samdalefox's reviews
188 reviews

Pharmanomics: How Big Pharma Destroys Global Health by NIck Dearden

challenging hopeful informative slow-paced

4.5

I have worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 10 years. There was a lot in this book I did know and an awful lot I didn't. Overall, I think the book is well researched, comprehensive, and ambitious in trying to make the information accessible to people who know nothing about the industry. The TLDR message of the book is: The pharmaceutical industry operates in such a way that it does not produce medical products (drugs, devices, vaccines etc.) to adequately address global health needs, and in many cases operates in a way that worsens global health outcomes.

Important note: I read this as an audiobook and hated the format. I didn't enjoy the narrator's voice and I couldn't look up references as I went as I typically would (there were a couple of points I thought were mistakes and would like to have checked). The subject matter is dense and I personally think it's much better suited to physical print so the reader can take the information at their own pace and flip back and forth between pages to remind themselves of salient points. As such, I'm going to read the book again via a physical copy and see if that changes my rating. It will certainly improve my retainment of knowledge from the book. I do not recommend reading this as an audiobook.

In brief the book covers:

A history of scandals (this is limited to those related to profit, there are many more scandals exlusive to ethics and not profit motivated that are not mentioned here if you are interested e.g., the Tuskegee Trials etc.)
A very good explanation of how the industry has become finalicialised since the 1980s onwards. I have personally seen this in operation from 2015 onwards in my personal career. It's spot on, this is exactly how the industry operates.
Uses the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study to explore how the pharmaceutical industry acts globally in relation to academic research, the state, multilateral agreements and legislation, organisations like WHO and the WTO, different healthcare systems in various countries, and ultimately patient accessibility to vaccines.
A critical examination of patent law development e.g, TRIPS
An analysis of how financialisation, patent laws, and other health economic aspects links to historical and contemporary-colonisation of the global south
In the final chapter there are examples given from various countries of proposals of how to reform the system with the aim of improving public health.

As with all books of this ilk, I would like a greater proportion focussing on the solutions. I'd especially like to see some fully fleshed out thoughts around revolutionary solutions, not reformist solutions. However, the solutions cited here came from a good range of global sources so I'm happier than usual. :)

Overall: a necessary book that is ambitious is scope, but diligently introduces readers to the important aspects of the pharmaceutical industry. I beleive the book substantiates its claims with copius credible examples and is reasonable in its criticism.

How to study the violin by J. T. Carrodus

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informative fast-paced

3.25

I've been playing the viola for most of my life, I picked up this book out of interest in my local antique bookshop. I enjoyed the writing style, the language is a little dated but still very easy to read and enjoyable. I liked the way the book was structured with short chapters and arranged progressively. The first half of the book focussed on the title 'how to play the violin', such as how to hold the instrument and bow, and how to approach studying/practicing music. The second half meandered into personal reflections of the author (a celebrated English violinist), which personally I found less interesting as it tended to list dates and names of tutors, orchestras, and festivals.

Overall it's a lovely little book, the technical advice written is still perfectly relevant to the practicing of the violin today and you also get an insight into the life and personality of J.T. Carrodus. An easy read to complete in a couple of sittings for people interested in the violin. I will be hunting for a few more from The Strad series to read.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I see the appeal of this - fast paced, action packed sci-fi novella with a funny and sarcastic protagonist. I certainly enjoyed it; I finished it in two sittings and it helped me get out of my reading slump. However, I don't think there was anything particularly amazing about it. Don't go in expecting a deep dive on the ethics and philosophy of robotic autonomy and free will etc., just appreciate it for what it is; a pulpy fun adventurous sci-fi murderbot romp.

Content Warnings

Your Utopia: Stories by Bora Chung

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mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Overall, this collection of short stories averaged out to 2/5 stars. There were two stories that I think were significantly better than the others (The end of a voyage, and Seed), however overall I didn't enjoy the collection. I don't think Chung's writing style is particuarly interesting or novel, and I found her subject matter frustrating - her ideas seemed interesting but half baked, which made for underdeveloped plots. I honestly don't understand why she recevies so much praise, her 'twist' endings are underwhelming at best. I wouldn't re-read any of these stories again, though I will try her Cursed Bunny collection. I don't think my disappointment is due to a translation barrier since I've read plenty of other translated Korean, Chinese, and Japanese sci-fi and speculative fiction which I have been blown away by.

