OT: Watcha reading?

[eco's bones]

I finished this recently. I sped through it in like 2 days. It reads kinda like a thriller, especially the second half. Just a totally ****ed up story. I worked in banking for 5 years and Theranos was everywhere. Holmes was so famous and everyone talked up her story. It's insane how many influential people she was able to dupe into her fantasy. Crazier than fiction, honestly.

I also finished Rutger Bregman's Utopia for Realists. It's a pretty quick read and lays out a lot of the history surrounding many controversial political solutions being bounced around out there like universal basic income, shorter workweeks and open borders. I don't love Bregman, but it was interesting, and he writes in a pretty colloquial way, which is great for topics like this that can often get uber complicated.

Now I'm reading Serhii Plokhy's 'Chernobyl.' It's basically the major book on the story of what happened there. I visited last year and started watching the HBO show, so figured it was a good time to start the book, which I had lying around for a year. Obviously a specific topic, but I love Soviet history, so it's up my alley.

Svetlana Alexievich--a Belorussian investigative reporter wroter Voices from Chernobyl some years back which chronicled the before and after of that event. It went a ways towards winning her the Nobel Prize in literature (unheard of until then for an investigate journalist) a few years back. It's a really good book. I will have to check out Plokhy.

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

Svetlana Alexievich--a Belorussian investigative reporter wroter Voices from Chernobyl some years back which chronicled the before and after of that event. It went a ways towards winning her the Nobel Prize in literature (unheard of until then for an investigate journalist) a few years back. It's a really good book. I will have to check out Plokhy.

This is actually on my list, but Plokhy's book aligns more closely with the show (I think).

Plokhy is pretty well known. He, along with Taras Kuzio, are basically the preeminent scholars when it comes to Ukrainian history, something I'm really interested in and wrote about in my thesis.

I know it's a bit of an obscure country for Americans (I am an American living in Poland right now), but it's really a fascinating place. Not only is it central to geopolitics, but its essentially stuck in between the eastern and western worlds right now (although it has shifted greatly towards the west since the 2013 Euromaidan and subsequent Crimean Crisis in 2014).

You can really see this on display with the way the culture is developing, which greatly contrasts the infrastructure that remains from the Soviet Era. It's somewhat like stepping into a time capsule. Especially when you go to cities like Kharkiv or Kyiv with their rich soviet architecture.

 

[eco's bones]

This is actually on my list, but Plokhy's book aligns more closely with the show (I think).

Plokhy is pretty well known. He, along with Taras Kuzio, are basically the preeminent scholars when it comes to Ukrainian history, something I'm really interested in and wrote about in my thesis.

I know it's a bit of an obscure country for Americans (I am an American living in Poland right now), but it's really a fascinating place. Not only is it central to geopolitics, but its essentially stuck in between the eastern and western worlds right now (although it has shifted greatly towards the west since the 2013 Euromaidan and subsequent Crimean Crisis in 2014).

You can really see this on display with the way the culture is developing, which greatly contrasts the infrastructure that remains from the Soviet Era. It's somewhat like stepping into a time capsule. Especially when you go to cities like Kharkiv or Kyiv with their rich soviet architecture.

We just got HBO again a week or so ago and I noted the Chernobyl series and I'm planning on watching.

Eastern Europe is interesting. I have a few connections to it. My grandmother's family for instance came out of Lithuania. The Ukraine is one of those places that has seen its borders redrawn time and time again and because of which there are always identity issues and lots of friction. I hardly ever get out of the United States though--I don't like flying-it really screws with my ear canals. Reading though can be the next best thing (or the next best thing after the next best thing) to travelling.

I do work (or mess around) on writing projects with an American ex-pat Rick Harsch who has been living in Slovenia for about the last 15-20 years. His fall back job there is in a maritime museum in Trieste which is a short distance from where he lives. Another friend reads everything he can get his hands on relating to the Eastern Front in the first and second world wars.

