Reviews and Comments

Book by an Italian journalist on the US. It goes through some events of the recent US past with the aim of illustrating features of its society. Some of the stories are interesting, but I don't think they add much in-depth comprehension about the country, contrary to what the book wants to do.

Turns out I had already bought the other books in this trilogy of seven parts, so I'll give it another try despite not having been much convinced by the first volume.

Very interesting and well-written book that defends the thesis that Sweden has a rather unique form of social organisation and social thought--the authors dub it 'state-individualism'-- in which the state is seen as guarantor of the freedom and independence of individuals from most kinds of interpersonal dependence relations (including within the family). This is put in contrast especially with the social systems in Germany and the US. Chapters go from Swedish political and social thought in the 1800s to much more recent developments (up to around 2014). It gets occasionally somewhat boring, as is to be expected, but it is overall very engaging, informative, and rich in insights.

I enjoyed this more than the very convoluted Dune Messiah, but considerably less than the original Dune. The mysticism and the abundance of statements and dialogue that seem little more than meaningless word salad gets tiring after a while. A key plot point remains rather underdeveloped and some moments seem to clash with what has gone on before in the series. Perhaps some of the tiresomeness also comes from the fact that pretty much every protagonist in the trilogy is an anti-hero, and the few somewhat decent characters are weak and do little else than obey. Nonetheless, it's a fun read with great world-building around a future humanity in which science and technology are mostly rejected in favour of religion, militarism and mysticism.

There is so much in this book that it's very difficult to verbalise much about it. Brilliant, detailed, inventive, very human studies of addiction, depression, recovery, obsession, and the difficulties of interaction and communication. All within an absurd but carefully presented (though nowadays looking less and less unrealistic) alternative 90's, a world that turns out to be quite natural to inhabit during the (long, but pleasurable) process of reading the book, along with the minds of the main protagonists and even of many of the secondary characters. The language is varied, deliciously creative, and fit to the different characters. Several scenes in the book will stay with me for a long time.

Dopo averlo letto in gran parte alle superiori, mi sembra il momento di rileggerlo senza pressioni e pagelle.

Several great short stories, though the longest one in the book is not as successful. Chiang keeps the spirit of his previous book 'Stories of your life', with short narratives that investigate deep philosophical questions in a creative and engaging way, without being artificial. I found the earlier book to be brilliant cover-to-cover, while this one is more uneven.