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_astridedwards_'s reviews
63 reviews
Mortality by Christopher Hitchens
5.0
Writing when dying would give anyone a unique viewpoint. This is no more true than for [a:Christopher Hitchens|3956|Christopher Hitchens|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1397346625p2/3956.jpg], who wrote [b:Mortality|13529055|Mortality|Christopher Hitchens|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337177391s/13529055.jpg|18446960] in the 19 months between the diagnosis of his oesophageal cancer and his death.
For Hitchen's, cancer meant 'a very gentle and firm deportation [...] from the country of the well across the stark frontier that marks of the land of malady'. [b:Mortality|13529055|Mortality|Christopher Hitchens|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337177391s/13529055.jpg|18446960] is an atheist's musings on death and dying. It also includes Hitchen's final thoughts, his railings against unreasoned thought and sloppy thinking, as well as new ideas he wanted to explore through writing.
Regardless of your religious persuasion, Mortality is a work that explores what is means - for any of us - to be a 'citizen of the sick country'.
For Hitchen's, cancer meant 'a very gentle and firm deportation [...] from the country of the well across the stark frontier that marks of the land of malady'. [b:Mortality|13529055|Mortality|Christopher Hitchens|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337177391s/13529055.jpg|18446960] is an atheist's musings on death and dying. It also includes Hitchen's final thoughts, his railings against unreasoned thought and sloppy thinking, as well as new ideas he wanted to explore through writing.
Regardless of your religious persuasion, Mortality is a work that explores what is means - for any of us - to be a 'citizen of the sick country'.
Quarterly Essay 57, Dear Life: On Caring for the Elderly by Karen Hitchcock
4.0
Few Quarterly Essays will bring you to tears, but [b:Quarterly Essay 57 Dear Life: On Caring for the Elderly|25184219|Quarterly Essay 57 Dear Life On Caring for the Elderly|Karen Hitchcock|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1427018724s/25184219.jpg|44892105] might. It did for me.
[a:Karen Hitchcock|3127363|Karen Hitchcock|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is clear on her goal: 'to strike a note of caution and to make explicit something that often remains unsaid and yet can be heard quite clearly: that the elderly are burdensome, bankrupting, non-productive. That old age is not worth living.'
The essay outlines exactly how we, as a society, approach ageing and the elderly. It is not a pretty sight. And then reminds us that we too will one day be the elderly.
[a:Karen Hitchcock|3127363|Karen Hitchcock|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is clear on her goal: 'to strike a note of caution and to make explicit something that often remains unsaid and yet can be heard quite clearly: that the elderly are burdensome, bankrupting, non-productive. That old age is not worth living.'
The essay outlines exactly how we, as a society, approach ageing and the elderly. It is not a pretty sight. And then reminds us that we too will one day be the elderly.
On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser
4.0
[b:On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction|540287|On Writing Well The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction|William Zinsser|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387714691s/540287.jpg|1139032] is a book to come back to again and again. Worth the investment, and worth the time. And as a bonus, [a:William Zinsser|7881675|William Zinsser|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1398172620p2/7881675.jpg]'s prose and grammar jokes may even make you laugh from time to time.
Chapter One: You have the power to change stuff by Daniel Flynn
5.0
Anyone in business and the not-for-profit sector, as well as anyone interested in storytelling, should know what [a:Daniel Flynn|3060790|Daniel Flynn|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and the Thankyou team are doing.
Thankyou is a social enterprise based in Melbourne. They are not like any other social enterprise you have come across.
They are the definition of disruptors. And unlike many about which that term is used, this team has a consistent track record. They are challenging the way things have always been done in multiple industries at the same: publishing; food, beverage and grocery; international development; transport and logistics; and marketing and advertising.
Take publishing, for example.
At a time when traditional publishing and profits from books (for both author and publisher alike) are less assured than ever, they had the vision (and the temerity) to publish a book with no recommended retail price (an industry first) and with a side orientation (a rarity). Customers simply walk to to the counter and tell the sales assistant what they are willing to pay.
Thankyou is a story of what can be done. Read it, and do you part.
And here is to publishing Chapter Two.
Thankyou is a social enterprise based in Melbourne. They are not like any other social enterprise you have come across.
They are the definition of disruptors. And unlike many about which that term is used, this team has a consistent track record. They are challenging the way things have always been done in multiple industries at the same: publishing; food, beverage and grocery; international development; transport and logistics; and marketing and advertising.