 

[True Blue]

Reading the new translation of Odyssey. It just sucks you right in.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Svetlana Alexievich--a Belorussian investigative reporter wroter Voices from Chernobyl some years back which chronicled the before and after of that event. It went a ways towards winning her the Nobel Prize in literature (unheard of until then for an investigate journalist) a few years back. It's a really good book. I will have to check out Plokhy.

Why the sudden interest in Chernobyl? The series and books are out now. I was close to buying a book about it but figured it would be too depressing to read.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

I just finished the Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer. There aren’t enough good things I can say about it. Psychedelic, petrifyingly-suspenseful sci-fi. Flawless and infectious writing. For me it felt like having Slaughterhouse-Five, The Trial, The Mist, Infinite Jest, and The Florida Wildlife Encyclopedia dumped at your feet mid-acid-trip.

Did I mention petrifying? Also the physical books are gorgeous.

I'm reading these as well. Midway through Authority, but things got nuts so I had to put it down for a few weeks. Gonna pick it back up thanks to you. They are very good.

Did you see the movie adaptation for Annihilation?

 

[Fugazy]

About to jump into the GoT books.

 

[Crease]

About to jump into the GoT books.

I want to read the books but I've already seen the show and have a short attention span.

So I'm reading The Way Of Kings which is the first book in Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive series.

 

[eco's bones]

Why the sudden interest in Chernobyl? The series and books are out now. I was close to buying a book about it but figured it would be too depressing to read.

It's not sudden really. I read Alexievich's book three/four years ago I'd guess. I've seen documentaries on Chernobyl before as well. It's a human interest story and I've read a bit about Fukushima as well. A lot of our nuclear reactors are located along the Atlantic coast. With climate change and sea level rise there's a possibility that a major event could compromise one of them. A very large area around Chernoybl was evacuated after the event and is uninhabitable still though some of the former residents returned. One of the issues (per Alexievich) for them that when they moved to other places and were found out they were ostracized--people were afraid because many of them were contaminated.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

It's not sudden really. I read Alexievich's book three/four years ago I'd guess. I've seen documentaries on Chernobyl before as well. It's a human interest story and I've read a bit about Fukushima as well. A lot of our nuclear reactors are located along the Atlantic coast. With climate change and sea level rise there's a possibility that a major event could compromise one of them. A very large area around Chernoybl was evacuated after the event and is uninhabitable still though some of the former residents returned. One of the issues (per Alexievich) for them that when they moved to other places and were found out they were ostracized--people were afraid because many of them were contaminated.

I meant in general. I see stuff about Chernobyl all over the place.

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

We just got HBO again a week or so ago and I noted the Chernobyl series and I'm planning on watching.

Eastern Europe is interesting. I have a few connections to it. My grandmother's family for instance came out of Lithuania. The Ukraine is one of those places that has seen its borders redrawn time and time again and because of which there are always identity issues and lots of friction. I hardly ever get out of the United States though--I don't like flying-it really screws with my ear canals. Reading though can be the next best thing (or the next best thing after the next best thing) to travelling.

I do work (or mess around) on writing projects with an American ex-pat Rick Harsch who has been living in Slovenia for about the last 15-20 years. His fall back job there is in a maritime museum in Trieste which is a short distance from where he lives. Another friend reads everything he can get his hands on relating to the Eastern Front in the first and second world wars.

That sucks about the flying. I'm certainly not a fan, but thankfully I don't get sick.

I visited Vilnius this past year. It's a beautiful city and I really enjoyed it. They actually filmed a lot of the Chernobyl series there, so I recognize quite a bit of it. They used the former KGB prison, which is now a museum, for a few of the scenes in episode three.

The show is high-quality and has great acting, I think you'll enjoy it.

Why the sudden interest in Chernobyl? The series and books are out now. I was close to buying a book about it but figured it would be too depressing to read.

There isn't really a sudden interest in Chernobyl. It's been fairly consistent since the event happened. The HBO show is high profile, so that of course garners some extra coverage, but there have been many documentaries, books, video games, journalist pieces, etc. that have been released in recent years.