The center for immortality research - 1⭐
The end of the voyage - 4 ⭐
A very ordinary marriage - 2⭐
Maria, Gratia plena - 1.5⭐
If you're writing a story about an abuse survivor the focus really should be more/entirely on them. I found this split minimising of her suffering.
Your utopia - 1.5⭐
A song for sleep - 1.5 ⭐This one had potential, I do like the idea of the internet of Things Nest take but the ethically grey areas were not explored enough
Seed - 3⭐Good concept, but required much more development
To meet her - 2⭐

Anarchism: The Feminist Connection by Peggy Kornegger

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informative inspiring medium-paced

3.5

I bought this from the Pink Peacock (a queer, yiddish, anti-Zionist, anarchist, vegan pay-what-you-can cafe and info-shop in Glasglow which has now sadly closed) so I was hoping for a little more from this book. First published in 1975, I was expecting some parts to be dated, but I was disappointed at just how lacking in intersectionality it was. Kornegger is American - did she deliberately ignore the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army and their vocal anarchists at the time, such as Assata Shakur and Kuwasi Balagoon? Kornegger definitely sticks firmly to second wave white binary feminism in her essays.

That being said, I liked the conciseness of writing and enjoyed reading about the Spanish Revolution and Paris Commune. I found this much easier to understand than the same history examined by other anarchists, for example Chomsky or Kropotkin respectively. I would have liked her to expand upong the pacifism/armed resitance discourse from a feminist perspective. I also greatly appreciate the referencing throughout and definitions section, this makes the text more accessible to people not familiar with anarchist theory. Kornegger defines anarchism by three major principles:

Belief in the abolition of authority, hierachy, government
Belief in both individuality and collectivity
Belief in both spontaneity and organisation

And buckets the tactics for preparation into:

Educational - how we share our stories with one another
Economic/Political - direct action through sabotage, strike, and boycott
Personal/Political - anarchist affinity groups

Quotes:

[Referring to the French student protestets and wide civil unrest in 1968]

"What is crucial here is the fact that it happened at all. May-June 1968, disproves the common belief that revolution is impossible in an advanced capitalist country. The children of the French middle and working classes, bred to passivity, mindless consumerism, and/or alienated labour, were rejecting much more than capitalism. They were questioning authority itself, demanding the right to a free and meaningful existence. The reasons for revolution in modern industrial society are tus no longer limited to hunger and material scarcityl they include the desire for human liberation from all forms of domination."

"Feminist are dealing with the male domineering attitude toward the external world, allowing only subject/object relationships. Traditional male politics reduces humans to object status and then dominates and manipulates them for abstract 'goals'. Women on the other hand, are trying to develop a conciousness of 'Other' in all areas. We see subject-to-subject relationships as not only desirable but necessary... Together we are working to expand our empathy and understanding of other loving things and identify with those entities outside of ourselves, rather than objectifying them and manipulating them. At this point , a respect for all life is a prerequisite for our very survival."

"Radical feminist theory also criticises male hierachial thought patterns...which alienate us from the continum of human experience. Women are attempting to get rid of these splits, to live in harmoney with the universe as a whole, integrated humans dedicated to the collective of our individual wounds and schisms."

"If we want to 'bring down the patriachy', we need to talk about anarchism, to know exactly what it means and to use that framework to transform ourselves and the structure of our daily lives. Feminism doesn't mean female corporate power or a woman President; it means no corporate power and no Presidents...When we say we are fighting the patriachy, it isn't always clear to all of us that means fighting all hierachy, all leadership, all government, and the very idea of authority itself."

[On prefiguration]

"So what I'm talking about is a long-term process, a series of actions in which we unlearn passivity and learn to take control over our own lives. I am talking about a hollowing out of the present system through the formation of mental and physical (concrete) alternatives for the way things are.

"What we want is not the overthrow of the government, but a situation in which it gets lost in the shuffle."

"Hope is a woman's most powerful revolutionary tool; it is what we give each other every time we share our lives, our work, and our love. It pulls us forward out of self hatred, self-blame, and te fatalism which keeps us prisoners in separate cells. If we surrender to depression and despair now, we are accepting the inevitability of authoritarian politics and patriachal domination. We must not let our pain and anger fade into hopelessness or short-sighted semi-"solutions". Nothing we can do is enough, but on the other hand, those 'small changes'e make in our minds, in our lives, in one another's lives, are not totally futile and ineffectual. It takes a long time to make a revolution: it is something that one both prepares for and lives now. The transformation of the future will not be instantaneous, but it can be total."

