aka @kingrat@sfba.social. I'm following a lot of bookwyrm accounts, since that seems to be the only way to get reviews from larger servers to this small server. I make a lot of Bookwyrm lists. I will like & boost a lot of reviews that come across my feed. I will follow most bookwyrm accounts back if they review & comment. Social reading should be social.
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63% complete! Phil in SF has read 19 of 30 books.
Earth is not well. The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away—no climate change, no war, no Twitter—beckons, …
April 16th. The year is 1963. Birmingham, Alabama has had a spring of non-violent protests …
checked out from Sonoma County Library (80 more available in Libby) so I can listen to it on Jan 15.
Earth is not well. The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away—no climate …
I Got Holes in Different Areology Codes
— A City On Mars by Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith (Page 638)
new vocabulary: areology
The study of the planet Mars
Earth is not well. The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away—no climate …
If a nation wants to convey to the world that they are the strongest and best, they can, of course just announce it at the United Nations. But it won't be convincing. Talk is cheap. Space programs are not. Very few nations can successfully fire a guy around the world at 7.8 kilometers per second, then land him and send him on a goodwill tour. Human spacefaring has little utility for the price, especially compared to things like military or commercial satellites, but what it does do is dramatically demonstrate wealth, organization, and technical competence. Throw in the fact that early space rockets were often literally the same as military rockets, and you have an excellent show of raw power that demands to be taken seriously. You of course never hear a politician say, "we choose to go to the moon, not because it is easy, but because it'll provide short-term geopolitical advantage," but something like that is a pretty solid explanation.
— A City On Mars by Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith (Page 480 - 481)
Earth is not well. The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away—no climate …
These are not cheap to make, but they're especially good at neutron absorption and absorbing the cascades of spallation that can be generated when particles strike other types of shielding.
— A City On Mars by Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith (Page 439 - 440)
new vocabulary: spallation
(physics) The breakup of a bombarded nucleus into several parts
New York City. Two in the morning. A subway car heading uptown. Jack Reacher, plus …
this Reacher installment has all the competence porn of a normal Reacher book, but lacks some of the plot coherency. to be honest, I'm not expecting things to reflect the real world, but I'd like them to follow some basic logic. for example, unnamed Feds disappear key witnesses, and then later put out APBs and release names to the press. if they're going to be blacks ops, be black ops. black ops don't reveal their presence to massive numbers of cops and the press. can't keep secrets that way. lazy plotting in this book.
New York City. Two in the morning. A subway car heading uptown. Jack Reacher, plus five other passengers. Four are …
New York City. Two in the morning. A subway car heading uptown. Jack Reacher, plus …
Initial combat operations had been satisfactory for the infantry. Then they had turned disastrous. The traditional losses had become heavy and constant. At first there had been denial. […] Companies had been merged. Tactical common sense had suggested retrenchment. Ideology required renewed offensives.
— Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child (Jack Reacher, #13) (Page 378 - 379)
This reminds me of companies I've worked for. It's not combat, but leadership wants everyone to act as if they're successful when the opposite is true, and survival would be better served by retrenchment.
New York City. Two in the morning. A subway car heading uptown. Jack Reacher, plus five other passengers. Four are …
In the weeks after Japan finally surrendered to the Allies to end World War II, …
The earlier parts of the book cover the progress of the war, focusing on the situations that would be the subject of the Tokyo trial. Then the book moves to the machinations behind the scenes that set up the trial, decided how it would be run, and who would judge. Particularly interesting was the thinking and politicking behind the decision not to prosecute Emperor Hirohito. However, as the trial progresses it is explained that prosecutors, defendants, and judges alike also wanted to avoid blaming Hirohito for the war, which led to some very awkward exchanges throughout the trial. What was never explained is why the prosecution wanted to maintain the fiction that Hirohito was tricked into the war by war-loving generals, rather than simply acknowledging that it was a political decision or in the alternative, simply noting that prosecuting him would be difficult. I'm sure the powers that be had …
The earlier parts of the book cover the progress of the war, focusing on the situations that would be the subject of the Tokyo trial. Then the book moves to the machinations behind the scenes that set up the trial, decided how it would be run, and who would judge. Particularly interesting was the thinking and politicking behind the decision not to prosecute Emperor Hirohito. However, as the trial progresses it is explained that prosecutors, defendants, and judges alike also wanted to avoid blaming Hirohito for the war, which led to some very awkward exchanges throughout the trial. What was never explained is why the prosecution wanted to maintain the fiction that Hirohito was tricked into the war by war-loving generals, rather than simply acknowledging that it was a political decision or in the alternative, simply noting that prosecuting him would be difficult. I'm sure the powers that be had reasons that made sense to themselves, but I came away from the book not understanding that choice. After an exhaustive recounting of the trial from the perspectives of nearly everyone involved, the book gives a few chapters to the aftermath, including a long epilogue on the legacy of the trial in some of the major countries that were involved (the US, China, Japan, and Russia).
Crucially, throughout the book, the author does not spare anyone from criticism. Every country involved comes under the microscope, and none escapes blemish. Everyone from Truman to MacArthur has their faults exposed. Perhaps the only person involved to escape with his honor intact is Mei Ruao, the American educated Chinese judge. During the war, he experienced the Japanese bombing his city firsthand. After the war, he threw in with the Communists rather than accept exile in Taiwan. At first lauded, he was denounced during the Cultural Revolution, and then had his reputation posthumously restored by the Chinese Communist Party.
Be forewarned though, that not only is the book long, but many parts are repetitive. The book repeats descriptions of many episodes with the same wording and even the same quotes. A minor quibble, however.
In the weeks after Japan finally surrendered to the Allies to end World War II, the world turned to the …
In the weeks after Japan finally surrendered to the Allies to end World War II, …
In a Beijing hutong, a grizzled middle-aged worker, his face worn and weathered, says, "there should be a giant earthquake that sinks all of Japan."
— Judgment at Tokyo by Gary J. Bass (Page 2,161)
New vocabulary: hutong
A narrow lane or alleyway in a traditional residential area of a Chinese city, especially Beijing.
In the weeks after Japan finally surrendered to the Allies to end World War II, …
The orotund prose clearly came straight from MacArthur himself
— Judgment at Tokyo by Gary J. Bass (Page 1,982)
New word: orotund
(Of a person's voice) resonant and imposing. (Of writing, style, or expression) pompous or pretentious
@emmadilemma@book.dansmonorage.blue have you listened to their podcast, Lingthusiasm? it's great!
In the weeks after Japan finally surrendered to the Allies to end World War II, …
The lawyers for the defense, the majority judgment said frostily, were often "qontesting the seemingly incontestable," and defense witnesses had given "prolix, equivocations and evasions, which only arouse distrust."
— Judgment at Tokyo by Gary J. Bass (Page 1,723)
new word: prolix
using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy
(this book has a lot of new vocabulary for me)
