Kevin

Starts out well, gets dark abruptly

Revisado: 06-22-21

What is the absolute worst thing you can imagine a person can do to another person? This author asked that question again and again, and tried to outdo themselves each time. The result was that I lost all meaningful emotional connection to the characters. I’m over the extremes.

The book started well with good character foundations. Felt a connection to the school, the main character’s struggles, and the relationships early on. Those have almost no connection to the later story in this volume.

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Solid book, though less so toward conclusion

Revisado: 06-01-21

This is an important book for understanding ideological intensification online, in the media, and in society as a whole. When social media exposes us to differences, instead of democratizing and enlightening us, we entrench and defend our convictions -- our identities -- more fiercely.

Where the book is limited is in its recommendations. I don't think anonymous deliberation online will be successful without a massive social movement of willing participants who can be held accountable to their communities without also being overly threatened by viral hate. Further, I am skeptical of calling for "moderates" to engage more online. I think it will only serve to entrench more people even more deeply. Still, a good book.

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Highlights important key concepts

Revisado: 06-01-21

I am a communications graduate student, and I found this book to be useful. It helped me to put words to ideas I knew at some level but that I couldn't express succinctly. It was particularly helpful to learn about the differences between "convictions" and "beliefs," and how convictions bleed into our identity. I recommend reading it in tandem with Networked Propaganda, Breaking the Social Media Prism, and The Hybrid Media System.

I think Dr. Lynch proposes a better conceptual solution than any of these three other books, but they all add critical understanding.

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If you’re in a dark place, avoid

Revisado: 09-14-20

I decided to listen to this story because Neil Gaiman has been strangely soothing to me in the past. His stories aren’t all happy and free, but the dark parts never sank too low. There was always a message of hope and courage paired with the darkness, too. Parts of this story sank too low.

Normally dark things don’t bother me much. But, I’m already in a darker place after my father passed, and a lot of changes in my personal circumstances. The pandemic hasn’t helped.

I will never understand why the scenes of torture were so detailed. The torture scene that went on for 30mins made me have to stop.

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Cliffhanger, wait for next book

Revisado: 02-18-20

This book went on and on with comparatively little plot development. The author is finally trying to bring the plot along, but it stumbles.

This book ends on an exaggerated cliffhanger and really isn’t worth listening to until the next book comes out.

The negative emotionality of this book also far outweighs the positive. If you are tired of depressing books, at least wait until the next part of the story.

I’m probably done with the series. I’ve enjoyed the dorkiness of the series, and I’ve stuck with it because of a faint hope for a cool grand narrative. But it took 9 books to go basically nowhere in the grand narrative and when the narrative started (in the last 40mins of this book) it didn’t start well. I lack confidence, but that is just my opinion.

As always, good job to RC Bray.

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Circumstances created the emotion, not the words

Revisado: 07-13-19

This story is meaningful, resonant, and sad. The writing was decent, but not as brilliant as the forward implied.

If it weren’t for the tragic irony of Paul Kalanithi’s circumstances — working as a neurosurgeon while dying of cancer — I’m not sure this book would have come so far.

Kalanithi’s use of literary quotes to describe things he saw as a doctor were probably the most interesting parts of the book for me. His juxtaposition of being a doctor and patient was also interesting, but I felt much was left unsaid. The discussion of what it was like to be indoctrinated into medicine confirmed other accounts I have read.

His philosophical orientation was exactly what I’d expect from a conscientious doctor. Post-positivist, spiritual-religious, practical, and concerned with morality. While to many this book is high-minded and insightful, I felt he had barely scratched the surface of what he was looking for — life’s meaning. For me, that’s part of this sad story, too.

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Good and bad

Revisado: 06-20-19

First my listener opinion:
1) I both liked and disliked the narration. It could have been a podcast. I would have liked it more as a podcast.
2) Each section made sense and added to the argument.
3) I liked how she said her definitions were made to provoke, not to rain down truth.

Academic opinion:
1) This is where Ayn Rand style liberalism and progressive post-feminism meet. It’s not as spectacular a meeting as you might wish or expect. It makes sense this resonates with so many upper middle class people.
2) I was not convinced by the distinction between guilt and shame. The definition is too intellectual. Shame denigrates yourself, whereas guilt denigrates your actions. I think in the moment, guilt and shame feel exactly the same, and the distinction is academic at best and an unconvincing reach at worst.
3) I think it’s interesting how a qualitative researcher still claims to “find” things in the “data.” While I like “saturation” as a method, I think it is still quantitative in a way, even if it is basically a subjective judgment call. Researchers create knowledge, they do not just find it.
4) She said the “be cool” attitude is “dangerous.” But sometimes we act cool not just to fit in or to avoid our minor vulnerabilities. We can do it as to avoid real violence. People who are never taught how to “fit in” or “how to be cool” could easily find themselves in truly dangerous circumstances. There is a value in teaching this skill, but only as a skill to be used in particular circumstances. The discussion of the military was insufficient. Everything else she talked about was super relatable, except for the section about the military’s somewhat legitimate form of avoiding vulnerabilities. I wonder if she’s ever had to “be cool” to save her own life? Some people live that experience every day.

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Better than the last book, still simple

Revisado: 04-22-19

I like to read more advanced literature usually, but every now and then I like to read stuff like this. It’s a simple story that does not have a lot of suspense or realism, but it developed quickly and isn’t too predictable. The last book disappointed be because I didn’t think the antagonist was a well-developed character. This book was better but the antagonist is still somewhat lacking in depth. It’s worth listening to if you need something to fill time but not distract too much.

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Conflicted

Revisado: 05-20-18

It's like the main character is a reluctant Mary Sue, which was kind of interesting. I enjoyed parts of the story, especially how science and new ideas were incorporated into this fictional 1700s-like world. But the story also played on the dubious western exceptionalism discourse. It was a "white colonizer as savior" story. The author's discussion on gender was also way overplayed. This said, I finished the series so it gets a three for the story, not a two. The first book was better than the last.

Jonathan Davis did a good job. It's worth listening to if you have no alternatives and you can stomach some exasperating plot lines.

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Great narrator, mixed on story -- neoliberalism

Revisado: 03-13-18

Bahni Turpin is an outstanding narrator who really carried this book for me. She is now well within my top 10 favorite narrators and likely top five.

The characters were interesting and had personality. The plot moved along, and something new was always happening. For most of the book, I could imagine a beautiful landscape that held my attention.

The plot was predictable, however.

I think the author, Tomi Adeyemi, took as much inspiration from Avatar the Last Airbender as she took from West African mythology. That realization made it difficult for me to fully engage.

There were few to no plot-twists, and the characters reacted to most situations in simplistic "episodic" ways. When it came to descriptions of pain and loss, the author "told" about feelings more than she was able to impart the feelings onto me as the listener. She does not spend enough time developing the characters that die, so I don't feel their loss like I think she wanted me to.

I applaud the author's note at the end of the book calling attention to a serious issue. I wish her book was a little better at imparting her message on an emotional level.

Fox 2000 has already bought the rights to a movie about this book, which makes me suspicious about how subversive the author's message really is. I think my enjoyment of the book has been tainted with that realization, too.

To end on a high note -- I think the main characters have a lot of potential and have strong premises for the next two books. I can see why the book has so many fans.

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