Books
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Redwall Game of Thrones meets The Wind in the Willows; a young mouse goes on a quest to find ancient arms then uses them to vanquish terrible foes. This is a book for kids. Adults should not read it on their own. But it’s probably better than a lot of the books you’ll read this year. The book opens with one of the all time great feasts, which the author probably justified to the editor as an important technique for establishing that Redwall Abbey is a place of peace and security for the community. But clearly it’s mostly just an expression of Jacques’ exuberant and genuine love of food. Following hot on its heels, we meet Cluny the Scourge, leader of a horde of invaders and one of the book’s two great villains. The hero Matthias seeks out the lost sword and shield of Martin the Warrior, the founder of Redwall Abbey. In the course of overcoming various obstacles, he meets and befriends the Sparra tribe and the Shrew tribe, and also slays Asmodeus, a giant magical snake monster. He returns to the Abbey with a full complement of gear and a new sense of his own capabilities, and leads the forces of good to victory. His mentor dies in the assault, but Matthias gets the girl and the two have a son. The story is timeless, the writing is good, the characters are quirky and lovable. The whole thing is incredibly well done. This is one of my boys’ all time favorites and it’s one of the best kids’ books I’ve ever read. Highly recommended for 4-11 year olds.
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From Tracy Kidder’s The Soul of a New Machine: I traveled with West to New York. We stopped at a grocery store in which the cash registers were equipped with one of those devices that reads the price of an item automatically, a computerized checkout system. This one wasn't working well. West got down on his hands and knees and poked his head in under the cashier's counter to have a look at the thing. The clerk made her mouth an O. When West came out, dusting off his hands, he explained that he had helped design this particular model when he had worked at RCA. "It's a kludge," he said grinning. The clerk had some trouble figuring what the beer we bought ought to cost, and as we left, West said, out of her earshot, "Ummmmh, one of the problems with machines like that. You end up making people so dumb they can't figure out how many six-packs are in a case of beer." featured in my newsletter this week: https://uncertaintymindset.substack.com/p/gbw262025
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