books
One of my goals life improvements for 2008 is an increase in my book consumption. Here I’ll note the year’s reads and give some recommendations where appropriate.
The Big Switch by Nicholas Carr
At the turn of the 20th century, electricity was coming into mainstream use. By replacing the private, individual power generating systems with a common utility model, electricity completely transformed the world of manufacturing, commerce, and eventually all areas of life. Today we’re in the midst of a similar switch, this time it’s computing that will be transformed. As businesses move from private data centers to utility computing, Carr argues that a the global economy will once again be transformed. All in all, a really interesting book. I recommend it.
tadfad rating : 4/5
World Made By Hand by James Kunstler
{review pending}
China Road by Rob Gifford
This is a great book to help in understanding China, but be warned that Gifford seems incapable of approaching the subject without Western bias. In one prime example, he describes a conversation with a family planning doctor who performs abortions for pregnant women who already have the allowed one child. Instead of considering the competing needs that guide China’s one-child policy, he immediately assigns the label of barbarian and notes how it makes him hate China. Not exactly the flavor I would expect from a journalist. Overall, still a great read.
tadfad rating : 3/5
Deep Economy by Bill McKibben
The author starts by asking a deceivingly simply, yet profound question : what do we do when the paradigm of endless economic growth that we’ve experienced for the last 400+ years comes to and end?
The answer to this question comes in a fairly detailed analysis of how we live our lives, our relationship with each other, and our relationship with the earth. McKibben makes some wonderful points–like the fact that buying more things doesn’t make you any happier once you reach a level of moderate prosperity. (Clearly, not a view held by many Americans.) Another point about community that hit home with me was his analysis of the college campus–for many of us, college is a such a wonderful experience precisely because we live within a community of individuals experiencing the same thing. His thoughts on wider communities is reminiscent of Kunstler’s discussion of new urbanism.
The book does get a bit preachy at times, with McKibben clearly looking out from his Ivory Tower at Middlebury College in Vermont, but by and large it’s a well written, thought-provoking book.
tadfad rating : 4/5
Permalink : Comments (0) : Jan 12th, 2008
