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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Schismogenesi
Ken Follett ipotizza due situazioni. Primo, gli Stati Uniti d'America hanno una presidente donna, repubblicana ma sufficientemente progressista e ragionevole (il 'ma' è dovuto alla contingenza: non mi pare che i repubblicani, in questo momento, posseggano queste due caratteristiche). Seconda situazione, il mondo rischia di andare verso un devastante terzo conflitto mondiale, dove le due superpotenze protagoniste dello scontro sono USA e Cina (almeno inizialmente, poi chissà).
Quali delle due ipotesi - donna presidente negli USA o terza guerra mondiale - è più realistica?
La schismogenesi è stata definita da Gregory Bateson come una divergenza progressiva, un processo di escalation che può portare un sistema a un punto di fuga a meno che non intervengano fattori che agiscano da sistemi di controllo. Il romanzo di Follett gira intorno a questo concetto qua e chi legge - almeno a me è successo così - si chiede se ci saranno sufficienti fattori a controllare l'escalation.
Le settecento e fischia pagine sono scorse via bene, la storia è decisamente appassionante e coinvolgente. Certo, a tratti un po' angosciante. Ci sono tanti personaggi le cui vicende s'incastrano bene.
Ken Follett ipotizza due situazioni. Primo, gli Stati Uniti d'America hanno una presidente donna, repubblicana ma sufficientemente progressista e ragionevole (il 'ma' è dovuto alla contingenza: non mi pare che i repubblicani, in questo momento, posseggano queste due caratteristiche). Seconda situazione, il mondo rischia di andare verso un devastante terzo conflitto mondiale, dove le due superpotenze protagoniste dello scontro sono USA e Cina (almeno inizialmente, poi chissà).
Quali delle due ipotesi - donna presidente negli USA o terza guerra mondiale - è più realistica?
La schismogenesi è stata definita da Gregory Bateson come una divergenza progressiva, un processo di escalation che può portare un sistema a un punto di fuga a meno che non intervengano fattori che agiscano da sistemi di controllo. Il romanzo di Follett gira intorno a questo concetto qua e chi legge - almeno a me è successo così - si chiede se ci saranno sufficienti fattori a controllare l'escalation.
Le settecento e fischia pagine sono scorse via bene, la storia è decisamente appassionante e coinvolgente. Certo, a tratti un po' angosciante. Ci sono tanti personaggi le cui vicende s'incastrano bene.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
tense
fast-paced
Follett writes events in plain, clear, simple terms. This book is not literary and sometimes patronizingly repetitive, but interesting subject matter. The ring of smugglers/jihadists would make an quality stand alone story.
Goes by fast and keeps your attention mostly. Nothing amazing, nothing terrible - some would prefer more complex writing but it is hard with so many characters in so many places.
Goes by fast and keeps your attention mostly. Nothing amazing, nothing terrible - some would prefer more complex writing but it is hard with so many characters in so many places.
¡Hola lectores! ¿Cómo les va? ¿Alguna vez leyeron un libro 100% de ficción que parece absurdamente actual/real? Bueno eso me pasó con la última obra de Ken Follett, Nunca.
En esta ocasión el autor nos cuenta los inicios de una posible tercera guerra mundial nuclear entre China y Estados Unidos (solamente equivocó el contendiente) y cómo diferentes personajes de la política y el espionaje mundial van haciendo lo imposible para evitar esa contienda, si lo logran o no, no se los voy a contar porque le estaría develando el secreto del libro.
Si bien no es de mis favoritos del autor, es un muy buen libro, que al principio se hace medio engorroso, pero cuando agarrás ritmo de lectura no podés largarlo.
Es una historia en la que no hay héroes ni heroínas, si no hombres y mujeres comunes en puestos importantes del mundo, tratando de hacer lo mejor posible su trabajo, cuyos intereses muchas veces se superponen, y donde se ve reflejada algunas cuestiones políticas muy interesantes....de todos modos, cualquier parecido con la realidad es pura coincidencia.
Ojalá este libro solamente sea ficción.
Mi puntaje: 4 Marinas
En esta ocasión el autor nos cuenta los inicios de una posible tercera guerra mundial nuclear entre China y Estados Unidos (solamente equivocó el contendiente) y cómo diferentes personajes de la política y el espionaje mundial van haciendo lo imposible para evitar esa contienda, si lo logran o no, no se los voy a contar porque le estaría develando el secreto del libro.
Si bien no es de mis favoritos del autor, es un muy buen libro, que al principio se hace medio engorroso, pero cuando agarrás ritmo de lectura no podés largarlo.
