Recensioni e commenti

Luca

salga@bookwyrm.it

Registrato 4 mesi, 3 settimane fa

I love all literary genres, with a preference for quality fiction, sci-fi and history. I love technology, and I am old enough to remember how rosy the future looked when the Internet started becoming widespread, and the end of the cold war was at hand. I hope to be able to help new generations to go back to having a rosier look at the future, as I had the privilege of having when I was their age.

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ha recensito Old Man's War di John Scalzi (Old Man’s War #1)

John Scalzi: Old Man's War (Paperback, 2007, Tor)

John Scalzi channels Robert Heinlein (including a wry sense of humor) in a novel about …

Interesting SF take on what makes us "human"

Scalzi's book starts from a well explored premise: the abundance of life in the universe makes its finite resources a scarce commodity, and therefore the space-faring species are engaged in battles to share them. The metaphor to the way humans must learn to share Earth's finite resources is obvious but not gratuitous. The interesting take is on what makes us human: what is the relationship between our consciousness, our experience, and our body? Well written and engaging, a bit too humorous at times, but nevertheless a very good read for lovers of SF.

Isaac Asimov: The End of Eternity (1955, Fawcett Crest)

Humanity has found the ultimate way to fix its own mistakes, make them never happen. …

A masterpiece from a master

I think this is by far the best piece of SF on the time travel subject that I have ever read. The philosophical questions that it addresses, not merely about the paradoxes of time travel, but more so about the relationship between need, risk and progress, are worth the read by themselves. The excellent writing, still incredibly fresh after more than 70 years, make it a masterpiece, almost suspended in a timeless world.

Isaac Asimov: The End of Eternity (1955, Fawcett Crest)

Humanity has found the ultimate way to fix its own mistakes, make them never happen. …

Uno dei più bei libri di fantascienza, specie sul soggetto "viaggio nel tempo", che abbia mai letto. Non per niente Asimov è l'indiscusso maestro del genere. È quasi surreale pensare che ha più di 70 anni. Forse Asimov aveva accesso a qualche macchina del tempo per scrivere così bene del "futuro"...

Nicoletta Verna: Il valore affettivo (Einaudi)

Bianca aveva sette anni quando un incidente dai contorni incerti ha innescato nella sua vita …

La storia di una famiglia che si rompe

La prima opera di Nicoletta Verna mostra tutta la sua capacità di mettere a nudo la coscienza umana nelle relazioni con gli altri, che diventerà ancora più sviluppata nel suo celebre "I giorni di Vetro". Qui il tema è più intimo, familiare: può esserci felicità da adulti quando la felicità ci è strappata da piccoli? Duro, crudo, richiede un po' di forza per essere affrontato.

Sheri S. Tepper: The Gate to Women's Country (S.F. Masterworks) (2001, Orion Publishing Co)

Since the flames died three hundred years ago, human civilization has evolved into a dual …

A masterpiece on what it means to be human

The Gate to Women's Country might seem a simple tale at first: after a man-made apocalypse has ended society as we know it, the world has transitioned into two partitioned groups. The women seem to be ruling by enclosing themselves with few men in walled cities, while the men are happy to patrol the outside and defend the city from all outsiders, glad to be playing along as "warriors". But the novel hides in plain sight so many other layers, including a vivid depiction of the nature of the sexes and their interaction, the eternal quest of humanity to make themselves better and, ultimately, what it really means to be a man, or a woman. Highly recommended on so many levels.

Ramita Navai: City of Lies (2015, Orion Publishing Group, Limited)

"Rich, absorbing, and exotic, City of Lies travels up and down Vali Asr Street, Tehran's …

A beautiful fresco of Tehran and its people

A bit history, a bit journalistic inquiry, a bit novel, this is a beautifully written fresco about Tehran and its people. At times, one might hear the echoes of the life of the writer herself, but that is never the main theme. Highly recommended if you want to understand more about what really Iran is about these days, and how it got there.

Antonio Manzini: Riusciranno i nostri eroi a ritrovare l’amico misteriosamente scomparso in Sud America? (La memoria) (Italian language, 2023, Sellerio)

Riusciranno i nostri eroi a ritrovare l’amico misteriosamente scomparso in Sud America? (La memoria) di  (Il vicequestore Rocco Schiavone, #20)

Una missione non ufficiale a migliaia di chilometri da Aosta, tre amici si rincorrono e rincorrono un traditore. Un passaggio …

ha recensito Uccidi i ricchi di Sandrone Dazieri (Le indagini di Colomba e Dante, #4)

Sandrone Dazieri: Uccidi i ricchi (EBook, Italian language, Rizzoli)

"Era scomparsa dai radar ma ora è tornata, l'ex vicequestore Colomba Caselli, e si fa …

Un altro godibile capitolo nella saga Colomba/Dante

Per chi ha letto già i primi tre capitoli della saga e li ha apprezzati, non c'è molto da aggiungere: qualità narrativa alta, ritmi molto elevati, tema cardine la disugaglianza che sta lacerando la nostra società. Un bellissimo thriller estivo.