Steve T

Created vs Creator and the problem of Free Will

Revisado: 04-22-24

This ancient tale captures the timeless dilemma and heartbreak of individual free will, growth, and transformation in conflict the expectation / desires / demands of significant others (God...society...spouse...friends...)

In t-h-i-s original story there is no question...Galatea has been c-r-e-a-t-e-d. For a purpose.
Crafted out of stone by a master craftsman. Brought to life by his constant ministrations, prayers, and perhaps, the assistance of a goddess. But...
She is not happy to live within the confines of his small and shallow life and his repugnant plans for her.

We see variations on this theme everywhere, from Adam and Eve's fall from grace to the tale of Aphrodite, George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion," "My Fair Lady," ... even Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know."

Can we aspire to raise above our circumstances, or our very purpose?
Can the clay pot tell the potter that it is really a silver vase?
Can we tell others that depend on us that we do not see ourselves within the narrow strictures of marriage, family, gender...?
Can we tell others that we do not wish to live imprisoned in their expectations or plans for us?

Perhaps. Perhaps we must.

This re-telling makes the answer OBVIOUS.
The master sculpter that has the art and soul and heart to create an object of beauty and breathe it into life an object lovingly carved from stone is really a shamefully selfish and wickedly predatory slime bucket with only one thing on his mind for his prize creation.

Perhaps all men are like this. Trying to impose their image of the perfect woman onto their friends or spouses, and not appreciating the unique gifts and qualities that should be appreciated, let alone to grow and flourish...and to grow with them.
If so, this audiobook is a deliciously wicked clarion call to all women to throw of their undeserving men and create the perfect matriarchal society where no problems ever exist.
But wait...don't variations on this theme occur on both sides across the spectrum of relationships?

Galatea has been given the gift of life, but faced with surpisingly ugly and unimaginative choices (seemingly at odds with his ability to imagine and craft such beauty), Galatea sees only the prison and its wardens crafted for us by the storyteller...

But it just possible, under the obvious telling of t-h-i-s story, to ponder a broader philosophical question:
How can we be our best selves and live our best lives as individuals, in relationship, and in community?

How can we live in relationship with others? What constants can we expect? What price are we will to pay for the beefit of this, or that, relationship?
How can we bring positive change?

Wonderful reading by Ruth Wilson.
Perhaps it is my imagination, but I will credit the author with trying to awaken our resistance to the unhappy and elite complaints and plans of Galatea ourselves to see and address the ugliness and unfairness on both sides.

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Changing Fates of War. Change the Narrator!

Revisado: 02-17-20

A brilliant story of World War 2 in the Pacific as seen by one of Japan's greatest fighter aces; the only one of that select group to survive the war. Unfortunately this gripping and honest account is destroyed by poor narration not suited to the material and poor editing that leaves multiple outtakes and extraneous material in the presentation.
Saburo Sakai describes his strict training and his awkward first experiences as a fighter pilot. In the early days of the war, Japan ran rampant and was seeming invincible; Sakai quickly became a peerless master of air combat, the best fighter pilot in the best airplane of that time (the Zero fighter). After initial ignominious defeats, the Americans roared back with a vengeance. At first American pilots had to develop tactics that would enable them to succeed despite the Zero's better performance, but soon the Japanese found themselves facing superior fighter planes flown by skilled pilots as the balance in the Pacific quickly favored the Americans. Through victory and defeat Sakai relates the horror and heroism of war; an eloquent witness who was, at the time, our enemy. Saburo Sakai was a knight of the air; fighting fairly and honoring the abilities of his adversaries.
It is also a tale of adversity...dealing with the inequities of the Japanese class system and with the remote stupidity of the Japanese officers who did not appear to value the lives of their noncommissioned fighter pilots, of dealing with a life threatening battle injury until he was able to fly and fight again (with one eye!).
It is also a love story.
I cannot recommend the s-t-o-r-y highly enough.
HOWEVER...
This version is r-u-i-n-e-d by poor narration and poor editing. The reader uses STRIDENT voice throughout; my ears felt assaulted and worn out. This was very inappropriate given the humble, thoughtful, and nuanced story told by an intelligent man. I feel sorry for the reader...did he not have the time to read and understand the book to better craft his voice to the story? Did he not have time to research the proper pronunciation individual names and place names? Was he unable to discern the flow and pattern of the sentences such that he almost always place the wrong em-PHA-sis within each sentence until it is almost impossible for the listener to understand how the air battles ebb and flow?
Did the editor(s) not have the pride or the time to craft a finished product? Apart from the horror of the narration the audio contains repeated takes of the same sentence, it even contains the reader's frustrated curse at his own poor reading!
This is a beautiful and important story ruined by a thoughtless, or rushed, production.
I hope that it is given a second chance with an appropriate narration and a professional editing.
I am sorry to say this... DO NOT PURCHASE THIS VERSION (release date 5/1/19, reader Kevin Waites).
DEMAND that it be re-done in a manner that gives honor to the author, the historical importance, and the listener!

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Cute. Ignore the racism, sexism, and socialism!

