De Profundis and Other Prison Writings by Oscar Wilde.

De Profundis is a letter to Alfred Douglas, Wilde's lover, and The Others are letters to friends and authorities, before during and after imprisonment. There is also a Poem titled The Ballad of Reading Gaol.  

These writings provide insights into Wilde's psychological and emotional state during his catastrophic descend into bankruptcy, divorce, loss of social status and public humiliation when he was sent to prison. After almost 2 years of imprisonment Wilde decides to write to his lover, not a love letter but an account of their relationship, I guess, to set the record straight. In De Profundis Wilde lists, in impressive detail, episodes of reckless and abusive behaviour by Douglas, rows and reconciliations. The writer explains how he tried to end their relationship in several occasions but always failed. The letter also explains how Douglas and family are to blame for his imprisonment. However Wilde also blamed himself for not following his instincts. Towards the end the tone of the letter is more of resignation and acceptance perhaps revealing Wilde's spiritual growth. He acknowledges excesses in his past life and shows a resolution to live a better life in the future. 

In addition to the above, I have to confess that reading these letters was a pleasure as Wilde's writing is so Beautiful! . This edition comes with an introduction by Colm Tóibín which I recommend reading before the letter as it provides the reader with historical context.

Starting Point. 1979 ~ 1996 by Hayao Miyazaki.

A collection of essays, interviews, talks, sketches and a short manga story about the history of Inflight Meals. 

I learned a great deal from this book, about Miyazaki himself and the art of making anime. Through these pages you'll discover: 

. Miyazaki's motivations for making anime for children, 

. His views on ideas and values portrayed in anime characters, 

. His love for his country, 

. His views on wars, progress and Japanese traditions, 

. Why most of his protagonists are girls! 

. A glimpse into his personal life (only a glimpse), 

. His creative process, not that he had a formal method, quite the opposite. 

. A few stories about colleagues and staff. My favourite story is about A Woman Finish Inspector, someone in charge of checking for mistakes, dirt and scratches in anime cels (transparent sheets were images are drawn). That woman had a passion for her work, so much that she lived in her office, sacrificed her free time and sleep to finish her work. 

. Why he didn't like Osamu Tezuka's work! 

. A few months ago I watched a documentary titled 10 years with Hayao Miyazaki. A great complement to this book I think. Find it on NHK World on Demand. 👍

The Willows by Algernon Blackwood

A 40 page short story included in the Classic Tales of Horror, a Canterbury Classics anthology. 

Two men sail the Danube during a storm. They stop in a small island to rest and wait for the storm to go but then strange things happen. Loud noises and creepy willows. I'm pretty bad remembering short stories but I think this one will be stuck in my mind for a long while.

Galatea 2.2 by Richard Powers

 

I first learned about this novel when I read How we became Posthuman... by Katherine Hayles. There Hayles analyses the novel using concepts such as presence and absence, materiality and signification, embodiment and others.

The synopsis reads "After many years of living abroad, a young writer returns to the United States to take up a position at his former college. There he encounters Philip Lentz, an outspoken neurologist intent on using computers to model the human brain.

Lentz involves the writer in an outlandish and irresistible project - to train a computing system by reading a canonical list of Great Books. Through repeated tutorials, the machine grows gradually more worldly, until it demands to know its own age, sex, race and reason for existing." 

This is not a science fiction story but a study (examination, exploration?) of the main character's life. Through the novel the Writer questions the decisions he made particularly in relation with his career choice and love life, and how those decisions shaped his present situation. The second protagonist, Philip Lentz, is a peculiar character. A scientist, to me, with limited emotional intelligence, who is the mastermind behind the Learning Computer. At some point during the narration the Writer and us learn about his life and he becomes more human to the point that we can empathize with him. There is also a group of scientists whose interventions in the story are limited but meaningful. Each of them is there for a reason trying to show the Writer life lessons.

The Writer's task is to teach the computer how to read novels and how to be a literary critic. The Writer goes through a series of literary references, most of them unknown to me, trying to teach the computer the meanings behind words. At the same time he reflects about his life and tells us his story, especially since he met his ex girlfriend. At some point it is inevitable to draw comparisons between his relationship with the girlfriend, a human being, and his relationship with the computer system. 

A slow but interesting read.

The Book. A Cover to Cover exploration of the most powerful object of our time, by Keith Houston.

A beautiful book about books. A bit of history, including papyrus, parchment and paper, writing, movable type and rotary printing machines, illustrations, woodcut print, lithography and photography, rolls, codex and modern books. Interesting material, organised in a coherent, easy to read way. It was a fun and enlightening read.

I recommend this book to any book lover.

New Scientist. Essential Guide N°1. (4🌟)

New Scientist. Essential Guide N°1. The Nature of Reality. How Mathematics, Physics and Consciousness combine to define our world.

Articles by Brian Green, Stephen Hawkin, Roger Penrose, Jan Westerhoff, Donald Hoffman and Nick Bostrom.

Einstein's general theory of relativity explains the reality we perceive, (stars, light etc) and some we cannot perceive but know are there (black holes, black energy etc). Quantum physics deals with sub atomic particles and describes a different reality than the one we know. Quantum fields, particles, waves behave in ways which are not explained by Einstein's theory. How can this be? How can the quantum reality be different from "ours"? Also, does reality really exist, or is it manufactured by our brains? What is consciousness and free will? And how could they exist if we are all made of atoms and quantum particles?

Enlightening read. I wish I had a wider background in sciences to understand more, but I think I got the main ideas. Not sure I could explain them to anyone though but they are there, in my brain.

The Female Man by Joanna Russ (3.5🌟)

This book was a challenge to read, but I'm glad I finished it.

3 women from 3 different parallel universes are brought together by some unknown force. They are the same woman but not really. Having been raised in 3 different societies their personalities, actions, worldviews and expectations are not the same. This story is not really a "story", as there isn't a proper plot, at least I couldn't see any. To me this is a display window with these women in he middle and the task is left to the reader, to draw comparisons between them, and reflect about the real world in the 1960s and now in 2020. What aspects of these women represent our societies, or our modern selves?

That said, the narrative is confusing to say the least. Constant changes of POV, and I couldn't tell whose perspective I was reading. Not sure why the author chose to write the novel this way.

I read the introduction included in my edition which was written by Gwyneth Jones. It clarified a few things I didn't understand in my reading. At the end I think the book was definitely worth the effort.