Reviews and Comments

A good mix of engaging and informative.
Very unique account of one woman’s unbelievably daring immersion into the October revolution. There are many insights into human behavior that can hopefully be applied to the next attempt at a Proletarian uprising, and specifics to Russia’s context.

The complete and unceremonious decline of antisemitism, having been revealed as a mere rough pretext of anti authoritarianism.

The surprisingly magnanimous behavior of those who underwent centuries of oppression to their former oppressors.

The obvious bias of the supposedly free press being the mouthpiece of a few capitalists, and how that’s not any better than an explicitly controlled press that at least has an obvious agenda.

Obligatory 5 stars because how could I not?

Very, very detailed and data-driven, plus humanistic. Will need to reread several times to fully grasp (especially by audio, where it’s especially hard to tell when one is in a footnote or not).

Makes it abundantly clear, though: there is no profit possible without worker exploitation, due to power differentials of the capitalist (owning means of production) versus the workers (possessing only their labor to sell).
And there is no economic activity without profit. And there is little human life without economic activity, meaning this exploitation is an undercurrent to nearly everything.

Crucial, important, pithy.

Crystal-clear-eyed analysis of the consistent ruse of the capitalists to divide-and-conquer via identity: maintaining their exploitation by using race, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity to confuse and frustrate attempts to organize.

Reminds us that in oder to free ourselves, we must free all others thus imprisoned.

Exposes the shameful hypocrisy of neoliberal, double-speaking, bad-faith buffoons such as Clinton(s), Obama, and Blair.

Will be reading several more times, at least yearly, to remind myself of the key points.

Excellent memoir; the most encouraging work I've read that's also fairly realistic about the major plight of the rampant injustice wrought by the American ruling class. Essentially, the notion that the role of large-scale organizing of the oppressed has been effective in two regimes: (1) the Civil Rights movement, and (2) the anti-Vietnam war movement. Admittedly, though, those two regimes (the war economy and racism) are now worsening and arguably have only changed form, rather than measurably improved. However, I think there's something to his optimism.

Required reading for any avid technologist or cheerleader thereof hoping to “change the world” in $ill¥ con-arti$t Valle¥.

Very entertaining; both a personal account and a wider investigation into the misdeeds of the above demographic. The only thing missing is reflection on the gentrification aspect.

Quite a striking work of fiction, and one that's unforgettable. Very credibly-crafted tale of resilience in the face of unbelievable woe, and one that seems unfortunately fairly likely to occur if the world keeps on its current course.

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Update: 6 months later, this book turns out to be one that I think of almost daily. It was hard to really grasp the gravity of the tales therein, or just how appropriate they are for the currently nigh-apocalyptic world we live in.

Mundane, nihilistic garbage. Just because emotions might be related to morality (shocker!) doesn't somehow invalidate morality as an overall concept, or that the world is an incredibly unjust and cruel one that should be changed as soon and thoroughly as possible.

And even if morality merely serves the emotions of the conceiver, that just means we have to consider whether this conceiver's emotions are morally good or bad. Circular.

Somehow manages to be both overly expansive in scientific citations and thoroughly unconvincing. Maybe it's because the book is a rotting word-salad easily summarized by "look at how great of a person I am, here are a few basically disconnected things I happen to do, be like me. Here are unrelated research efforts explained in tedious detail."

The only other thing of note are the nauseating platitudes. At one point he actually spells out meaning of the "glass half-full" proverb. It's like a ninth-grader trying to reach a two-page word count in his remedial English class.

I've come away from this book less likely to be compassionate than I was going in.

A very thorough and comprehensive introduction to feline communication and parenting, although sometimes rambling, disorganized, and a bit narcissistic. He makes frequent scornful comments about pet owners -- understandable, I suppose, as his job entailed him going into the homes of some likely heartless/dim-witted folks that were mistreating their cat.

Still, Jackson seems to have amazing insight into feline behavior and how to make them feel as comfortable as possible. This seems like the book to get to solve any problem that could conceivably arise with one's cat.

He lost me right around the time when his benevolent, wealthy family back east happily took him back in with little complaint. Not being an option for me personally, I began to resent what I then saw as a sort of laziness, rather than admirable daring to live an unconventional life.

An extremely imaginative world, but without much philosophical or social substance to it. Couldn't make it all the way through the audiobook, as I became sort of lost given the constant change of setting and characters that this book entails. Thus, it was neither entertaining nor instructive, ultimately, although it had a few key moments of interest.