Anarchist Communism by Peter Kropotkin

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informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

As with all older leftist texts, 'Anarchist Communism', or 'The Conquest of Bread', contains certain priciples and ideas that remain fundamental to political and economic thought, and some that are outdated as we now live under corporate capiltalism and in the age of the billionaire. Overall I actually found this quite a diffcult text to read; Kropotkin had a habit of posing an excellent question then spend three pages of waffle before eventually answering it. That being said I'm still going to give it 5 stars as it's The Communist Manifesto's anarchist counter part, it's right that these seminal texts are recognised for the impact they have had.

This text focuses on an important part of revolutions that is critical but overlooked - the 'practical work' i.e., how to literally feed the people during a revolution to avoid them being subdued again, bought by the promise of bread and end to their current suffering. Although the principles are still applicable to this day, I do think we need to rethink the methodology suggested to acheive it. Many of Kropotkin's suggestions rely on an organisation of community (both rural and urban) and a world pre-globalisation that no longer exists. However on the other hand, the example of water supply being a case study of how humans naturally interact with a communialised resourced and relative abundance/scarcity transcends time.

I read the revised editoion, published in 1913 before the Russian revolution, which is worth noting because Kropotkin astutely criticises not only capitalism and democratic socialism (sociaism through reform, not revolution) but also state capitalism which is what we eventually saw the USSR become developing from Marxist-Leninism.

allison_reynolds's review - "His claims in the text are bold, but I think are often perceived as naïve as their boldness stems from extreme compassion and not extreme violence. The first introduction to Kropotkin is usually his idea of mutual aid - that species naturally work to better each other. This text outlines the revolution as a time of community as opposed to the usual idea of revolution being bloodshed. Social upheaval and the way it is thought about all too often falls into the same pattern. Kropotkin here lays the introduction for breaking that pattern."

Quotes:

"Truly we are rich - far richer than we think; rich in what we already possess, richer still in the possibilities of production of our actual mechanical outfit; richest of all in what we might win from our soil, from our manufactures, from our science, from our technical knowledge, were they applied to bringing about the well-being of all."

"In our civilised societies we are rich. Why then are many poor? Why this painful drudgery for the masses?...The socialists have said it and the repeat it unwearingly...It is because all that is necessary for production...all have been seized by the few in a long course of robbery, enforced migration and wars, of ignorance and oppression... - Taking advantage of alleged rights aquired in the past, these few appropraite today two-thirds of the products of human labour, then squander them in the most stupid and shameful way....It is because these few prevent the remainder of men from producing the things they need, and force them to produce, not the necessities of life for all, but whatever offers the greatest profits to the monopolists. In this is the substance of all socialism."

[With respect to the idea of retaining a money economy and sharing the reclaimed profits of labour equitabily amongst workers].

"Science and industry, knowledge and application, discovery and practical realisation leading to new discoveries, cunning of brain and hand, toil of mind and muscle - all work together. Each discovery, each advance, each increase in the sum of human riches, owes its being to the physical and mental travail of the past and the present. By what right can anyone whatever appropriate the least morsel of this immense whole and say - This is mine, not yours?"

"The means of production being the collective work of humanity, the product should be te collective property of the race. Individual appropriation is neither just nor serviceable. All belongs to All. All things are for all men, since all men have need of them, since all men have worked the measure of their strength to produce them, and since it is not possible to evaluate everyone's part in the production of the world's wealth. "

"Nowadays, in te present state of industry whern everything is interdependent, when each branch of production is knit up with all the rest, the attempt to claim an individualist origin for the products of industry is absolutely untenable."

[Criticising wage labour]

"The wage system arises out of the individual ownership of the land and the instruments of labour. It was the necessary condition from the development of capitalist production and will perish with it as 'profit-sharing'/ The common possession of the instruments fo labout must necessarily bring with it the enjoyment in common of the fruits of labour."

"The forms have changed, but the relations have remained the same, and the worker is forced, under the name of free contract, to accept feudal obligations. For, turn where he will, he can find no better conditions. Everything has become provate property, and he must accept, or die of hunger."

"The result of this state of things is that all our production tends in a wrong direction. Enterprise takes no thought for the needs of the community. Its only aim is to increase the gains of the speculator. Hence the constant fluctuations of trade, the periodical industrial crises, each of which throws scores of thousands of workers on the streets."

"The working people cannot purchase with their wages the wealth with which they have produced, and industry seeks foreign markets among the monied classes of other nations...All nations evolve on the same lines, and wars, perpetual wars, breakout for precendence in the market. Wars for the possession of the East, wars for the empire of the sea, wars to impose duties on imports and to dictate conditions to neighbouring states; wars againist those 'blacks' that revolt! The roar of the canon never ceases in the world, whole races are massacred, the states of Europe spend a third of their budgets in armaments; and we know how heavily these taxes fall on the workers."

