giovedì, maggio 07, 2026

Review: What We Can Know

What We Can Know What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In my personal ranking of horribly human fictional characters, Vivian and Francis come in a close second to the little girl from *Atonement*. So I’d say Ian McEwan fits right in with the banality of evil. A very, very dense book, in which there is very little dialogue and almost everything is told in the first person—but not by the same narrator. A chilling yet ordinary future awaits us a hundred years from now, but I have neither the rush nor the desire to get there. I don’t know, maybe it’s a beautiful book, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

Nella mia personale classifica dei personaggi di finzione orribilmente umani, Vivian e Francis balzano quasi al primo posto, occupato dalla bambina di Espiazione. Quindi direi che Ian McEwan ci sguazza bene nella banalità del male. Un libro molto molto denso, in cui i dialoghi sono pochissimi e viene raccontato quasi tutto in prima persona, ma non la stessa. Un futuro agghiacciante, ma normale quello che ci aspetta tra un centinaio di anni, ma al quale non ho nessuna fretta né voglia di arrivare. Non saprei, magari é un bellissimo libro, ma io non lo consiglierei a nessuno.

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Review: If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: The Case Against Superintelligent AI

If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: The Case Against Superintelligent AI If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: The Case Against Superintelligent AI by Eliezer Yudkowsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: The Razor's Edge

The Razor's Edge The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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martedì, maggio 05, 2026

Review: Out Law

Out Law Out Law by Jim Butcher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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Review: The Things We Never Say

The Things We Never Say The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: Rein Me In

Rein Me In Rein Me In by Camilla Isley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars



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Review: The Last Contract of Isako

The Last Contract of Isako The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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Review: The Healing Power of Water: The essential guide to blue health

The Healing Power of Water: The essential guide to blue health The Healing Power of Water: The essential guide to blue health by Lizzi Larbalestier
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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Review: Hollow Inside

Hollow Inside Hollow Inside by Asako Otani
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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lunedì, maggio 04, 2026

Review: Doctor Thorne

Doctor Thorne Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ohhh, those Victorian melodramas, with women fainting at the slightest bit of good news and men who are such gentlemen. Oh my gosh, there was a lot of trash out there too, for heaven’s sake, but still, it’s okay to dream.

Ohhh i drammoni vittoriani, con donne che svengono alle belle notizie e uomini che sono dei gran signori. Oddio c'era anche tanta mondezza per caritá, ma insomma, resta lecito sognare.

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domenica, aprile 26, 2026

Review: The Chronology of Water

The Chronology of Water The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A very unique book, not so much for its themes—such as sexual and drugs abuse—but rather for the way the author recounts her own life. Although I wouldn’t exactly call it a rebirth, because life is always a process—at least while it lasts—perhaps I’d say that redemption is the right word: a life saved first by swimming and then by writing. Quite a stroke of luck, I’d say, given how things were turning out...

Un libro molto particolare, se non tanto per i temi come l'abuso sessuale e di stupefacenti, quanto piuttosto per come la vita dell'autrice viene da lei stessa raccontata. Anche se non parlerei proprio di rinascita, perché la vita é sempre un processo, almeno finché dura, forse direi che riscatto é la parola corretta, una vita salvata prima dal nuoto e poi dalla scrittura. Una bella fortuna direi, visto come si stavano mettendo le cose...

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