As @eco's bones mentioned, it is one of the top human interest stories/catastrophes of our time. Moreover, it possesses significant shock value because of the ghost town that has arisen beside it. Making it the perfect backdrop for horror films or video games.

From what I understand, the author of the book I'm currently reading actually specifically chose to do so to exhibit the potential for history repeating itself. He sees a lot of similarities between the negative operational aspects of the Soviet Union's government - which he deems as largely responsible for the failures that led to Chernobyl - and some current regimes that control existing nuclear facilities.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

I meant in general. I see stuff about Chernobyl all over the place.

My guess is there has been lots of momentum about saving the environment the past few years and Chernobyl’s probably the biggest disaster and cautionary tale in that regard

 

[Leetch3]

About to jump into the GoT books.

interested in doing that as well, but at this point i'm waiting to see if he ever finishes the last 2 books. don't want to read them all and then not get an ending

 

[eco's bones]

That sucks about the flying. I'm certainly not a fan, but thankfully I don't get sick.

I visited Vilnius this past year. It's a beautiful city and I really enjoyed it. They actually filmed a lot of the Chernobyl series there, so I recognize quite a bit of it. They used the former KGB prison, which is now a museum, for a few of the scenes in episode three.

The show is high-quality and has great acting, I think you'll enjoy it.



There isn't really a sudden interest in Chernobyl. It's been fairly consistent since the event happened. The HBO show is high profile, so that of course garners some extra coverage, but there have been many documentaries, books, video games, journalist pieces, etc. that have been released in recent years.

As @eco's bones mentioned, it is one of the top human interest stories/catastrophes of our time. Moreover, it possesses significant shock value because of the ghost town that has arisen beside it. Making it the perfect backdrop for horror films or video games.

From what I understand, the author of the book I'm currently reading actually specifically chose to do so to exhibit the potential for history repeating itself. He sees a lot of similarities between the negative operational aspects of the Soviet Union's government - which he deems as largely responsible for the failures that led to Chernobyl - and some current regimes that control existing nuclear facilities.

A Chernobyl event could happen here too. And if close enough to a major population center then we'd have a real catastrophe including a major refugee problem. There are more and more frequent climate events from year to year (my daughter was out in Chico CA working for the US forestry service last November when the town of Paradise was wiped out by a wildfire--that was about 10 miles away from her) -- and there is more melting of the polar caps and sea level is rising. Larry Wilkerson who use to be Colin Powell's chief of staff has talked about it a lot. The Navy is having significant issues for instance at its Norfolk Va. base which is the largest and most important Naval base on the east coast. The nearby Langley runway is often under water and unusable when it is. Those are two of the things he cites.

So it's not just a Russian problem--it's an everybody problem. The Russians did handle Chernobyl very poorly though. That came out very clearly in Alexievich's book. They had no idea and 1st responders and any other volunteers and anybody who stuck around and didn't clear out right away paid a terrible price for that ignorance.

 

[IDvsEGO]

I want to read the books but I've already seen the show and have a short attention span.

So I'm reading The Way Of Kings which is the first book in Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive series.

If you've got a short attention span way of Kings might be rough, but it's an amazing series, and if someone says that they like fantasy, it's one of my top recommendations. But each book is 900+ pages I think, and it's gonna end up being at least a 10 book series.

 

[True Blue]

About to jump into the GoT books.

I enjoyed them. But batten down the hatches. It will take a while.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

That sucks about the flying. I'm certainly not a fan, but thankfully I don't get sick.

I visited Vilnius this past year. It's a beautiful city and I really enjoyed it. They actually filmed a lot of the Chernobyl series there, so I recognize quite a bit of it. They used the former KGB prison, which is now a museum, for a few of the scenes in episode three.

The show is high-quality and has great acting, I think you'll enjoy it.



There isn't really a sudden interest in Chernobyl. It's been fairly consistent since the event happened. The HBO show is high profile, so that of course garners some extra coverage, but there have been many documentaries, books, video games, journalist pieces, etc. that have been released in recent years.

As @eco's bones mentioned, it is one of the top human interest stories/catastrophes of our time. Moreover, it possesses significant shock value because of the ghost town that has arisen beside it. Making it the perfect backdrop for horror films or video games.

