Diaspora by Greg Egan.

Many centuries in the future a cosmic cataclysm threatens earth. A colision between two neutron stars will destroy every organic live in the galaxy. Humanity has divided into 3. The fleshers, some of whom have improved their bodies with genetic and technological enhancements. The rest have digitised their minds and are living either in robots or in polises in supercomputers. After the gamma-ray flash the posthumans set on a journey to understand the logic of the collision and why they couldn't predict it in time. 

This was a complex read. Starting from chapter one depicting the birth of a digital human (a posthuman), to the explanation of cosmic phenomena, to the peculiarities of digital life, cloning, immortality, multidimensional space and the scope of the story which takes place across thousands of years. 

A Concept driven novel, as opposed to character or plot driven. Thought provoking, mind blowing ideas.

New Scientist. Essential Guide N°2. Artificial Intelligence. The Past, Present and Future of Machines that think. Edited by Richard Webb.

Concepts such as machine learning, deep learning, neural networks, statistical analysis and pattern recognition. Advances in science, medicine, transport and others. My favourite chapter, AI and society, ethical, moral, social, legal, etc, impact on society, now and in the future. Excellent read.

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.