BRILLIANT....!

Just Finished Reading: Everything Must Go – Why We Are Obsessed with the End of the World by Dorian Lynskey (FP: 2024) [399pp] 

There is nothing quite like the end of the world. So much so we have been obsessed by it, written about it and filmed it, largely for entertainment, for a century or more. The variation of ends is impressive – from giant rocks falling from the sky (be they asteroids or comets), Nuclear war, killer robots and AI's, economic or social collapse, pandemics or climate disasters there's something for everyone and that's before we get to the more fantastical alien invasions or zombie outbreaks. Personally, these are some of my favourite stories in book or film format. I'm always drawn to the initial conditions as we anticipate whatever is going to splat humanity into paste (or leave cities untouched but empty) and have always enjoyed the initial post event recovery. The long haul back to some kind of normality doesn't interest me as much and I tend to get bored with that aspect of things. 

Here we have a Wide-ranging look of the End of the World as portrayed in popular culture mixed in with a lot of historical and scientific background on subjects like the development (and use!) of atomic weapons [probably the largest section in the book], how societies (and individuals) reacted to world changing events like the Black Death or the Spanish Flu, the idea of the dinosaur killing asteroid and the concerted pushback at the very idea and, of course, the 'debate' over Climate science and what it means for all of our futures. 

If you've ever wondered about the disaster genre (again in films or books) you'll get LOTS of ideas of what to read/watch here! The author looks at all kinds of genre classics most of which I was gratified to have least heard of and a great deal I've either read or watched. Each section gets a 'star' turn with the nuclear war section heavily referencing On the Beach for example as well as Dr Strangelove. Interestingly throughout the author compares and contrasts both the original book and the movie adaptations pointing out differences and why they happened. He certainly knew his stuff and I enjoying learning background bits to movies I've enjoyed in the past and will watch again with fresh eyes. 

One of my favourite movies is Colossus: The Forbin Project where an American AI – dedicated to defending the West without messy humans getting in the way. Naturally it decides that humans are TOO messy and not fit to run the world so takes over in conjunction with its Soviet counterpart. It's a very clever (and prescient) movie which deserves more attention that it's had so far. So, I was impressed by the amount of attention it got here. 

This was an unexpected highlight of the year for me. This definitely pushed ALL of my buttons, and I enjoyed it a great deal. The author had definitely done his homework; I found very little to argue with (without being bored by the fact that we were in agreement so much of the time) and I learnt quite a few little bits I was previously unaware of. I call that as result. Definitely recommended for anyone interesting in the many ways the world could end or any Sci-Fi apocalypse fans out there. 

I can't believe that I haven't already posted this...!

Just Finished Reading: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (FP: 2011) [359pp] 

They had escaped the Maze. They were safe... Or not. For one thing Terresa was missing and had been 'replaced' by Aris who told a story of a second Maze and a second escape. It wasn't long before everything fell apart and they discovered that they had 'escaped' into a strange and much more deadly world. A world dominated by 'the flare', a virus that slowly sent those infected mad, in a world scarred by repeated solar flares that had made Earth uninhabitable anywhere near the equator. So, where did that leave Thomas and his fellow Maze Runners? First, they were infected and it was only a matter of time before they began to show symptoms of madness. Second, a cure existed but would only be provided IF they could navigate 'the Scorch' to a safe-haven 100 miles away. Time was short and they needed to get running... 

This was the sequel to the original Maze Runner novel that I'd read back in 2016 (nothing quite like taking my time about progressing a series). I actually thought that both the original novel and the movie adaptation were reasonably well done and certainly entertaining. Not so here! I should have been warned by the lacklustre movie adaptation and by the fact that they never bothered to film the third book. But I am trying to finish a bunch of book series that have been languishing for far too long. So, what was wrong with the book? 

Part of the issue I thought, being generous, is that it's the middle book in a trilogy (although a prequel was added later). This means there's little actually resolved with just bits of information dropped from time to time 'explaining' the background and some of the "evil organisation's" motivation – calling it WICKED was a step too far I think... So, not much happening overall. Added to this was the quality of the writing. I'm aware that this was a YA series, but I didn't really expect it to have been produced by a teenager too. Generally, the dialogue was terrible, the character structure and development was equally bad, and I lost count of the cliff-hangers used, I'm guessing, to keep the readership 'engaged'. It was quite the drag!  

There was one creepy/tense moment which I thought was actually competent, but this really didn't compensate for the rest of this VERY padded novel. As it's taken me 10 years to read part 2 and how unimpressed I was by it I'm not sure when/if I'll be reading part 3. Personally, I'd stick to reading the first book and ignore the fact that the story limped on afterwards. Not recommended. Hopefully there's some better Sci-Fi in my future!    

Happy Birthday: Albert Camus (7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, writer, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history, and the first laureate in literature born in Africa. His works include The Stranger, The Plague, The Myth of Sisyphus, The Fall and The Rebel.

Camus was born in French Algeria to pied-noir parents. He spent his childhood in a poor neighbourhood and later studied philosophy at the University of Algiers. He was in Paris when the Germans invaded France during World War II in 1940. Camus tried to flee but finally joined the French Resistance where he served as editor-in-chief at Combat, an outlawed newspaper. After the war, he was a celebrity figure and gave many lectures around the world.

He married twice but had many extramarital affairs. Camus was politically active; he was part of the left that opposed Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union because of their totalitarianism. Camus was a moralist and leaned towards anarcho-syndicalism. He was part of many organisations seeking European integration. During the Algerian War (1954–1962), he kept a neutral stance, advocating a multicultural and pluralistic Algeria, a position that was rejected by most parties.

Philosophically, Camus's views contributed to the rise of the philosophy known as absurdism. Some consider Camus's work to show him to be an existentialist, even though he himself firmly rejected the term throughout his lifetime.

[Definitely a fan of this guy for multiple reasons. The Plague is one of my favourite novels and I found both The Rebel and The Myth of Sisyphus fascinating. I need to read more by him and about him soon!] 

I'd watch THAT!