2012 Reading
Here's all the books that I read in 2012, by month. On the each month's page there's quick review or synopsis of each book.
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2012 Reading Archive
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May 2012 Reading
Its worth reading Anarchism and Political Modernity simply for Jun’s wonderfully lucid explanations of the bases of Western political philosophy and how they interact with postmodern analyses. Jun’s central case is that, contrary to the analysis of Saul Newman or Todd May, "classical" anarchism, far from being essentialist or needing the insights of poststructural thinkers, is already one of the first postmodenisms. He makes a compelling case that anarchism's rejection of political modernity and in particular the notions of representation upon which both socialism and liberalism are founded in combination with its prefigurative principle of action allow it to escape "universalism and relativism in ethics, rationalism and scientism in epistemology, idealism and (vulgar) materialism in metaphysics, individualism and statism in politics". As such anarchist ideas represent perhaps the first coherent statement of the concerns to which poststructuralist and postmodern thinkers have consistently returned.
2012-05-12 by Charlie Harvey A Matter of Death and Life, by Andrey Kurkov
My pal Simmie introduced me to Kurkov. His is a darkly surreal, amoral world, and this book continues that tradition. An absurd black comedy that is sharp and rather wonderful. Read More …- 2012-05-12 11:06:22
- Published: 2012-05-12 11:06:22
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April 2012 Reading
Everyman is bleak and coldly detached short novel about mortality and the inevitable decline of old age.
2012-04-27 by Charlie Harvey The Net Delusion, by Evgeny Morozov
A reasonable if occasionally overargued critique of the ascendent cyber-utopian analysis in political life and elsewhere. The antidote, perhaps, to Wired let down a little by its uncritical embrace of the hegemonic Western-liberal-democratic political status quo as a position from which to critique the cyber-utopian outlook. Read More …- 2012-04-28 10:41:52
- Published: 2012-04-28 10:41:52
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March 2012 Reading
I picked this up at the Unlike Us conference in Amsterdam. It is a solid critique of the political economy of capitalist tech of the wired type. His dismantling of the Free Culture movement is useful and perceptive.
2012-03-17 by Charlie Harvey Learn you a Haskell for Great Good, by Miran Lipovča
I got introduced to Haskell as part of my seven languages in seven weeks adventure. Its such a strange and slightly insane beast that I just had to find out more. Lipovča writes entertainingly and accessibly. But the subject is inherently complex and I struggled with some of the content conceptually. I'm also a big fan of worked examples; there are a few here but I would have got on better if there had been a few longer code samples. I realise of course that others would hate that. Its a taste thing. Overall a fab book and worth acquiring the paper version if only to keep the free online Learn You A Haskell book, umm free and online. Read More …- 2012-03-17 16:26:02
- Published: 2012-03-17 16:26:02
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