Take publishing, for example.
At a time when traditional publishing and profits from books (for both author and publisher alike) are less assured than ever, they had the vision (and the temerity) to publish a book with no recommended retail price (an industry first) and with a side orientation (a rarity). Customers simply walk to to the counter and tell the sales assistant what they are willing to pay.
Thankyou is a story of what can be done. Read it, and do you part.
And here is to publishing Chapter Two.
The Fictional Woman by Tara Moss
4.0
[a:Tara Moss|207498|Tara Moss|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1339822973p2/207498.jpg] reminds us all - both men and women - why feminism isn't a dirty word, a why we still need the word.
If you are a woman, if you love a woman, or if you have children, read it. In other words, everyone should read the damn book.
If you are a woman, if you love a woman, or if you have children, read it. In other words, everyone should read the damn book.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
5.0
[a:Margaret Atwood|3472|Margaret Atwood|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1282859073p2/3472.jpg] envisages a truly disturbing dystopian future for North America, where societal roles are strictly regulated. While freedoms are curtailed for everyone, men and women, old and young, healthy and ill, [b:The Handmaid's Tale|9692063|The Handmaid's Tale|Margaret Atwood|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415245391s/9692063.jpg|1119185] is unusual (especially as it was published in 1985) in that the narrator and main protagonist is female.
The work explores women's rights (and lack thereof), as well as all the ways politics and religion can restrict these rights, destroying not only the lives of individual women, but the fabric of the society we hold dear.
Offred remembers the freedoms of life and love available to Western women in the late 20th century. However, here we find her defined by her owner (she 'belongs' to Fred) and classified according her to her biological function. In this future world, women are chattels - literally colour coded and named according to their role as cook and cleaner, wife and symbol, baby-maker, or outcast.
[b:The Handmaid's Tale|38447|The Handmaid's Tale|Margaret Atwood|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1294702760s/38447.jpg|1119185] has entered pop culture in ways you are likely to recognise, even if you haven't read the novel (or seen the movie). Ever heard the phrase 'don't let the bastards grind you down' (nolite bastardes carborundorum)? You can thank Atwood for that.
The work ranks with the other great dystopian works of the 20th century, including [a:George Orwell|3706|George Orwell|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1374989696p2/3706.jpg]'s [b:1984|5470|1984|George Orwell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348990566s/5470.jpg|153313], [a:Aldous Huxley|3487|Aldous Huxley|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1387374697p2/3487.jpg]'s [b:Brave New World|5129|Brave New World|Aldous Huxley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327865608s/5129.jpg|3204877] and [a:Philip K. Dick|4764|Philip K. Dick|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1264613853p2/4764.jpg]'s [b:Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?|7082|Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?|Philip K. Dick|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327865673s/7082.jpg|830939], but offers a vision for what dystopia means for the women of the world.
The work explores women's rights (and lack thereof), as well as all the ways politics and religion can restrict these rights, destroying not only the lives of individual women, but the fabric of the society we hold dear.
Offred remembers the freedoms of life and love available to Western women in the late 20th century. However, here we find her defined by her owner (she 'belongs' to Fred) and classified according her to her biological function. In this future world, women are chattels - literally colour coded and named according to their role as cook and cleaner, wife and symbol, baby-maker, or outcast.
[b:The Handmaid's Tale|38447|The Handmaid's Tale|Margaret Atwood|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1294702760s/38447.jpg|1119185] has entered pop culture in ways you are likely to recognise, even if you haven't read the novel (or seen the movie). Ever heard the phrase 'don't let the bastards grind you down' (nolite bastardes carborundorum)? You can thank Atwood for that.
The work ranks with the other great dystopian works of the 20th century, including [a:George Orwell|3706|George Orwell|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1374989696p2/3706.jpg]'s [b:1984|5470|1984|George Orwell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348990566s/5470.jpg|153313], [a:Aldous Huxley|3487|Aldous Huxley|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1387374697p2/3487.jpg]'s [b:Brave New World|5129|Brave New World|Aldous Huxley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327865608s/5129.jpg|3204877] and [a:Philip K. Dick|4764|Philip K. Dick|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1264613853p2/4764.jpg]'s [b:Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?|7082|Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?|Philip K. Dick|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327865673s/7082.jpg|830939], but offers a vision for what dystopia means for the women of the world.