A classic of sociology and the study of the commons, which remains captivating and entertaining. Even though the forest ranger is nowadays a mere metaphor of the challenges of administration and regulation, particularly in the area of the commons, I've also learnt a lot about forest management in the USA. The book is packed with figures and concrete data but remains very enjoyable to read.
I'm a broken record on this, but one of my take aways was how important it is for a central bureaucracy to consider the cost of information when working on such a huge space. The passages on the importance of preserving records and local knowledge, and the difficulty of training new rangers, may sound trivial, but I believe they're crucial.
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nemobis ha recensito The forest ranger di Herbert Kaufmann
Review of 'The forest ranger' on 'Goodreads'
5 stelle
nemobis ha recensito Just Kids di Patti Smith
nemobis ha recensito Becoming di Michelle Obama
Review of 'Becoming' on 'Goodreads'
2 stelle
Very well written and enjoyable, much better than Barack Obama's books. A much more realistic point of view. I can't say I know much more than before though.
What does the good life—and the good society—look like in the 21st century?
A toxic …
Review of 'Out of the wreckage' on 'Goodreads'
4 stelle
Supremely important topic and I agree with Monbiot that we need a different way of communicating it, but in the end the proposals he makes are underwhelming and unsubstantiated.
nemobis ha recensito The clean coder di Robert C. Martin
Review of 'The clean coder' on 'Goodreads'
4 stelle
A good reference, mostly because it's so compact and well thought out. I've not managed to use it that much in practice, but it can be a good starting point for conversations or for self-improvement if you're confused about where you stand.
nemobis ha recensito The Ecology of Freedom di Murray Bookchin
Review of 'The Ecology of Freedom' on 'Goodreads'
5 stelle
Bookchin attempts to rewrite the history of humanity to prove that hierarchical structures aren't "natural" or "necessary". Paleosociology is inevitably hard and dubious, but Bookchin doesn't pretend to have the truth in his pocket. Every page challenges us to think differently and consider what we could do together as a society.
Bookchin is very aphorism-friendly so it would be easy to extract a myriad slogans. I've wondered about this passage on ecofascism: «To lecture society about its "insatiable" appetites, as our resource-conscious environmentalists are wont to do, is precisely what the modern consumer is not prepared to hear. And to impoverish society with contrived shortage, economic dislocations, and material deprivation is certain to shift the mystification of needs over to a more sinister social ethos, the mystification of scarcity. This ethos–already crystalllized into the "life-boat ethic", "triage", and a new bourgeois imagery of "claw-and-fang" called /survivalism/–marks the first steps towards …
Bookchin attempts to rewrite the history of humanity to prove that hierarchical structures aren't "natural" or "necessary". Paleosociology is inevitably hard and dubious, but Bookchin doesn't pretend to have the truth in his pocket. Every page challenges us to think differently and consider what we could do together as a society.
Bookchin is very aphorism-friendly so it would be easy to extract a myriad slogans. I've wondered about this passage on ecofascism: «To lecture society about its "insatiable" appetites, as our resource-conscious environmentalists are wont to do, is precisely what the modern consumer is not prepared to hear. And to impoverish society with contrived shortage, economic dislocations, and material deprivation is certain to shift the mystification of needs over to a more sinister social ethos, the mystification of scarcity. This ethos–already crystalllized into the "life-boat ethic", "triage", and a new bourgeois imagery of "claw-and-fang" called /survivalism/–marks the first steps towards ecofascism».
I love that he decries false rationalism in a way that's compatible with Popper's view of irrationalism including mysticism and romaticism: «The reconstruction of reason as an interpretation of the world must begin with a review of the modern premises of rationalism–its commitment to insight through opposition» etc. (chapter 11, p. 302). A standard Popper critique of dialectic could fit just as well in place of the next paragraph. Actually when I read this book I had not read "Open Society" yet; now some passages are clearer to me. So I can recommend reading some Popper before this book to get most of it (especially when Plato is mentioned).
nemobis ha recensito Lessico famigliare di Natalia Ginzburg
Review of 'Lessico famigliare' on 'Goodreads'
4 stelle
Rileggere Lessico famigliare non è stata una delusione. Si può godere la pure bellezza linguistica, oppure assaporare l'immagine di una vita famigliare molto particolare eppure molto semplice, o ancora meravigliarsi della macrostoria di cui apprendiamo tramite questa microstoria, come l'episodio della fuga di Turati.
nemobis ha recensito Tess dei d'Urberville
Review of "Tess dei d'Urberville" on 'Goodreads'
Personalmente l'ho trovato abbastanza ben scritto ma troppo melodrammatico per i miei gusti (per non parlare delle fastidiose intromissioni didascaliche pseudo-dissacranti del narratore): vista la lunghezza, ho preferito interrompere e passare a letture piú piacevoli.
nemobis ha valutato Needful Things: 4 stelle
![Stephen King: Needful Things (Paperback, 2016, Pocket Books)](/images/covers/a049db2c-292c-4697-9262-2c9cad36f4cd.jpeg)
Needful Things di Stephen King
“There are two prices for this. Half…and half. One half is cash. The other is a deed. Do you understand?” …
nemobis ha recensito Cronache di guerra di George Orwell
nemobis ha recensito La bière du pecheur di Tommaso Landolfi (Scala)
Review of 'La bière du pecheur' on 'Goodreads'
Un romanzo sull'impossibilità per il narratore di scrivere un romanzo, per questioni stilistiche e narrative che emergono dalla storia e da tutti gli "inserti meta-narrativi" (mi invento il nome tecnico, vabbè, insomma qualcosa meta-qualcos'altro). Intelligente e divertente, ma leggendolo ho avuto la forte impressione che tale tecnica fosse già superata cinquant'anni fa, insomma non stupisce piú nessuno, e resta senza scopo una certa pesantezza linguistica che quindi non appaga molto. Comunque val la pena di leggerlo, anche perché è corto. Qualche citazione qui: it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tommaso_Landolfi#La_biere_du_pecheur
nemobis ha recensito Il Piacere di Gabriele D'Annunzio
nemobis ha recensito Parigi non finisce mai di Enrique Vila-Matas
nemobis ha recensito Preferirei di no di Giorgio Boatti (Struzzi -- 527)
Review of 'Preferirei di no' on 'Goodreads'
L'argomento è interessante, i dodici straordinari; ma da quel poco che ho letto il libro mi sembra troppo agiografico e poco storico (del resto Boatti è un giornalista), insomma non molto profondo, una semplice somma di biografie. Non ho tempo per finirlo, e non credo che lo riprenderò in prestito.