Es una historia en la que no hay héroes ni heroínas, si no hombres y mujeres comunes en puestos importantes del mundo, tratando de hacer lo mejor posible su trabajo, cuyos intereses muchas veces se superponen, y donde se ve reflejada algunas cuestiones políticas muy interesantes....de todos modos, cualquier parecido con la realidad es pura coincidencia.
Ojalá este libro solamente sea ficción.
Mi puntaje: 4 Marinas
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Never is the perfect title for this book.
book was good, just not really my cup of tea
If you’re interested in politics/world conflict then it’s good
If you’re interested in politics/world conflict then it’s good
Elevated from one to two stars purely on readability. But wow Ken, this was... not good.
I can't remember the last time I read a novel with such poorly written women. They were ridiculously, offensively bad. I could literally see the effort he was going to to present the Strong Female Character (TM), and it is actually laughable how badly wrong he got it. And it's not even like he can use the classic Friends excuse of "iT wAs A dIfFeReNt TiMe" because Never was written in 2021.
When I say I could see his effort to make the women powerful, I don't mean that as a compliment. I mean that he went about it with such typical crusty-old-white-man incompetence that I would have preferred him not to have bothered. From the naïve, yet beautiful, Chadian village woman who sets out on her own to escape her difficult life, who then instantly latches on to a man to protect her. To the (also beautiful) CIA agent who aced combat training and yet spends her first firefight cowering on the floor with her arms over her head, and constantly ignores protocol, who literally will not stop banging on about the guy she fancies. And finally, probably the most ridiculous, the PRESIDENT OF AMERICA - tough but of course also beautiful! - who is supposed to be trying to prevent nuclear was but spends most of her time distracted by men.
This book doesn't just fail the Bechdel test, it rips up the test paper, swallows the pieces, and then defecates them onto a new test paper.
Also the dialogue is TERRIBLE. It's so awkward and unrealistic, particularly amongst the Chinese characters, who are so poorly constructed that it borders on xenophobia. In addition to being flatter than a pancake from Holland, their conversations are just ridiculous. Chock full of English language idioms and read like a Hollyoaks script. These are supposed to be people at the highest level of government and military. And the American politicians are just as bad.
Lastly, the plot lacked so much cohesion that one of the main storylines is rendered completely useless by the end of the book, having no bearing at all on the main conflict. If this book is supposed to serve as a warning about how easily nuclear war could happen, it needs to be significantly better constructed to have any hope of meeting this objective. I'm terrified of nuclear war and all this book made me do was roll my eyes and occasionally snigger derisively.
I can't believe that this came from the same pen as Pillars of the Earth. For shame, Kenneth, for shame.
I can't remember the last time I read a novel with such poorly written women. They were ridiculously, offensively bad. I could literally see the effort he was going to to present the Strong Female Character (TM), and it is actually laughable how badly wrong he got it. And it's not even like he can use the classic Friends excuse of "iT wAs A dIfFeReNt TiMe" because Never was written in 2021.
When I say I could see his effort to make the women powerful, I don't mean that as a compliment. I mean that he went about it with such typical crusty-old-white-man incompetence that I would have preferred him not to have bothered. From the naïve, yet beautiful, Chadian village woman who sets out on her own to escape her difficult life, who then instantly latches on to a man to protect her. To the (also beautiful) CIA agent who aced combat training and yet spends her first firefight cowering on the floor with her arms over her head, and constantly ignores protocol, who literally will not stop banging on about the guy she fancies. And finally, probably the most ridiculous, the PRESIDENT OF AMERICA - tough but of course also beautiful! - who is supposed to be trying to prevent nuclear was but spends most of her time distracted by men.
This book doesn't just fail the Bechdel test, it rips up the test paper, swallows the pieces, and then defecates them onto a new test paper.
Also the dialogue is TERRIBLE. It's so awkward and unrealistic, particularly amongst the Chinese characters, who are so poorly constructed that it borders on xenophobia. In addition to being flatter than a pancake from Holland, their conversations are just ridiculous. Chock full of English language idioms and read like a Hollyoaks script. These are supposed to be people at the highest level of government and military. And the American politicians are just as bad.
Lastly, the plot lacked so much cohesion that one of the main storylines is rendered completely useless by the end of the book, having no bearing at all on the main conflict. If this book is supposed to serve as a warning about how easily nuclear war could happen, it needs to be significantly better constructed to have any hope of meeting this objective. I'm terrified of nuclear war and all this book made me do was roll my eyes and occasionally snigger derisively.
I can't believe that this came from the same pen as Pillars of the Earth. For shame, Kenneth, for shame.