I'd watch THAT!

Just Finished Reading: Have a Nice Doomsday – Why Millions of Americans are Looking Forward to the End of the World by Nicholas Guyatt (FP: 2007) [322pp] 

One of the things that has long amused/bemused me is the recurring 'prediction' that the world will end on a certain specific day (and time!). What is even more amusing/bemusing is the number of people who believe is said 'prophecy' and who act accordingly by selling everything they own and calmly (or not) await the ending only to be disappointed. Sometimes these same people will be back a few months later to be disappointed AGAIN when a 'revised' date also passes without incident. If I could be any more bemused, it's by those who are actively looking forward to the 'End Times' as if it's some sort of good thing – although they are indeed either promised or assume that it'll be good for THEM personally. To me that seems like a form of moral cowardice. It seems that they want their life to end and are more than happy to take the rest of the world with them. Then we have the next level – those who are (at least in their own minds) working to ensure that the End Times happen in their lifetimes as if they have the power to hasten whatever they conceive of God's Plan... As if... Oh, the arrogance. 

With that in mind, the moment I saw this book in my favourite Indie shop I snapped it up. It's interesting with the author being a Brit and this being a British publication that it's described as 'entertaining' and 'funny' along with 'frightening' and 'provocative' as End Times thinking is thankfully rare here. Not so in the US where apparently 50 MILLION people believe that the apocalypse will occur in their lifetime. Travelling across America the author was invited to interview some of the BIG players in the End Times community some of which I'd even heard of (somewhere, somehow) who were apparently convinced that the signs are there and that the End Times are coming – especially it seems after the establishment of Israel in 1948. Biblical 'prophecy' is a tricky beat though... "Open to Interpretation" doesn't really cover it which is why more switched-on End Timers no longer give any specific date except "soon" so as not to look a complete fool.  

Despite having little knowledge on the subject (or maybe because of that) I actually found this very readable – especially when the author discussed the LONG history of predicting the 'End of the World'. Although not a believer in such things himself (he describes himself as a 'lapsed Catholic) he doesn't treat it as a joke and only makes the occasional funny comment about the ideas expressed by its top adherents. It's definitely troubling that so many people WANT the world to end – as if we don't have troubles enough without the encouragement – and it's deeply troubling that people with actual power listen to them but I do feel that my eyes are slightly more open to that pressure and it does help explain the otherwise sometimes strange relationship between the US and the Middle East (especially Israel of course) that we've seen play out on our TV screens over the decades. Recommended for anyone who has ever wondered what End Times thinking is all about. More to come...     

English Folk Verse (c.1870) The Fifth of November

Remember, remember!

The fifth of November,

The Gunpowder treason and plot;

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot!

Guy Fawkes and his companions

Did the scheme contrive,

To blow the King and Parliament

All up alive.

Threescore barrels, laid below,

To prove old England's overthrow.

But, by God's providence, him they catch,

With a dark lantern, lighting a match!

A stick and a stake

For King James's sake!

If you won't give me one,

I'll take two,

The better for me,

And the worse for you.

A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,

A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,

A pint of beer to wash it down,

And a jolly good fire to burn him.

Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!

Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!

Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

Donald is NOT happy today..... Bless! VERY Well Done Democrats. Now live up to your side of the results and INVESTIGATE the living SHIT out of this 'Administration'.

Well.... THAT certainly explains their absence........! 

Just Finished Reading: The Victorians – A Very Short Introduction by Martin Hewitt (FP: 2023) [119pp] 

 

We do seem to have a fascination with all things Victorian – I know I do! To be honest they were both a fascinating bunch of people – the good, the bad and the dangerous to know – as well as a fascinating cultural phenomenon.  

As with most studies (especially modern ones!) the opening question is exactly who the Victorians where and when exactly did the Victorian Age/Period happen. The answers to both questions – linked as they obvious are – are not as straightforward as first appears. The obvious answer is that the Victorian age exactly corresponds to the era when Queen Victoria sat on the throne of Britain and the every expanding Empire. But did people become Victorians the moment she sat down and ceased to be such the moment of her death? Clearly no. Likewise someone born around the middle of her reign (20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901) could still be called 'Victorian' well into the early 20th century. As a person example, my grandmother was born in 1911 yet had distinctly Victorian attitudes and beliefs. Was she a Victorian despite being born a decade after Victoria herself died? Its not an easy question to definitively answer.  