From what I understand, the author of the book I'm currently reading actually specifically chose to do so to exhibit the potential for history repeating itself. He sees a lot of similarities between the negative operational aspects of the Soviet Union's government - which he deems as largely responsible for the failures that led to Chernobyl - and some current regimes that control existing nuclear facilities.

Fun fact, I was born 60 miles from Chernobyl. I joke that it had the opposite of its intended effect and stunted my growth.

 

[aufheben]

I'm reading these as well. Midway through Authority, but things got nuts so I had to put it down for a few weeks. Gonna pick it back up thanks to you. They are very good.

Did you see the movie adaptation for Annihilation?

Yeah, I've seen it several times since it came out. I found the books absolutely terrifying, could not put them down for a second.

Re-attempting Infinite Jest. This should go about as well as the first four tries.

Just get past the first 100-150 pages. It seems daunting but it's actually a really fun read.

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

Fun fact, I was born 60 miles from Chernobyl. I joke that it had the opposite of its intended effect and stunted my growth.

Where were you born?

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

A Chernobyl event could happen here too. And if close enough to a major population center then we'd have a real catastrophe including a major refugee problem. There are more and more frequent climate events from year to year (my daughter was out in Chico CA working for the US forestry service last November when the town of Paradise was wiped out by a wildfire--that was about 10 miles away from her) -- and there is more melting of the polar caps and sea level is rising. Larry Wilkerson who use to be Colin Powell's chief of staff has talked about it a lot. The Navy is having significant issues for instance at its Norfolk Va. base which is the largest and most important Naval base on the east coast. The nearby Langley runway is often under water and unusable when it is. Those are two of the things he cites.

So it's not just a Russian problem--it's an everybody problem. The Russians did handle Chernobyl very poorly though. That came out very clearly in Alexievich's book. They had no idea and 1st responders and any other volunteers and anybody who stuck around and didn't clear out right away paid a terrible price for that ignorance.

Completely agree.

The latter part, I think I wasn't as clear as I meant to be. The author didn't put it only on Russia, he was basically saying he sees nuclear facilities around the world under the control of governments that operate similarly to the Soviet Union - essentially prone to severe mismanagement. For example, the Soviets chose to proceed with an RBMK reactor instead of a WWER because it was cheaper and could produce more energy. However, the latter is/was far safer and they knew it, but just didn't care. Moreover, there focus on productivity put excessive pressure on laborers who took risks that, under less pressurized conditions, they almost certainly would have never done.

The author is from Kyiv originally, but now lives in the U.S. and I think he is in complete agreement with the things you state in the first paragraph. Whereas many in the U.S. (or elsewhere) view Chernobyl as a one-off phenomenon in a far-off land, he seems to want to try to bring it closer to home. Fukushima didn't really help either, because it too is thousands of miles away. Unfortunately, people don't tend to realize risks until they hit close to home.

 

[eco's bones]

Completely agree.

The latter part, I think I wasn't as clear as I meant to be. The author didn't put it only on Russia, he was basically saying he sees nuclear facilities around the world under the control of governments that operate similarly to the Soviet Union - essentially prone to severe mismanagement. For example, the Soviets chose to proceed with an RBMK reactor instead of a WWER because it was cheaper and could produce more energy. However, the latter is/was far safer and they knew it, but just didn't care. Moreover, there focus on productivity put excessive pressure on laborers who took risks that, under less pressurized conditions, they almost certainly would have never done.

The author is from Kyiv originally, but now lives in the U.S. and I think he is in complete agreement with the things you state in the first paragraph. Whereas many in the U.S. (or elsewhere) view Chernobyl as a one-off phenomenon in a far-off land, he seems to want to try to bring it closer to home. Fukushima didn't really help either, because it too is thousands of miles away. Unfortunately, people don't tend to realize risks until they hit close to home.

