books.exposed

xylogx@bookwyrm.world reviewed Supremacy by Parmy Olson

Parmy Olson: Supremacy (2024, St. Martin's Press)

When ChatGPT was released, the world changed overnight. Even as we all played with the …

An even treatment of a much-hyped topic

5 stars

This is a great telling of the race to create a general purpose artificial intelligence that sparked the ChatGPT LLM frenzy that is fueling a craze for AI. It is interesting how two companies both approached the challenge with a focus on AGI and safety and how they both ended up getting co-opted by the very tech giants they were seeking to shield the technology from. Well-told and well-researched, I really enjoyed reading this. The book does a good job at not taking sides as either a techno-optomist or and AI-doomer and presents both sides evenly. Well done!

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xylogx@bookwyrm.world reviewed Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Robin Wall Kimmerer: Braiding Sweetgrass (2015)

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants is a 2013 nonfiction …

A Powerful Journey

5 stars

I love nature and I love books.If you do too, you might love this book. Told with a almost mystical reverence for the natural world, but with the voice of a scientifically trained botanist it weaves a story that while tragic at times is hopeful and uplifting. I feel like I struggled along with the author as she told her story and came out a better person in the end because of it. The audiobook is narrated by the author and that adds an extra dimension to the book and makes it more enjoyable, something rare for author narrated audiobooks.

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xylogx@bookwyrm.world reviewed Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

David Foster Wallace: Infinite Jest (Paperback, 2006, Back Bay Books (Little Brown and Company))

Set in an addicts' hallway house and a tennis academy, and featuring one of the …

Not what I expected

5 stars

This books is amazing in many ways but is hard to compare to other more conventional stories and novels. It has a unique narrative structure and a radically chaotic use of language. I have to say I was skeptical at first and nearly gave up on this at several points, but it drew me in and by the end I was in love with its weird, quirky natures. The story itself is disjointed and a bit uninteresting when distilled from the way it is told and language used to tell it. That said it draws you in and is strong enough to hold up the novel through what is a marathon length telling. A lot of what happens in the book seems to be in service of some other purpose than serving to move the story along. It seems to be making points about society, human nature, morality and humanity …

This books is amazing in many ways but is hard to compare to other more conventional stories and novels. It has a unique narrative structure and a radically chaotic use of language. I have to say I was skeptical at first and nearly gave up on this at several points, but it drew me in and by the end I was in love with its weird, quirky natures. The story itself is disjointed and a bit uninteresting when distilled from the way it is told and language used to tell it. That said it draws you in and is strong enough to hold up the novel through what is a marathon length telling. A lot of what happens in the book seems to be in service of some other purpose than serving to move the story along. It seems to be making points about society, human nature, morality and humanity in an almost back handed way that seems like an afterthought at first, but as this pattern becomes more and more common, it becomes apparent that these statements are more the point than the telling of the actual story. I loved this book and do not regret the 60 hours I put into listening to it.

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Hannu reviewed Korento by Anne-Maija Aalto

Anne-Maija Aalto: Korento (EBook, suomi language, 2020, Otava)

Kaksi nuorta naista, Satomi ja Mai ovat aina pitäneet yhtä. He ovat syntyneet internointikylään saarella, …

Ajatuksia teoksesta Korento

4 stars

Satuinpa taas löytämään #kirja'n missä maailma on pilattu. Teemat ja ympäristö oli kovin vahvasti samankaltaiset kuin toisen maailmansodan jälkimainingeissa japanilaisten internointileireillä voi kuvitella olleen.

Synkkä maailma, raakoja ihmiskohtaloita - mutta onneksi myös valoa ja toivoa ihmisten välillä ja keskuudessa.

Vaikka tarina oli surua ja kurjuutta osittain, löytyi sieltä mitä mahtavimpia ihmisiä ja vahvoja persoonia. Loppujen lopuksi jäi sellainen haikea olo kurjan luettua.

Miten paljon pitää ihmisen kestää, miten vahvoja me kuitenkin osataan tarpeen tullen olla? Tällaisia kirjoja lukiessa sitä aina miettii että olisiko itsestä siihen, vai murtuisiko oma keho tai mieli.

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