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giopep's review
4.0
La storia dei giochi di ruolo digitali raccontata in maniera approfondita e minuziosa, parlando soprattutto dei giochi, analizzando a fondo tanto i capisaldi quanto le gemme nascoste. Si concentra per la maggior parte sulla scuola occidentale ma dedica un paio di capitoli anche al fenomeno orientale, offrendo approfondimenti e punti di vista sempre interessanti. Parla poco di sviluppatori o di aneddoti: l'obiettivo è quasi sempre puntato sui giochi, che vengono trattati dando loro un contesto storico, seguendo le evoluzioni e le ramificazioni del genere. Chiaramente il libro si ferma a ormai dieci anni fa e sarebbe interessante una nuova edizione che tratti meglio il decennio scorso e parli delle ultime uscite, della serie di The Witcher, delle novità in ambito JRPG e, soprattutto, della recente esplosione di RPG indie vecchio stile.
jnichollecarter's review
5.0
I absolutely loved this book! Can't wait to see if the film adaptation does the book justice. Really a quick easy read and this definitely makes me want to check out some non-fiction books on the train circuses from the beginning of the 20th century.
dar_muzz's review
3.0
The author writes:
I dream of a world guided by a lens of stories rooted in the revelations of science and framed with an Indigenous worldview - stories in which matter and spirit are both given voice.
mganska412's review
4.0
Eh.
It started out kind of amusing, but by the end it just sounded bitter and jaded and was pretty boring. It would have been a super fast read if I hadn't gotten so bored in the middle and quit reading it to read other (better) books instead.
It started out kind of amusing, but by the end it just sounded bitter and jaded and was pretty boring. It would have been a super fast read if I hadn't gotten so bored in the middle and quit reading it to read other (better) books instead.
cathasach's review
4.5
I feel like I was the last in my circle of friends to read this book and although I feel the hype was a little exaggerated, I still loved this book. The story is fun and I love Sara Gruen's descriptions of different events and happening; it really made me feel like I was there watching it all happen. Jacob is a wonderful character and I especially enjoyed his older/modern day parts of the story when he wasn't talking about his past in present tense. I never got bored with the book even though I got bored with some characters I would recommend this to any of my friends if they haven't read it. :)
I'm really looking forward to the movie out this April. :)
I'm really looking forward to the movie out this April. :)
colettieb's review
4.0
This book took me a long time to finish, but in the end I really enjoyed it! At first, I found the blend of spirituality, cultural history and scientific explanations a bit off-putting, perhaps because I'm used to reading scientific papers so critically. I'm not used to romanticizing nature like this (unless the whole book is lyrical nature descriptions. I guess I found the blend hard to get used to). I also found myself a bit defensive when reading her long negative sections about academia and the scientific perspective, in particular when she seemed to conflate science with both western capitalism and colonialism. Because isn't part of the point of her book that indigenous people have been *doing* science for thousands of years, and that science doesn't have to be competitive and destructive? Still, it's probably good that I've found a text that challenges me in this way. And anyway, it's a welcome change from the typical pop-science narrator voice (ie, the new atheist / Neil de Grasse Tyson / white man explaining the world with Facts and Logic narrator).
My favorite parts of the book were her stories about particular cultural practices where she explained both their spiritual significance and what makes them sustainable. I particularly love her stories about wild rice harvesting, when she explained how harvesting in the traditional way with sticks on canoes re-seeds the lake for the following year. There are plenty of other stories like that -- three sisters crop rotation, traditional sweetgrass harvesting, basket weaving. Those images will stay in my head for a long time, and I love that they emphasize how communal living and gift economies can be sustainable and plentiful for everyone.
In my least favorite chapter, she discusses how Americans are so absorbed with consumerism and disconnected from the sources of their food and material objects. She even says that too much blame is placed on the oil companies rather than on individuals who are ungrateful and disconnected from nature. Here, I completely disagree, and it's a point where an otherwise interesting and complex book falls back on liberal greenwashing, with admonitions to 'vote with your dollar' and 'consume ethically'. I think that moralizing about individual consumer choices rather than fighting the corporations that are cooking the planet and giving us these limited choices in the first place (while spending billions to advertise these non-sustainable choices to us) is a pretty big flaw in a book that is otherwise great. I respect her justified anger towards American power structures, but I'm less sympathetic for the contempt she seems to hold for the people around her (for example, at the mall in upstate New York).
I'm still puzzling out what I should take from this book and incorporate into my life as a white scientist who studies plants. Certainly, I want to read more books about indigenous communities and sustainability. I definitely need to think more about how I can help combat settler colonialism when I teach Rocky Mountain Flora next spring. Clearly I have a lot of thoughts about this book and am still puzzling through them.
My favorite parts of the book were her stories about particular cultural practices where she explained both their spiritual significance and what makes them sustainable. I particularly love her stories about wild rice harvesting, when she explained how harvesting in the traditional way with sticks on canoes re-seeds the lake for the following year. There are plenty of other stories like that -- three sisters crop rotation, traditional sweetgrass harvesting, basket weaving. Those images will stay in my head for a long time, and I love that they emphasize how communal living and gift economies can be sustainable and plentiful for everyone.
In my least favorite chapter, she discusses how Americans are so absorbed with consumerism and disconnected from the sources of their food and material objects. She even says that too much blame is placed on the oil companies rather than on individuals who are ungrateful and disconnected from nature. Here, I completely disagree, and it's a point where an otherwise interesting and complex book falls back on liberal greenwashing, with admonitions to 'vote with your dollar' and 'consume ethically'. I think that moralizing about individual consumer choices rather than fighting the corporations that are cooking the planet and giving us these limited choices in the first place (while spending billions to advertise these non-sustainable choices to us) is a pretty big flaw in a book that is otherwise great. I respect her justified anger towards American power structures, but I'm less sympathetic for the contempt she seems to hold for the people around her (for example, at the mall in upstate New York).
I'm still puzzling out what I should take from this book and incorporate into my life as a white scientist who studies plants. Certainly, I want to read more books about indigenous communities and sustainability. I definitely need to think more about how I can help combat settler colonialism when I teach Rocky Mountain Flora next spring. Clearly I have a lot of thoughts about this book and am still puzzling through them.
lola425's review
4.0
A good, if uncomfortable read. Thought the ending was a bit abrupt, but felt that Esther was a wonderful character and the story makes you think about what it feels like to age, when you are still yourself and yet not quite who you used to be.
mrjonathan's review
4.0
I loved the precision with which Jackson handled the shifting perspectives, and as always, I think she's a master with words. However, I found this book a bit dull, and the ending underwhelmed me. This one was just ok, and I hate that, because Jackson is my favorite.