Review of Reviews: February 2023

 

Although I still occasionally write a longer review, most of my book reviews have been shorter as of late. I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm just appreciating brevity these days, so on that note, on to the reviews of books I've read in the last month or so!

How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

This is more of a memoir than I was expecting, but that's not a bad thing, because Kendi weaves his larger points into his personal stories. The academic in me maybe wanted a bit more clarification on a few points (e.g., the relation, or lack thereof, between education and activism toward the end), but Kendi is clear that there's more work to be done. One of his core ideas--that we should strive to be explicitly antiracist rather than passively "not racist"--has caught on outside this book so much that it may feel redundant to some readers, but few people make this case as clearly and forcefully as Kendi. I feel like I learned a lot (especially as a white reader without the direct experience of anti-Black racism), and this book gives some helpful terms and insights as I strive toward antiracism in my personal, political, and academic life. On that last point, in recent years I've come to see that a lot of my academic discipline (philosophy) has been and continues to be deeply racist, and this book is giving me ideas about working toward an antiracist history of philosophy. (See my Goodreads review)

The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany

Is Delany a genius? Definitely. Do I always understand his books? No, but that's okay. I used to think Delany's books got more experimental and weird in the late 70's (especially Dhalgren), but with 1967's The Einstein Intersection I may have to rethink this. And rethinking things seems to be one of Delany's favorite pastimes.

In this one, you meet a cast of characters who it turns out are far-future aliens (maybe?) trying to understand/recreate what they think of as human life (maybe?) based on our myths, ancient and contemporary-but-still-ancient-to-them. And it's somehow related to interpretations of Einsteinian relativity and Gödel's incompleteness theorem. Maybe? I think? None of this is really spelled out until (maybe?) the very end. I think people who appreciate mythology more than I do would get more out of this one, but I enjoyed the weird takes on the weird results of Einstein and Gödel and the general freewheeling weirdness of the characters just trying to let their freak flags fly that you get in a lot of Delany's work. I rarely understand Delany, but I always enjoy reading him. And it's maybe fitting to have read this during Black History Month considering Delany's central place in the New Wave and the larger history of science fiction. (See my Goodreads review)

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

I liked, but didn't quite love this one. The idea of the book eaters and mind eaters is really cool, although I'd like to know more details about how this works (maybe I want more science fiction, whereas this is more fantasy). I think the sort of urban fantasy trope of secret societies hiding beneath a regular world maybe isn't as intriguing to me as it is to others, although the societies are interesting even if brutally misogynist. Still, there's a lot to like about this novel. (See my Goodreads review)

The Dying Earth by Jack Vance

After hearing about this one for a long time, I finally decided to pick it up. Weird. But in a good way. It's a collection of inter-related stories in a far-future setting where the sun is cooling and Earth is, well, dying (the timeline is maybe not entirely accurate given contemporary scientific understandings, but close enough for horseshoes and science fiction). I heard some SF authors recently saying they loved Vance's descriptions, which are indeed lush and occasionally beautiful. The plots are a bit meandering and/or formulaic, the characters are mostly not super developed, but the weirdness is intriguing ... I often felt like I was reading Conan the Barbarian (the Robert E. Howard stories, not the Schwarzenegger films), which must've been an influence on Vance (or maybe just Weird fiction in general). But of course this series is influential going forward from D&D (I'll always think of this when a wizard casts "Prismatic Spray"!) to Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun and (as someone pointed out and is obvious) N. K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy. This is the "ur-source" for bizarre far future science fiction/fantasy hybrids where Clarke's law about advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic is the law of the land.

Did it live up to the hype? I mean, you're definitely reading SF published in 1950. There are an awful lot of lonely dudes wandering around in search of female companionship, and the characters are a bit thinly developed. But I enjoyed it more as I went on, and I really got into the last story, which I felt was the best (or maybe I just got used to Vance's style by then?). Anyway, The Dying Earth is essential for anyone interested in the history of science fiction and fantasy. And maybe some good inspiration for authors and readers who love lush prose about weird landscapes and strange creatures. (See my Goodreads review)

The Little Book of Sloth Philosophy by Jennifer McCartney

If you love sloths and think they might have a thing or two to teach us, then you, too, might enjoy reading this book. Slowly, of course. (See my Goodreads review)

Aughra's Wisdom of Thra by J. M. Lee

A beautiful little book, both with regard to the artwork and the ideas, especially for fans of the Dark Crystal movie and TV show (I loved that Aughra had a big role in the new TV show). After reading this, I now think Aughra may be a Zhuangzian skeptic. (See Goodreads review)