Revisado: 10-08-19

It's a fun concept...our spacefaring protagonist is on a dangerous mission to a long-dead planet to retrieve biological samples critical to the survival of his homeworld. He is accompanied by a voice in his head that provides instructions, warnings, and the prejudices of his home world that are of no use on the world he finds.

This new world is not dead, but thriving! It began to thrive when the white-blond-male overlords fled from the planet they had pillaged, plundered, and raped shortly before they estimated the planet would be dead. Freed from this despicable serfdom, the remaining inhabitants saved their planet by becoming the perfect model citizens of a Utopian communist ideal.

Applause and knowing nods and winks. A story so right for our time!

But wait...if the horrible overlords had been described as female the story would have be loudly shouted down, rightly, as sexist. And if the bad people had not been safely white and blond the story would have been rightly seen as a racist affront to an exploited people. And, unfortunately, the utopian concept of people-helping-people-in-a-perfect-socialist/communist harmony has only ever resulted in larger tyrannies, inequities, and environmental destruction than its horrible capitalist counterparts (review the history of the Soviet Union and China). But it sure sounds great!

Oh, I remember, this is science fiction fun.
Except when it preaches sexism, racism, and the failed, false, and jealous god of communism.

The reader does a good job of navigating a difficult script as the jarring voice-in-the-protagonist's-head becomes more strident and threatening and conflicts with the other voices in the story.

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Not a How-To. No lessons to employ.

Revisado: 10-06-19

I was looking for an insightful treatise on how to put aside preconceptions to better understand, communicate, and co-exist with the "strangers" all around me. Instead Gladwell showed have many have gotten it wrong, but not what we can doto get it right in the future.
The book is filled with examples where well-intentioned and intelligent people were harmed by or did harm to people that they mis-perceived. Recall Chamberlain's utter failure to achieve "Peace in our time" with Hitler, despite a signed agreement? It is easy for Gladwell to point out egregious errors that were made (with hindsight) but there is no discussion of what Chamberlain should have done instead that would have exposed Hitler's true intention instead of being deceived by his lies.
If we can learn to talk with strangers, we would be able to solve our political polarization and ultimately live at peace with all.
Instead Gladwell painfully recounts well-known errors of behavior and errors in judging others' behavior. Gladwell details the horrors of the stories we've already heard: Larry Nassar, Sandra Bland, Jerry Sandusky, Amanda Knox, Sylvia Plath...entertaining if you are looking for a scintillating post-mortem.
The takeaway: we default to trusting that the other is honest: trust allows society to function, suspicion destroys interaction. When our perception of people's behavior is at odds with their true intentions, we will not ever be able to understand them.
Gladwell is an engaging speaker, But I didn't need a story or an Impossibility proof, I need a better approach to interact with the world around me.

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Monsters! Loud noises! Tripping over movie tropes.

Revisado: 09-06-19

This story adds an interesting idea to the Alien franchise: If Ash, the "synth" (synthetic human / AI) responsible for most of the troubles that afflicted the space tug "Nostromo" in the movie that started it all, is able to load himself into the computer onboard Ripley's escape pod from the Nostromo (and, indeed, to "infect" other computer systems as well) then it can continue to use her to complete its secret mission to return an Alien to Earth.
Ripley, still in hyper-sleep in the emergency pod she used to escape the Nostromo, is "rescued" and awoken by the Weyland-Yutani (read b-a-d multi-galactic corporation) mining vessel "Marion" at the very time this vessel is caught in the midst of a new discovery of an Alien planet infestation with attendant death and mayhem.
Ripley works with the remaining crew of the Marion in an attempt to escape the doomed ship, destroy the Aliens, and get back home to see her daughter Amanda.
In this short (4 hrs) production all the standard tropes are used in place of artful dialog and plot.
Ripley is paranoid (of course...Ash I-s out to get her) and often hysterical.
Comms gear is notoriously scratchy and difficult to understand and is prone to cut out at dramatic moments.
Screams and loud noises punctuate real and feared encounters with Aliens.
I would appreciate a more nuanced treatment, but of course that was not a strong element in the movies series, either.
The real gem in this rough production is Rutger Hauer (the voice of "Ash"). Well done!

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Silly & Superficial. Lacks insight for today.

Revisado: 08-27-19

Two comediennes point and ridicule the stupid lives women have been condemned to live across the ages and into the present.
They neglect to consider the culture and conditions of the past that led to poor practices and behaviors as they instead apply a test of modern correctness. Of course our past is flawed; that is why enlightened women and men have seen beyond their current condition and contributed to sweeping changes over time.
The authors / narrators, perhaps unintentionally, denigrate the abilities of women of the times discussed when they often suggest that men are largely / solely to blame . Did women not correct the things they knew to be wrong? Are women feeble that need to be protected, except when they don't?
It would have been much better to discuss how observing the foolishness of the past provide a prescription for correct action in the present and future. Examples:
- what should women do about a fashion industry that forces them to wear uncomfortable shoes...complain and keep wearing them?
- how should we deal with uncomfortable issues in other cultures and often performed by women, such as female genital mutilation?
The unnecessary use of profanity does not add value to issues raised. There are better words that are less ambiguous and more educational. We may be shocked by the stories, but we do not need the narrators to voice our shock for us.
On the bright side this book identifies many questionable beliefs and practices of the past and holds them up to scorn so that we can ridicule them as well..
And of course it also explains why women have such a tough life today. It's easy to complain that men and situations beyond a woman's control conspire to keep all women down.
I prefer a better remedy: Aware of the issues of the past we should each take constructive action that leads to better lives for ourselves and for all those women and men around us. And we should expect to be ridiculed by the more intelligent people of the future.