You can find mismanagement anywhere.....and standards can go lax and becomes subservient to production/profit. Happens all the time. The United States has a dog eat dog corporate mentality that pretty much always puts profits over safety standards and shareholders over workers. Workers often come to see themselves as their jobs and in dangerous occupations that can lead them to take risks that they shouldn't.....and it's all human nature which is something we're not at all exempt from. There are good reasons for labor unions and regulatory agencies--even some of them are very weak--don't have enough will or teeth.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

General question. Does anyone else hate when authors get way too descriptive in books? Particularly in non-fiction? I'm reading this book for the story not your pretentious writing style. I don't need to know what brand of cigarettes the guy was smoking and how slightly ajar his mouth was when he put it one in.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Where were you born?

Kiev (or Kyiv as it's spelled nowadays).

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

You can find mismanagement anywhere.....and standards can go lax and becomes subservient to production/profit. Happens all the time. The United States has a dog eat dog corporate mentality that pretty much always puts profits over safety standards and shareholders over workers. Workers often come to see themselves as their jobs and in dangerous occupations that can lead them to take risks that they shouldn't.....and it's all human nature which is something we're not at all exempt from. There are good reasons for labor unions and regulatory agencies--even some of them are very weak--don't have enough will or teeth.

Agreed. The whole Boeing crisis is a perfect example.

General question. Does anyone else hate when authors get way too descriptive in books? Particularly in non-fiction? I'm reading this book for the story not your pretentious writing style. I don't need to know what brand of cigarettes the guy was smoking and how slightly ajar his mouth was when he put it one in.

Yes. It's insanely frustrating. But this is a prioritization of the academic world. Academics write for other academics. They don't write for ordinary people. They often operate in an echo chamber.

I read a lot of academic texts and even when the topic is something I like, it can be insanely tedious to suffer through. I just handed in my thesis and my advisor actually criticized me for writing more like a journalist than an academic. I told him that I basically think of it this way:

1. If I write like an academic, there are basically seven people who will read and be interested in my work.

2. If I write like a journalist, it may make me seem inferior within the academic world, but I don't really care about getting my message across to that group of individuals.

I worked for 5 years in corporate finance and decided to go back to school to do something more meaningful with my life. What shocked me in a negative sense was I have found academia to be no less machine-like than banking. Universities have become publishing houses. That's all professors seem to care about. Who can be published and how cited will their work get on Google Scholar. If you are smart, a PHD is the only logical course. It's a shame really.

What I really like is when intelligent authors can write colloquially. They can deliver important information in an easy to understand way. This was one of the things I praise Bregman for in his Utopia for Realists. He covers some complex policy objectives but does so in a way almost anyone can understand. Same goes for Jessamyn Conrad in her What You Should Know About Politics....But Don't.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Agreed. The whole Boeing crisis is a perfect example.



Yes. It's insanely frustrating. But this is a prioritization of the academic world. Academics write for other academics. They don't write for ordinary people. They often operate in an echo chamber.

I read a lot of academic texts and even when the topic is something I like, it can be insanely tedious to suffer through. I just handed in my thesis and my advisor actually criticized me for writing more like a journalist than an academic. I told him that I basically think of it this way:

1. If I write like an academic, there are basically seven people who will read and be interested in my work.

2. If I write like a journalist, it may make me seem inferior within the academic world, but I don't really care about getting my message across to that group of individuals.

I worked for 5 years in corporate finance and decided to go back to school to do something more meaningful with my life. What shocked me in a negative sense was I have found academia to be no less machine-like than banking. Universities have become publishing houses. That's all professors seem to care about. Who can be published and how cited will their work get on Google Scholar. If you are smart, a PHD is the only logical course. It's a shame really.

What I really like is when intelligent authors can write colloquially. They can deliver important information in an easy to understand way. This was one of the things I praise Bregman for in his Utopia for Realists. He covers some complex policy objectives but does so in a way almost anyone can understand. Same goes for Jessamyn Conrad in her What You Should Know About Politics....But Don't.

I meant more like someone trying really hard to be a great writer by adding detail. It's not dense detail, just unnecessary detail. That shouldn't happen in most non-fiction books.