The book combines a bunch of subjects ranging from history and geopolitics to economics, network theory and cliodynamics (itself a transdisciplinary area) viewed through the lens of catastrophe and decision-making. What makes it worth a read is a rich dose of history and specifically disaster (mis)management, but what I missed was a narrative structure.
The book is more than a decade old, but it does a couple of things well – provide an introduction and in a way, synopsis of Chomsky’s worldview, and do that in an engaging manner because this is based on media interactions. The book was published in 2011, and while the topics might seem dated, the beauty is that his insights are timeless.
Kazuo Ishiguro has a knack for digging deep into what makes us human. In this book, he uses Klara an AF (Artificial Friend) to create a layered narrative on what a sentient AI could tell us about ourselves.
To describe the book, I’d apply the author’s own words, which he used for Manhattan – ‘you wanted to approach it for the rest of your life without ever quite arriving.’ Through a flashback triggered by a photograph, we see the journey of a woman, the society she was part of, and the different shades of Manhattan. A vivid, glorious, and poignant ride.
The book doesn’t answer the question – the authors make that obvious right at the start. But what it does offer is framing and perspectives, delivered with interesting anecdotes. An engaging read, though having been written in 2012, it doesn’t factor in the implications of social media.