Recent comments in /f/books

wjbc t1_j5vc5zr wrote

Reply to What fiction or non-fiction books made you question life, or took you multiple attempts to read? by [deleted]

Why the West Rules—For Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future, a history book by a British historian Ian Morris, published in 2010. It has nothing to do with psychopaths, but it changed my perspective on life, and it contained some dark thoughts. Essentially Morris examines the way civilizations rise and fall over history, and suggests that in the long run -- i.e., anything much longer than one powerful person's lifetime -- people have little control over history.

He also suggests that the next collapse of civilization will be global, because we are now a global civilization. He suggests several possibilities for and signs of that collapse, which has been long delayed through ever accelerating technological innovations since the Industrial Revolution. There's no guarantee that technological innovations can continue to accelerate fast enough to hold off collapse, and the longer the collapse is delayed the more devastating it is likely to be.

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InvisibleSpaceVamp t1_j5v9w24 wrote

Reply to Home office bookshelves on TV by Ohiobo6294-2

I have to say it always makes me suspicious when I see a set-up with bookshelves. It doesn't feel natural or practical to me to place a desk with a bookshelf directly behind you (but then again, I like to look at my books). And virtual backgrounds are a thing.

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minimalist_coach t1_j5v9j49 wrote

Reply to Home office bookshelves on TV by Ohiobo6294-2

Yes, they are often staged and in fact, some of them are virtual backgrounds. At minimum people arrange them artfully, but I've known many people who've purchased books to put in their background knowing that people will notice what's behind them.

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JoyfullyDepressive t1_j5v94n9 wrote

Reply to comment by Rick_101 in The People Who Don’t Read Books by scolfin

It’s not a matter of being verbose for the sake of it, it’s that some thing either cannot or should not be condensed. Reading the CliffsNotes is not the same as reading the novel. “A Brief History of Time” cannot be a six paragraph summarization and still make sense.

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llentiesambpernil t1_j5v8iqk wrote

Reply to Just finished The Silent Patient and have only one nagging question… *contains spoilers* by playboypink

good question but honestly i overlooked every loose end except the ones concerning the 2 main characters, because every other character was a red herring with no narrative value.

What bothered me the most about this book is how nonsensical Theo’s and Alicia’s actions are, especially after the big reveal. The plot twist did nothing for me except make me question their behavior, which in itself is a huge plot hole… Because if Theo is the one following Alicia all this time and he is the perpetrator from the night Gabriel died, then WHY THE HECK did he infiltrate her asylum and risk being outed by her?

WHY was he trying so hard to make her speak, knowing what she would say?!

The whole book is put into motion by Theo’s motivation to re-enter her life and make her talk, which makes no logical or literary sense. After he seemingly got away with it, why would he try putting himself in the spotlight again? And why didn’t Alicia tell anyone that it was him, why did she allow this psychopath to become her therapist?! And how could she possibly write all that down in her diary (moments before dying) and hide the diary in the painting? Why did she choose to expose him ONLY after she is dying, and not before he killed her and he got away with it again?

Honestly nothing makes any sense to me, this whole book is a big hole, so I wasn’t even surprised at the minor loose ends. Edit: i’m curious about your opinion or if you have any answers to this as it seems like you enjoyed the book!

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