The Future
Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
by Naomi Alderton
science fiction
copyright 2023
read in May 2024
rated 6/10: read to pass the time
Bear in mind, I have read only 40% of this book.
I plan to finish reading. So I may need to add something. But for now:
There are several ways to interpret this book.
It may be a fictional overview of all the ideas, expectations and actions associated with the expected end of civilisation.
There are the preppers. And the influencer who makes a living by reviewing and recommending prepper products that she barely understands.
On a minor note: there is a scene where the "outdoor expert" prepares rabbits for dinner. For all her supposed expertise with a knife, she may as well have used a chainsaw.
The are the filthy rich tech billionaires who are super-effective preppers -- and blamed for all the problems of the world.
The author manages to give an "inside" view of these groups -- while giving the impression of having no actual understanding. It's all a set of biased opinions by an uninvolved outsider.
A bit like a Louis Theroux show: He talks to a lot of people. Not to find out, but to impose his own pureconceived opinions on the situation.
This book offers nothing new. It is unconvincing.
At a different level, this book is ridiculous modern stereotypes.
Every lesbian is "good". Straight husbands are evil, power-mad destroyers.
The enbee character is both good and incredibly clever. This is where the book becomes ridiculous.
The trouble is, the enbee ideas are presented as though the book's author sees them as the solution to all the world's ills.
... Save energy and the world by providing insulation for everyone. Really? Insulation will not help the people of Gaza --and many other devastated areas -- who live in structures made of canvas and scrap.
At this point the book has descended into impractical woke nonsense.
There are also religious references.
Cain and Abel are presented as brothers who fought, with all later fighting brothers causing many of the worlds ills. The author misses an important point:
God told one brother to grow crops, the other brother to breed livestock. (Not, as the author claims, to hunt).
Then god praised the animal breeder and dissed the cropper. Of course the cropper was upset. This caused the fighting.
Man, men, even, may have lived in harmony. Until the boss set them up as enemies.
Don't only blame brothers.
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That's 40%
It's easy reading, I plan to read on.
I expect that the billionaires will reach their bunkers. Start fighting. Be brought to peace by the lesbians. Then follow the enbee outside, to rebuild the world as a place of peace and plenty.
Oh good grief. I hope not.
Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood