.

so far, very good

Good story, confusingly told. So-so job of world building.

This is getting exciting; how will Tom get out of this mess. I'm beginning to feel for the talented, psychopathic Mr. Ripley. Since I know there are several books in the series, I can be sure that he does get out of this mess, only ... I have a bad feeling about how.

Does Tom accept himself as gay? Is this self-loathing? He's motivated by more than avarice. Also, what happened to WWII? It's early 1950s, Italy is undamaged, and the people unmarred. There is no red-scare either, and everyone's so naive about Tom.

Tom Riddle is a down-on-his luck con artist and (It seems) a homosexual or a vampire. His talent, and he seems to have a lot of it, is an ability to win the confidence of people he's barely met, and separate people from their money. Like "the outsider" he seems to care nothing for anyone, but there is a series,. My guess is that he's gong to murder and get away with it.

They keep mentioning Hemingway, and the book is sort of like "the sun also rises": authors after a war traveling, looking for a new vibe.The New York Times says it's like Huck Finn and lots of folks say its 'self-absorbed, white guy problems.' ouch. White guys have problems too, especially if you want to make your living writing beat poetry.

So far a compelling read, despite the fact that nothing special has happened. I like this better then books tons of exciting events on every page and no real sense of the person beyond Wow.

So far it reads like a cross between Portnoy's complaint, a series of unfortunate events, and Miss Warren's Profession. Gripping for 20-25 pages, but then a dull premonition settled in I'm not suede I'll finish..

Check your work, and check again.

Exciting, but bloody and treacherous. I'm in the 1450s. This might as well be the Borgia popes with more power and land under heir control.

The author is clearly talented but gets through life by lying a lot, and leaving more implied. I just don't trust her that much..

So far this is really good. I especially like seeing the ways that computers can really screw things up.

The story drags. At this point the author has lived in 5 Islamic countries, mostly in Africa. She has been beaten in all of them, either by family or by Islamic teachers described as ignorant. Mostly the countries are dirty and corrupt.

An interesting history, but describes his source of information as speeches and inscriptions without ever giving you a quote. Tell me what Genghis Kahn actually said, or what his sons or enemies said.

An interesting premise. The dead come back to life with knowledge they didn't have in life. Now what?

A few more worthwhile chapters read. Dylan does not want to be a spokesperson, and goes on to move to albums where music is the star, not the words. Interesting, worthwhile.

A few more worthwhile chapters read. Dylan does not want to be a spokesperson, and goes on to move to albums where music is the star, not words.

Too many names dropped --The first 120 pages covers one year maybe in Greenwich Village. He mentions 100 or more songs learned, 100 or more people he met or heard. His impressions. They can't all be major influencers. No real mention of home. He picked Bob Dylan because he liked the sound and the name. Did he read Dylan Thomas?

The main character is interesting but highly unlikable. This is a serious flaw since the book seems to set him up as a gentleman thief - protagonist. I have a hard time seeing myself rooting for him.

The autobiographical voice is thoughtful and poetic, rather like his voice on the radio program. An example: "[Dostoyevsky] wrote stories to ward off his creditors. Just like in the early '70s I wrote albums to ward off mine." Dylan's heroes and villains cross a broad spectrum.