The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien by Georges Simenon. An Inspector Maigret novel.

It's a nice short novel. Loved Simenon's writing and the story. Slow paced but gripping. Inspector Maigret is a mystery. Not much is revealed about him in this book. I guess one would have to read one or two more books in the series to get a better idea. I grabbed this book from my public library as I read somewhere Simenon is a classic French noir. The Hanged Man was the only book they had. I'm glad I read it. I'll grab another Inspector Maigret story next time I get a chance.

From Above. An (Info)graphic Novel by Martin Panchaud

A light mystery story drawn in a super cool graphic format, fun and easy to read. It reminded me of Wassily Kandinsky's art, just a bit. There are some beautiful panels, a couple of fun twists and loved the end. 

Recommend.

Being Happy by Epicurus

About 3 weeks ago (6 posts ago), I finished a book titled Heaven and Hell. From it, I got plenty of inspiration for further reading. I have already read The Epic of Gilgamesh which I loved. Now, I found this tiny edition by Epicurus in my local library, which is also mentioned in Heaven and Hell. In that book, which delves into concepts of the afterlife, the author discusses Epicurus' view that the soul is a physical entity and that sensation occurs only while the soul is connected to the body; at death the soul ceases to exist. 

In Being Happy, I found some interesting quotes about the soul, pleasure, and death. I confess I struggled to get through the book. I'm not sure whether that was because of the translation or some other reason, but i think I prefer encountering these ideas as interpreted by more contemporary authors. Regardless, it was worth reading this book to get an idea of Epicurus' thoughts. 

"The irreligious man is not the person who destroys the gods of the masses but the person who imposes the ideas of the masses on the gods."

Roseanna by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo

It's a nice short crime novel. First published in 1965, it felt like a time machine, transporting me to a time when international telephone connections were not reliable, and detectives had to send letters and replies took days. Beck's character is not a Sherlock Holmes. He's got problems, but it's interesting to see how he studies the clues and the suspects. The murder, the investigation, and the whole story were gripping. I couldn't put the book down. 

This edition came with an introduction by Henning Mankell, who confeses his admiration for Sjowall and Wahloo. Mankell explains how the couple "broke with the hopelessly stereotyped character descriptions that were so prevalent. They showed people evolving right before the reader's eyes."

The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect. A novel by Roger Williams

This novel blew my mind. It deals with themes such as Artificial Intelligence, Singularity, God, Power, Nihilism and Existentialism.

In just 168 pages, with only two main characters and an AI (plus a few minor figures), Williams dismantles the world as we know it and rebuilds it some sort of virtual reality. Much of the setup is explained carefully and feels believable, except for a crucial technological miracle—the correlation effect—which isn’t explored in much detail. I wish it had been explained further as it was this device which granted Prime Intellect unlimited power and elevated it into the level of a god. Still, the scope of ideas and the strength of the plot are outstanding. 

The book delves into the consciousness of an AI called Prime Intellect, designed to learn, evolve, and push the limits of what it can become—all while adhering to Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics. It also examines the psyche of its creator, exposing his ego, intellect, and underlying motives. What fascinated me most was the exploration of the AI’s growing awareness of its responsibilities and the choices it makes, always bound by the Three Laws. The repercussions of Prime Intellect’s decisions are profound, reshaping human existence itself, though the AI believes it is acting for humanity’s own benefit. 

The novel doesn’t just focus on the AI; it also probes into the human condition in the aftermath of the singularity. While the outcome may appear utopian in theory, it is anything but. Humanity is left in a self-destructive, bleak state and lacking purpose. The story contains extremely violent and gory scenes which initially seemed unnecessary, but I guess Williams was trying to emphasise humanity’s self-destructive tendencies when devoid of purpose. 

Near the end of the story (around page 138), there’s a conversation between the two main characters that I found especially engaging. The discussion centres on the nature of Prime Intellect and its actions, unveiling the novel’s main ideas on the consequences of a singularity on human nature and on the efficacy of Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics. Recommend.

Postsingular by Rudy Rucker

A few years back, while reading about singularities, transhumanism, and science fiction, I came across a couple of recommendations that stuck with me: Greg Egan’s Diaspora, which I absolutely loved and rated five stars, and Rudy Rucker’s Postsingular, which I’ve just finished reading… and deeply disliked. 

Postsingular has a good start with good ideas which got me hooked for 4 chapters. Chapter 5 is a bit confusing, still good ideas, but the writing goes down-hill. In Postsingular AI takes the form of nanomachines that can quickly reproduce and multiply. They invade and control the world, transforming it into a bad copy of a Philip K. Dick novel. They are also the key to other dimensions with alien entities. Rucker puts all that together and we end up with technological jargon mixed with surreal events, mixed with flat, uninteresting cardboard characters, “jumping” from place to place and dimension to dimension. In my opinion the treatment of the Singularity in this novel loses focus as other elements take over: bad actors seeking to control nanomachines for their own ends, the presence of aliens, and the impact on a society hooked on both technology and drugs. Rather than exploring the Singularity in any real depth, the novel uses it mainly as a device to create a chaotic world. 

Do not recommend it. Read something else.

Gilgamesh: A New Translation of the Ancient Epic by Sophus Helle

As a teen I read an Argentinian comic series about Gilgamesh, who unlike the original epic, is given the gift of immortality. Great comic! Since then the character of Gilgamesh has always stuck with me. Recently I read a couple of books: The History of Magic by Chris Gosden, in which Gilgamesh is briefly mentioned, and Heaven and Hell by Bart D. Ehrman in which the author explores the ideas of the afterlife in the epic. Both readings renovated my curiosity and motivated me to read the actual epic. After some research, I found this translation by Helle which I can totally recommend, if you are more interested in clarity rather than exact fidelity to the original text. 

This edition includes an excellent introduction and 5 essays, 40 pages of notes, and 25 pages of bibliography. All are very useful to provide historical, literary, linguistic and archaeological context as well as highlighting the emotional, human, and psychological aspects of the poem. Reading about how Assyriologists, etc. worked to translate and piece together the remains of the Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, etc. tablet remains. All the different ways in which the tablets can be translated and interpreted. How the story of Gilgamesh evolved since ancient Sumerian times, in shorter poems, until some Babylonian scholar put the poems together to produce a longer version. The version that we have now has been pieced together from several tablet fragments, from different timeframes. Not all pieces have been found, so there are gaps in the text. Also, for some portions of the poem, there are several versions of the texts, so only one has been chosen and the rest were left. Helle explains how names and linguistic styles changed across millennia as culture, religion and language evolved. It is important to recognise the job of translators who must select the best versions of the text, and then translate them in a way that captures what they believe was the sentiment of the ancient Mesopotamian. 

The following is an extract from an Old Babylonian version of the Epic, which was removed from the Standard Babylonian version to be replaced by another monologue. This touches on the theme of immortality: 

“Gilgamesh where are you going? 

You will not find the life you seek. 

When gods created humankind, 

they decreed death for the humans, 

eternal life they kept for themselves. 

So, Gilgamesh, fill your belly, 

and be happy night and day. 

Let all your days be merry, 

dance and play day and night. 

Let your clothes be clean, 

wash your head in water. 

Look at the child holding your hand, 

and let your life delight in your lap. 

This is the fate of humankind.” 

In Dying to be Read an essay by Sophus Helle. 

The Epic is emotional, heroic, tragic and philosophical. I read it with increased interest, imagining how ancient people would seat around reciting, singing or acting the story, century after century. I totally recommend the Epic, and this translation, especially if you are interested in themes like attitudes towards death and immortality: as in “eternal life and of the literary kind.”