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Steady as she goes.
Greenhouse Summer by Norman Spinrad
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Climate change is a common speculative-fiction trope these days, but when Norman Spinrad wrote this in the late 90s, hardly anyone was doing it. He wasn’t the first SF writer to tackle the topic, of course, but reading it now, it’s clear he was well ahead of the curve. Then again, leave it to Spinrad to write a climate apocalypse novel that’s light on epic disaster and heavy on sex, drugs, corporate conspiracies and 60s counterculture philosophy.
That’s not to say Spinrad’s future is optimistic. The polar caps are gone, parts of Earth are uninhabitable, and what nation-states are left have little power, which is split between The Big Blue Machine (a cabal of rich corporations), “Green” syndicalists and Bad Boys, a syndic run mainly by the mafia and the triads. Meanwhile, several top climatologists have predicted that a sudden acceleration of global warming dubbed “Condition Venus” may be imminent. This is the backdrop for the main story, in which PR flack Monique Calhoun is assigned to manage an emergency UN climate conference in Paris to determine how long they have before Condition Venus kicks in, and what can be done to reverse it. The twist: The Big Blue Machine is funding both the conference and the PR for the first time, and everyone from Mossad to Russia wants to know why. Monique is recruited by Mossad to find out by liaising with Eric Esterhazy, who runs a luxury riverboat for Bad Boys that is outfitted with wall-to-wall surveillance.
It’s somewhat messy in terms of the sociopolitical backdrop, though it’s typical of Spinrad in that he tends to design his futures as allegories, not plausible outcomes. But his exposition is somewhat muddled, which make the allegiances and motivations of Monique, Eric and other key players hard to grasp at times – you really just have to shrug and go with it. Also, even by Spinrad standards, the sexual chemistry between Monique and Eric is ludicrous. That said, Spinrad uses his characters to raise ethical dilemmas – how far would you go to save the planet? Do the ends justify the means? And do we really need to wait until we know an outcome for certain before we take action? So as flawed as the novel is, Spinrad at least offers a different and thought-provoking take on the climate-apocalypse genre.
Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I don’t usually get book recommendations from pastors, but that’s how I was hipped to this book by Barbara Ehrenreich, which looks at the origins of the “positive thinking” movement that currently defines American optimism at various levels of society and how it has arguably made America a worse place. That’s a hard sell at face value – especially as Ehrenreich’s starting point is her diagnosis for breast cancer, which exposed her to cancer survivor groups that encourage patients and survivors to think positively about cancer rather than be depressed or angry. And of course the knee-jerk reaction is to wonder what’s so wrong about that? A lot, as it happens.
Ehrenreich traces the roots of positive thinking (which started as a rejection of the dour, joyless Calvinist Protestantism that dominated much of 19th Century America) to its current manifestations – Norman Vincent Peale, the self-help industry, workplace motivational speakers, life coaches, 'visionary' CEOs, prosperity gospel, The Secret, etc – and how detrimental they can be. Yes, its purveyors may have the best intentions and some people may find it helpful, but it often comes at the expense of silencing naysayers and enabling self-delusion, sometimes to large-scale catastrophic effect (see: Iraq War 2, the subprime mortgage boom and subsequent bust, Jack Welch, etc).
She also posits that the positive thinking movement trivializes the struggles and suffering people experience in their daily lives by essentially telling them if you’re feeling exploited, shafted or marginalized by an unfair system or by life circumstances, the problem isn’t the system, it’s your attitude about the system.
Ehrenreich isn't arguing in favor of gloomy despair, of course, but rather healthy rationalism and realism. This was in 2009 – looking at the state of the world 11 years later, her argument seems even more poignant now. But then I’ve never been a fan of self-help books, motivational speakers and prosperity gospel, so I would say that, wouldn’t I? Anyway, this is highly recommended reading from me, even (or especially) if you might disagree with some or all of it, or if you're a fan of some of the gurus covered within. That said, many of the same gurus might advise you to avoid this book for being too negative – in which case, the defense rests.
Hemingway's Chair by Michael Palin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I’m a Python fan, and I liked Michael Palin’s diary from his Around the World in 80 Days: Companion to the PBS Series program, but I hesitated to try this one – partly for fear of disappointment, and partly because the book-jacket synopsis didn’t sound like the kind of thing I normally read: mild-mannered, loyal post-office employee and Hemingway fanboy Martin Sproale has his life upended when new manager Nick Marshall shows up to modernize the old post office. But I gave it a try. And the good news is at least it wasn’t what I expected. On the other hand, I’m not sure to make of what I got.
To be sure, Palin is a good writer (although he goes a little overboard on description, and there’s at least one key continuity error in the plot, unless I missed something) and the pages move quickly for a story about a post office in small-town Britain. But it’s not full-on comedy, but rather a wry and sometimes surreal satire about the modernization of traditional institutions at the community level, and I suppose a satire of hero worship, warning that our pop culture heroes are often poor role models. Indeed, Martin’s Hemingway obsession grow stronger as Marshall executes his nefarious plan, and when Martin meets American Hemingway scholar Ruth (who is in town writing a book about Hemingway’s women), he undergoes a rather disturbing transformation that ultimately leads to a plan to get revenge on Marshall.
I think this is where the book loses me – the more Martin starts to emulate his hero, the less likeable he becomes, especially regarding the way he treats women. Maybe that’s part of the satire as well – Hemingway’s treatment of women was misogynist yet complicated, a theme that Palin explores via Ruth’s research for her book. I don't know – maybe you have to like Hemingway (which I don’t) to appreciate what Palin is doing here. And mind you, Palin pulls off the character and the transformation rather well. Anyway, it’s not a bad novel, but it’s a strikingly bleak one.
