Makers - Cory Doctorow

On our cross country drive, I finished what will most likely be my last book of 2012: "Makers", by Cory Doctorow. This is a piece of near-future speculative fiction based around the idea of the democratization of manufacturing brought on by 3D printing. Cheap access to printers by hacker types (in the tinkerer sense of hacker) upsets the way companies do business and brings about a flourishing of inventiveness and innovation. The story follows two guys who spark it all, their rise to fame, their coming to terms with how big companies do business and all of the messiness of hackers trying to make it in the Real World.

I thought this was an interesting book, especially since I am fascinated by 3D printing. I think Doctorow spends a lot of time talking to people who think like he does - this is similar in a lot of ways to another of his books, "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" in that it centers around Disney and the "Disneyfication" of our culture. This is an interesting thought to explore, but I don't see our culture collapsing in quite the same way - there's a danger in the shallowness of our consumer culture and our desire to be continually entertained, but the heroes of the novel facilitate this kind of shallowness even as they try to fight it. Their entire business model is based on cool hunting and making crap to fill the niche until someone else figures out how to make it cheaper. I don't know if this irony was intentional, or if I am just cynical (maybe both?), but it overshadowed the novel for me. The story is well written and even gripping at times, but I couldn't get the philosophy to jive.

Worth a read, maybe, but the story didn't make up for the convoluted and self-contradictory philosophy.

In the Heart of the Sea

This last week on my business trip I read "In the Heart of the Sea" by Nathaniel Philbrick. This is the story of the sinking of the whale ship Essex and the 90 day, 4500 mile trip the survivors made in open lifeboats in the Pacific. The sinking was the inspiration for "Moby Dick", and Melville may have even met the captain of the Essex.

The physical and mental anguish these men went through is staggering - they survived on about 500 calories a day of hardtack, eventually running down to 200 calories or so. They eventually resorted to cannibalism, which probably saved the lives of the men who made it.

What I found most interesting was the way that the various leaders on the crew dealt with things. When the ship sunk, they were only something like 800 miles from the Societies islands. The captain said they should sail for those islands, but the first and second mates were terrified of cannibals (somewhat ironic, right?) so they talked the captain into a scheme that would, in optimal circumstances, give them about one or two extra days of starvation rations. It was a terrible plan, but the captain was shell shocked and didn't assert his command. The real kicker? There weren't any cannibals on the islands.

I thought this was a fascinating book, and an amazing story of what people can survive. I could have done with a little less graphic description of cannibalism, but it certainly drove home the point.

Three Books

Over the last month, I have finished a couple of books. Rather than describe them all fully, I am just going to give brief thoughts so that I can discharge my karmic guilt and move on to my next book.

The Mark of Athena - Rick Riordan. This is the third book in a YA fiction series about teenagers who are Greek and Roman demigods. It is much better and significantly more entertaining than it has any right to be. Pure brain candy, but it is at least good brain candy.

Zero History - William Gibson. Interesting look at "cool hunters" and the interplay between fashion design and defense contracting. It is a little far fetched, but this is Gibson, so that is to be expected.

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell. I was really surprised by this one. The movie is directed by the Wachowski brothers, which would normally imply science fiction, and there are sci-fi elements to the story, but it's not really a sci-fi work. It is six or so interrelated stories... You know what? This is too hard to describe. You just gotta read it. I know Adam has read this too... I am interested to hear what others think of it.