[On the proliferation of the bourgeoisie middle class]

"Alongside the rapid development of our wealth-producing powers we have an overwhelming increase of middlemen. Instead of capital gradually concentrating itself in a few hands, so that it would only be necessary for the community to dispossess of a few millionaires and enter upon its lawful heritage...the exact reverse is coming to pass: the swarm of parasites is ever increasing."

[On direct and indirect limitations of production]

"it is impossible to reckon in figures the extent to which wealth is restricted indirectly, the extent to which energy is squandered, while it might have been served to produce, and above all prepare the machinery necessary to production. It is enough to cite the immense sums spent by Europe in armaments, for the sole purpose of aquiring control of the markets, and so forcing her own goods on neighbouring territories, and making exploitation easier at home; the millions apid every year to officials of all sorts, whose function it is to maintain the 'rights' of minorities - the right, that is, of a few rich men - to manipulate the economic activities of the nation; the millions spent on judges, prisons, policemen, and all the paraphernalia of so-called justice - spent to no purpose, because we know that every alleviation, however slight, of the wretchedness of our great cities is always followed by a considerable diminuation of crime; lastly, the millions made by propagating pernicious doctrines by means of the press, and news 'cooked' in the interest of this or that party, of the politician or of that group of speculators."

[On the topic of abundance and waste and leisure]

"If we consider on the one hand the rapidity with which civilised nations augment their powers of production, and on the other hand the limits to that production, be it directly or indirectly, by existing conditions, we cannot but conclude that an economic system and trifle more reasonable would permit them to heap up in a few years so many useful products that they would be constrained to say - Enough! We have enough coal and bread and raiment! Let us rest and consider how best to use our powers, how best to employ our leisure."

"If plenty for all is to become a reality, this immense capital - cities, houses, pastures, arable lands, factories, highways, education - must cease to be regarded as private property, for the monopolist to dispose of at his pleasure. This rich endowment, painfully won, builded, fashioned, or invested by our ancestors, must become common property, so that the collective interests of men may gain from it the greatest good of all. There must be expropriation. The well-being of all - the end; expropriation - the means."

"In claiming the right to well-being, they claim the right to take possession of the wealth of the community - to take houses to dwell in according to the needs of each family; to socialise the stores of food and learn the meaning of plenty, after having known famine so well. They provide their right to all social wealth - fruit of the labour of past and present generations - and learn by its means to enjoy those high pleasures of art and science which have too long been monopolised by the rich. And while asserting their right to live in comfort, they assert, what is still more important, their right to decide for themselves what this comfort shall be, what must be produced to ensure it, and what discarded as no longer of value. The right to 'well-being' means the possibility of living like human beings, and bringing up children to be members of a society better than ours, whilst the 'right to work' only means the right to always be a wage-slave, a drudge, ruled over and exploited by the middle class of the future."

[On how to prevent a new rich person from elsewhere from exploiting people within anarchist communism]

"At the root of this argument these is a great error. Those who propound it have never paused to enquire whence comes the fortunes of the rich. A little though weould, however, suffice to show that these fortunes have their beginnings in the poverty of the poor. When there are no longer any destitute, there will not longer be any rich to exploit them."

"Everywhere you will find that the wealth of the wealthy springs from the poverty of the poor."

"Our friends often warn us, 'take care you do not go too far! Humanity cannot be changed in a day, so do not be in too great a hurry with your schemes of expropriation and anarchy, or you will be in danger of achieving no permanent result.' Now, what we fear with regard to expropriation is exactly the contrary. We are afraid of not going far enough, or carrying our expropriation on too small a scale to be lasting. We would not have the revolutionary impulse arrested in mid-career, to exhaust itself in half measures, which would content no-one, and while producing a tremendous confusion in society, and stopping its customary activities, would have no vital power - would merely spread general discontent and inevitably prepare the way for the triumph of reaction."

"All is interdependent in a civilised society; it is impossible to reform any one thing without altering the whole. Therefore, on the day a nation will strike at private property, under any one of its forms, territorial or industrial, it will be obliged to attack them all. The very success of the revolution will impose it."

"If the coming revolution is to be social revolution, it will be distinguished from all former uprisings not only be its aim, but also by its methods. To attain a new end, new means are required."

[On the relationship between the global north exploiting the global south]

"Since all our middle-class civilisation is based upong the exploitation of inferior races and countries with less advanced industrial systems, the revolution will confer a boon at the very outset, by menacing that 'civilsation', and allowing the so-called inferor races to free themselves."