View all my reviews
Going postal,
This is dF
Greenhouse Summer by Norman SpinradMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Climate change is a common speculative-fiction trope these days, but when Norman Spinrad wrote this in the late 90s, hardly anyone was doing it. He wasn’t the first SF writer to tackle the topic, of course, but reading it now, it’s clear he was well ahead of the curve. Then again, leave it to Spinrad to write a climate apocalypse novel that’s light on epic disaster and heavy on sex, drugs, corporate conspiracies and 60s counterculture philosophy.
That’s not to say Spinrad’s future is optimistic. The polar caps are gone, parts of Earth are uninhabitable, and what nation-states are left have little power, which is split between The Big Blue Machine (a cabal of rich corporations), “Green” syndicalists and Bad Boys, a syndic run mainly by the mafia and the triads. Meanwhile, several top climatologists have predicted that a sudden acceleration of global warming dubbed “Condition Venus” may be imminent. This is the backdrop for the main story, in which PR flack Monique Calhoun is assigned to manage an emergency UN climate conference in Paris to determine how long they have before Condition Venus kicks in, and what can be done to reverse it. The twist: The Big Blue Machine is funding both the conference and the PR for the first time, and everyone from Mossad to Russia wants to know why. Monique is recruited by Mossad to find out by liaising with Eric Esterhazy, who runs a luxury riverboat for Bad Boys that is outfitted with wall-to-wall surveillance.
It’s somewhat messy in terms of the sociopolitical backdrop, though it’s typical of Spinrad in that he tends to design his futures as allegories, not plausible outcomes. But his exposition is somewhat muddled, which make the allegiances and motivations of Monique, Eric and other key players hard to grasp at times – you really just have to shrug and go with it. Also, even by Spinrad standards, the sexual chemistry between Monique and Eric is ludicrous. That said, Spinrad uses his characters to raise ethical dilemmas – how far would you go to save the planet? Do the ends justify the means? And do we really need to wait until we know an outcome for certain before we take action? So as flawed as the novel is, Spinrad at least offers a different and thought-provoking take on the climate-apocalypse genre.
Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara EhrenreichMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I don’t usually get book recommendations from pastors, but that’s how I was hipped to this book by Barbara Ehrenreich, which looks at the origins of the “positive thinking” movement that currently defines American optimism at various levels of society and how it has arguably made America a worse place. That’s a hard sell at face value – especially as Ehrenreich’s starting point is her diagnosis for breast cancer, which exposed her to cancer survivor groups that encourage patients and survivors to think positively about cancer rather than be depressed or angry. And of course the knee-jerk reaction is to wonder what’s so wrong about that? A lot, as it happens.
Ehrenreich traces the roots of positive thinking (which started as a rejection of the dour, joyless Calvinist Protestantism that dominated much of 19th Century America) to its current manifestations – Norman Vincent Peale, the self-help industry, workplace motivational speakers, life coaches, 'visionary' CEOs, prosperity gospel, The Secret, etc – and how detrimental they can be. Yes, its purveyors may have the best intentions and some people may find it helpful, but it often comes at the expense of silencing naysayers and enabling self-delusion, sometimes to large-scale catastrophic effect (see: Iraq War 2, the subprime mortgage boom and subsequent bust, Jack Welch, etc).
She also posits that the positive thinking movement trivializes the struggles and suffering people experience in their daily lives by essentially telling them if you’re feeling exploited, shafted or marginalized by an unfair system or by life circumstances, the problem isn’t the system, it’s your attitude about the system.
Ehrenreich isn't arguing in favor of gloomy despair, of course, but rather healthy rationalism and realism. This was in 2009 – looking at the state of the world 11 years later, her argument seems even more poignant now. But then I’ve never been a fan of self-help books, motivational speakers and prosperity gospel, so I would say that, wouldn’t I? Anyway, this is highly recommended reading from me, even (or especially) if you might disagree with some or all of it, or if you're a fan of some of the gurus covered within. That said, many of the same gurus might advise you to avoid this book for being too negative – in which case, the defense rests.
Hemingway's Chair by Michael PalinMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I’m a Python fan, and I liked Michael Palin’s diary from his Around the World in 80 Days: Companion to the PBS Series program, but I hesitated to try this one – partly for fear of disappointment, and partly because the book-jacket synopsis didn’t sound like the kind of thing I normally read: mild-mannered, loyal post-office employee and Hemingway fanboy Martin Sproale has his life upended when new manager Nick Marshall shows up to modernize the old post office. But I gave it a try. And the good news is at least it wasn’t what I expected. On the other hand, I’m not sure to make of what I got.
To be sure, Palin is a good writer (although he goes a little overboard on description, and there’s at least one key continuity error in the plot, unless I missed something) and the pages move quickly for a story about a post office in small-town Britain. But it’s not full-on comedy, but rather a wry and sometimes surreal satire about the modernization of traditional institutions at the community level, and I suppose a satire of hero worship, warning that our pop culture heroes are often poor role models. Indeed, Martin’s Hemingway obsession grow stronger as Marshall executes his nefarious plan, and when Martin meets American Hemingway scholar Ruth (who is in town writing a book about Hemingway’s women), he undergoes a rather disturbing transformation that ultimately leads to a plan to get revenge on Marshall.
I think this is where the book loses me – the more Martin starts to emulate his hero, the less likeable he becomes, especially regarding the way he treats women. Maybe that’s part of the satire as well – Hemingway’s treatment of women was misogynist yet complicated, a theme that Palin explores via Ruth’s research for her book. I don't know – maybe you have to like Hemingway (which I don’t) to appreciate what Palin is doing here. And mind you, Palin pulls off the character and the transformation rather well. Anyway, it’s not a bad novel, but it’s a strikingly bleak one.
View all my reviews
Going postal,
This is dF