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Advice and Affirmation for Women of All Ages

Revisado: 11-30-18

Iliza Shlesinger dispenses wisdom in a witty and enjoyable manner.

Her advice and affirmations may be of particular value to young women entering the adult world.
Her primary messages are "It's okay to think differently than others; your body and its parts are normal and nothing to be ashamed of, and it's okay to make mistakes."

She addresses differences between men and women, particularly in dating, in a funny but not simplistically disparaging way.

We all need a mentor in life that helps us navigate through rough patches and difficult questions; Iliza provide this for young women in particular. That said, parents should be advised that discussion of casual sex with strangers and recreational drug or alcohol use might not be appropriate messages for all listeners.

Men, too, will benefit from the insights into issues that all important to women as addressed in this book.

Iliza enlivens the book and its personal message with her own charismatic delivery informed by years of high-level stand-up comedy.

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This Holmes Makes Elementary Mistakes

Revisado: 11-30-18

I appreciate Anthony Horowitz's recent novels that have arrived in the style of Doyle, and of Christie and Fleming.

"The House of Silk" ambitiously combines many of our favorite elements (Holmes' brother Mycroft, his nemesis Moriarty, his occasional addictions, and his willingness to plunge into the heart of crime with his friend Watson armed with their revolvers to wreak justice in an extra-legal fashion) together with a sordid crime, which may involve conspiracy reaching to the highest levels of government and society.

I was disappointed in this telling; Holmes underestimates the menace and the mean-ness of the threat to his own and to others' peril. The twists and turns of plot seemed to me to be contrivances that made the author's take easier rather than the story advancing in a credible manner.

The narrator, Derek Jacobi, is one of the most gifted actors of his generation (I Claudius, a nearly complete Shakespearian canon with the Royal Shakespeare company), so even his uninspired reading is wonderful with one exception: Sherlock himself is rendered in the most unenjoyable manner.

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Random sketches-Zero Greatness-Very Little Magnus

Revisado: 11-29-18

This book does not deliver on its title, "The Grandmaster: Magnus Carlsen and the Match That Made Chess Great Again" (written by Brin-Jonathan Butler, read by Jacques Roy).

It provides no direct information about Magnus Carlsen; no interviews or personal information, no insight into his training, nothing that uniquely identifies him as one of the world's greatest ever chess players. Less than 10% of the book even mentions Magnus; when it does it supplies innuendo, opinion, and hearsay and confuses this with meaningful insight. The author even suggests that Magnus c-o-u-l-d very likely be afflicted by the same bizarre behavior patterns of prior chess champions, without any direct evidence. Sensational, irresponsible, and unfounded.

The book does nothing to increase one's understanding of the game. There is nothing about how the game is played. There is no discussion of strategy or tactics. There is nothing to help the reader understand what makes an individual game great. There is no explanation of what makes a "!!" brilliant move any different from a normal move. It does not define how greatness is quantified in individual players. It does not define how to measure the "greatness" of Chess as a game historically or currently. There are only a few paragraphs on the 2016 world chess championship (the "match" of the title, between Carlsen and Sergei Karjakin); it therefore does not and cannot inform us how chess has been restored to any greatness or how it can be compared to any prior greatness.

The book at best is a random walk through chess history searching for a common thread. It reads like a lengthy response to an essay question which makes it clear that the writer has little or no knowledge of the question asked but mistakenly believes that if he just keeps filling up space with random material then the teacher will grade based on exhaustion rather than on mastery.

The book does provide snippets of value: interviews with famous personages; moments of insightful reporting (e.g., the impact of the book and movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer" on the life of the chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin and his changing relationship with his father, Fred, who wrote the book). These snippets might make an interesting magazine article, but do not meet the challenge of the book's title.

The narrator does a creditable job of voicing the author and bringing to life his journey to write the book.

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More "Classroom Confidential" than "How To"

Revisado: 11-14-18

Heather Won Tesoriero's breathless narration of student lives, dates, disappointments, and obsessive parents reads more like a society column cum hagiography than a methodology to improve the way science is taught and experienced in high school. Sure we like all the students and notice the Andy Bramante's calm, patient, and wise teaching presence. But wouldn't we really like to know how he does it and then apply what we can to every other science class in America? We get little or no sense of coursework, syllabus, studies. I lived through high school and knew my share of outstanding teachers and brilliant students. This book contributed nothing to my understanding of how to improve the process. #HighSchoolLife #Science #Tagsgiving #Sweepstakes

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