"Let the revolution only get so far, and famine is not the enemy it will have to fear. No, the danger which will menance it lies in timidity, prejudice and half measures."

Content Warnings

How to Save Our Planet: The Facts by Mark A Maslin

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hopeful informative medium-paced

2.75

I chose to read this as it was listed as a book that is written to be entry level accessible to people who don't know anything about the climate crisis and want to be adequately informed. I think in some ways the book acheived that aim, and in others it missed the mark. As someone who reads a lot around this subject, mostly I found it covered topics I was already familiar with so ulitamtely I was bored. However I enjoyed the utopia section, the exploration of types of denial ; Science Denial, Economic Denial, Humanitarian Denial, Political Denial, and the afterword.

Big wins:

Ultimately, good as an introduction to the topic of climiate change, very simple. Reminds me a little like reading a children's encyclopedia in the first couple fo chapters.
The inclusion of tropical and temperature diseases development
The highlighting of disparity between the global north and global south
The advocacy of reducing consumption, circular economy, increasing community, and how to exercise power as a consumer
Government solutions (Chapter 8). This is arguable one of our greatest weapon against climate change and it it's a good chapter for most people who align politially centre-left/centre-right to read.

Big misses:

Omits some big players in the interconnected web of the climiate crisis, for example Maslin never mentions that the success of agriculture was due to the holocene. Without this critical information what he has stated is misleading at best and misinformation at worst.
The advocacy of using existing structures (e.g., corporate capitalism) to effect change now. This relevant, but not our strongest tactic/weapon. Corporate positive power is a little.girl boss-y, Maslin is naive as he refuses to admit this is not in capitalism's interest therefore will naturally have limited success. And critically;
Although Maslin openly criticises capitalism, "economics must focus on human wellbeing as the primary measure of success", he refuses to explicitly name the alternative systems i.e., socialism.
sloph's review - "It wasn't so much, How to save our planet as much as Why, I feel like this book spent too much time on why it is important and not enough ways to actually provide a positive impact into changing things".

Tangerine by Christine Mangan

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

This is just a bad book all around. The praise quoted on the front of the book are all lies. This is an extremely poor imitation of genuinely good thrillers like 'The Talented Mr Ripley'. Poor writing, poor pacing, flat characters, and zero twists. Everything was obvious from the first chapter. I sped read the last third and only completed it because I was reading it on a plane.

Also this would have been so much more compelling if it leaned more into Lucy and Alice having a genuine romantic relationship, rather than perpetuating the toxic trope of “all lesbians are bad and crazy and unhealthily obsessed with their female friends”.

Content Warnings

The Logic of Scientific Discovery by Karl Popper

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challenging informative medium-paced

3.75

This is one of those classic texts where you read it and know how important it is, but the language is hard to grasp. One where it's best to get the main concept from Wikipedia or Stanford's dictionary of philosophy before you dive in. Though I don't mean to say that there is nothing in the original text that you can't get elesewhere, no, I think there's important extra detail given in the book that's worth wading through to fully understand. I would say Chapters 1-5 are most important to take your time and read carefully, anything you take in after that may be beneficial but is not critical to understand.

The mian concept Popper is proposing in the book is 'deductive reasoning' (as opposed to the main practice at the time of 'inductive reasoning' by positivists). Popper proposes that all scientific experimentation should seek to falsify rather than verify a scientific statement. He argues that the concept of empirical science requires experience as a method, i.e., hinging on hypothesis testing, which can lead to more accurate and progressive scientific theories. Overall, his arguments are convincing and clearly changed the course of scientinfic practice during the 20th century. I cannot speak to the quality of his arguments and evidence post Chapter 5 because it became progressively harder to read and I don't believe I understand it fully.

I'll be purchasing a copy to keep on my bookshelf for reference. I had to do an inter-library loan to get this copy, so I'll release it back into the library-system for others to enjoy.

Das Römerzimmer ; Der Schneider von Osterwyk by August Winnig

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mysterious sad fast-paced

2.75

I am reading several 'Easy Readers' from A2-B1 level to help my German language progression. Both of these stories were short and fast paced. Several words were explained in the footnotes or in pictures, however there were several words I also needed to look up. It is easy enough to understand the stories from context. Considering how old this book is I was pleasantly surprised to see hardly any outdated words or phrases (that I'm aware of).

Das Römerzimmer 3⭐ - my favourite, very quick surprise ending that I went 'Nooooo!' at.
Der Schneider von Osterwyk 2.75⭐- a bit dark for a children's story, slightly less easy to follow.

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samdalefox's reviews 188 reviews

samdalefox's reviews
188 reviews