Looking at the Victorians is also made somewhat more difficult by the attitudes of more modern historians and media interpretations resulting in 'Victorian' acquiring a hint (or more than a hint) of the pejorative. Victorian society is 'known' for its hypocrisy – especially around sex – and its rigidity especially around class and gender roles, but its also known for its innovation, forward thinking and enterprise. Then we have the Empire... What can be said about the British Empire without offending someone, somewhere? One thing that cannot be done is ignore it. Although the Victorians did not create the Empire it was certainly the age where Imperial rule reached its greatest extent.  

There was no way that such a short introduction could do much more than approach the edges of such a huge subject and to highlight some of the more obvious themes. This it managed very well and left me intrigued to know MUCH more – which is what I've found the VSI books to be SO good at. I will most certainly be looking into this iconic civilisation in the next few years. I've already started shuffling various books out of random(ish) piles into more orgainsed(ish) stacks of Victorian themes – Crime and Empire are ever popular! - so some of them will be showing up soon(ish). I'm looking forward to it. This will give you an idea/appreciation of who the Victorians were and, as always, will give you a good grounding for further reading. Recommended.

Welcome to November.... We Made It! As usual (being the creature of habit that I am) this month is dedicated to rebels everywhere in recognition/celebration of Guy Fawkes who, along with a few friends, tried & failed to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. Celebrating historic failure is a BIG part of the British psyche and we have SO many to choose from.... Enjoy!

The Last 10 Books (I added to my Wish List) - October 2026  

I've been pretty good this month – at least in the number of books added to my ever-lengthening Wish List. I've been pretty good in keeping my BUYING down to reasonable levels too! Of course, all of that will be blown out of the water by my planned trip into 'town' next week to visit my local Indie bookseller. There are no great surprises here. I wonder if my butterfly mind if finally slowing down? Surely not... 

1976: The Year that Scorched by Christopher Sandford  

Disruption: Why Things Change by David Potter 

The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era by Gary Gerstle 

Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know by Erica Chenoweth 

The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart by Bill Bishop 

The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic by Malcolm Gladwell 

Betrayal: Trump, Putin and The New Age of Conquest by Luke Harding 

On Courage: How to Be a Dissident in an Age of Fear by Julia Angwin and Ami Fields-Meyer 

Bytes and Bullets: Global Rivalries, Private Tech and the Future of Modern Warfare by Steve Feldstein 

Generation Maybe: Why We're Having Fewer Children, and What It Means for Us All by Camilla Cavendish   

Politics dominating of course, but that's the world we're living in I guess... As usual I've zero idea when (or even if) any of these will be purchased or read. Sometime in the next 10-15 years if the Universe is willing. 

Happy Birthday: Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and baroque. His Snow Crash (1992) was included on Time's list of the 100 best novels since 1923.

Stephenson has explored mathematics, cryptography, linguistics, philosophy, currency, and the history of science in Cryptonomicon (1999) and The Baroque Cycle (2003-2004). He also writes nonfiction essays about technology in publications such as Wired. He has written novels with his uncle, George Jewsbury ("J. Frederick George"), under the collective pseudonym Stephen Bury.

Stephenson has worked part-time as an advisor for Blue Origin, a company (founded by Jeff Bezos) developing a spacecraft and a space launch system, and also co-founded the Subutai Corporation, whose first offering is the interactive fiction project The Mongoliad. His work for the Long Now Foundation inspired his novel Anathem (2008). He was Magic Leap's chief futurist from 2014 to 2020. A collection of his essays and lectures was published as Some Remarks (2012).

[Only read two by this author (so far) - Snow Crash & The Diamond Age, both of which I enjoyed. I'll see if I can get around to reading some of his total chunksters at some point!]