Books got me thru English winter: #HellSans #BookerPrize πŸ’€ (πŸ“š #arts)

HellSans by Ever Dundas πŸ“š

Winch Waterstone’s book club rated it 7/10. I gave it 6 based on Parts:
Icho: 5
Jane: 10
Both: 3

I’d suggest reading Jane first and maybe stop there! It’s a self-contained moral tale with 2 original concepts: AI daemons and (!) aesthetic-triggered disability.
Maybe pair with Icho for ‘turn upside-down’ pick your order gimmick, but don’t bother with bloated joint finale.

Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth πŸ“š

A challenging 1992 Booker (joint) winner that would want to reverse the order of its material - utopian mixed-race commune first, slave-masters and their racial slurs later if at all - to get published today. Astonishingly well-written in the vein of CJ Sansom, but is that enough to get modern readers on side the thorny subject matter? It’s proper revelatory history, including depicting black African slave-traders, the sort of moral complexity some BLM activists I see at spoken-word nights will have to reckon with since this week’s heinous Memphis Police murder. Cos last week at Sweezie’s night in London one radio-host was “all you white man just oppressors.. molesters” etc.

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman πŸ“š

As recommended by Humane Tech, this book is ridiculously prophetic on how Aldous Huxley’s vision of entertainment-induced apathy would allow Trump-style threats to democracy.
A vital read for entertainers, particularly interested in edutainment / values-driven work like myself.
This will probably inspire a record (working-title: ‘Dying’ πŸ’€) like The Divided Self did.


Off to L.A. to write a musical, so less reading for a bit!

*****
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