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Arbie's Unoriginally Titled Book Blog
It's a blog! Mainly of book reviews.
Currently reading
Station Zero
Progress:
220/282 pages
The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition
Progress:
749/997 pages
The Penguin Book of Russian Poetry
The Uncertain Land and Other Poems
Progress:
8/160 pages
The Heptameron (Penguin Classics)
Progress:
152/544 pages
The Poems and Plays of John Masefield
Progress:
78/534 pages
Poems Selected
Progress:
4/50 pages
Selected Poems
Progress:
18/160 pages
The Penguin Book of Scottish Verse
Hainish Novels & Stories, Vol. 2
Progress:
133/789 pages
This book is both grim and bleak. It's cleverly and powerfully written but not in the least subtle. It looks at the British political and societal scene as of right now and pretty much damns everybody: the political class for reactionary abuse of power, repression of its citizens and persecution of minorities. Immigrants for not culturally integrating. The religious for abdicating reason. The scientific community for abandoning ethics. Human nature is found to be fundamentally pretty disgusting.The true awfulness of the book is how much truth is expressed in it. Comparisons with 1984 are bound to be made, but there is really a fundamental difference - 1984 is a warning. HARM is a reflection of reality, only slightly magnified.