/tags/2star/ Recent content in 2star on Perlkönig Hugo -- gohugo.io Copyright © 2006-{year} Aaron Dalton. All Rights Reserved. Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/story-of-aint-by-david-skinner/ Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/story-of-aint-by-david-skinner/ Rating: 2/5 David Skinner, The Story of Ain’t: America, Its Language, and the Most Controversial Dictionary Ever Published (New York: Harper, 2012). It’s books like this that make me question my sanity. I read the jacket and promotional copy, I read the reviews, and I have to start to wonder if it’s just me. This book was awful! The only reason it’s getting 2 stars is because there is some kernel of interesting history here; it’s just very, very difficult to find. /posts/the-black-swan-by-nassim-nicholas-taleb/ Sun, 10 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/the-black-swan-by-nassim-nicholas-taleb/ Rating: 2/5 Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan (New York: Random House, 2007). This book was a disappointment. It started off OK, but it became apparent quite quickly that Taleb is—how should I say this?—arrogant and a bit of a jerk. The main thrust of the book (in itself interesting) could have easily been conveyed in a short 20-page essay. The book just goes on and on and on with some really silly examples and case studies. /posts/water-rat-of-wanchai-by-ian-hamilton/ Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/water-rat-of-wanchai-by-ian-hamilton/ Rating: 2/5 Ian Hamilton, The Water Rat of Wanchai (Toronto: House of Anansi, 2011). Yawn! This has to be one of the most boring “action stories” I’ve ever read. I hate to break it to you, but this story about a forensic accountant is exactly as exciting as it sounds. I get that Ava was conceived as a continuing character, and you have to set her up somehow, but there is literally no tension, no action at all until the halfway point of the book. /posts/assassins-creed-iii-fail/ Tue, 06 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/assassins-creed-iii-fail/ Rating: 2/5 This past weekend I had the opportunity of visiting with a brother- and sister-in-law, their daughter, and their newborn son. My brother-in-law also went out and bought Assassin’s Creed III (AC3) the day we arrived with the hope of getting at least part way through it over the weekend. We only played the single-player story, so I can’t speak to the new multi-player content. AC3 is actually the fifth installment in the Assassin’s Creed line. /posts/die-trying-by-lee-child/ Tue, 10 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/die-trying-by-lee-child/ Rating: 2/5 Lee Child, Die Trying (New York: Berkeley Books, 1998). I give the first book of a series a lot of leeway, especially if it’s early in an author’s career. But I expect a lot more from the later books. Child disappointed me, I’m afraid. (I suspected as much after reading the cover and fly pages. The “advance praise” blurbs were contrived and non-committal.) He seemed to regress. Gone was the punchy writing style. /posts/manufacturing-consent-by-herman-and-chomsky/ Fri, 18 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/manufacturing-consent-by-herman-and-chomsky/ Rating: 2/5 Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (New York: Pantheon Books, 2002). Herman and Chomsky assert that the best way to understand modern mass media and how it operates is using a “propaganda model.” They introduce the model and then give a slew of case studies to support their view. Let’s start with the model itself. It’s not that they believe there’s some conspiracy or government department that forces certain stories to be treated in certain ways. /posts/player-of-games-by-iain-m-banks/ Sun, 25 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/player-of-games-by-iain-m-banks/ Rating: 2/5 Iain M. Banks, The Player of Games (London: Orbit, 1989). Being a gamer myself, I had high hopes for this book. I was a little disappointed. It was pretty good overall, but the specific game aspects were highly romanticized and frustratingly non-specific. I did find his views on randomness in games interesting. There wasn’t as much coarse language in this book as in the first, but the sexual innuendo was much stronger (bordering on explicit). /posts/neuromancer-by-william-gibson/ Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/neuromancer-by-william-gibson/ Rating: 2/5 William Gibson, Neuromancer (Ace, 1984). I’ve always been a fan of the “cyberpunk” mythos, but I have just never gotten around to reading the archetypal book that really started it all, Neuromancer. I finally did. It’s a pretty quick read (250ish pages in the Ace special edition). It’s written in a gritty, old-school detective type of style. The dialogue alternates back and forth at lightning speed and requires that you actually pay attention if you want to follow it all.