Walter Isaacson, The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race

Has to be the laziest writing this side of typing, but not going to disrespect the sheer volume of interesting information about the development and applications of CRISPR. I have little idea about the science, and know enough to see that metaphors (“a cutting frenzy”) are probably not at all apt, but still, you get the idea. He introduces a whole cast of characters, and gives up short profiles. A long book though… frequently repetitive. I was glad that he dropped the “curiosity about the hilahila” bit, which after the third time was becoming labored? The casual stereotyping is also out of hand. Why does he feel the need to ascribe personality traits to a cultural group? He never met a shy, introspective, self-effacing American? Probably there are shorter versions of this book that do a better job? For all his access, the biography is fairly superficial. And the discussions of ethics! Oh my goodness! If someone took a class on ethics in college they are somehow ready for the discussion? At least have the courage to recognize they all seem to be amateurs, because nothing suggests they devote anything more than a few minutes a day to causal introspection.

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The Corner that Held Them, by Sylvia Townsend Warner

The Corner that Held Them, by Sylvia Townsend Warner, traces 50 years of a small Benedictine convent in England during the time of the Black Death (1349-82), through the acts and thoughts of many of the nuns (and the men, bishop, priest, and bailiff). Much is petty, and there is no discernible major story arc (through perhaps it all leads to the damaged Dame Sibella’s ambiguous act of self-liberation). The accumulation of lives, spent together, knowing one was staying together until death, is striking for the reader. And as is well-known, Warner is a master writer. I opened the novel randomly to this sentence: “Yet the afternoon was not entirely unpleasant, for his seat by the window was cushioned and he could look out and see the dragon-flies darting over the moat, or the aspen quiver of the reflected sunlight on the mossed wall, or a water-rat swimming across and dragging its wheat-ear pattern of ripples after it.” The benefit of my age is I used to collect wheat pennies (before the Lincoln Memorial was on the back), so I know exactly what a wheat-ear pattern is! One of the very best scenes in the book belongs to a man… he discovers the ars nova in a leper colony.

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Flux, by Jinwoo Chong

A very messy, moody “mind-bendy” intersecting story. Maybe modeled on Michael Cunningham’s styles and themes? I slogged (sorry) through to almost the end and then just skimmed. I suppose there is an audience for this, but it was not me. I enjoyed the idea of the B-grade TV show Raider being a touchstone for a person, in terms of first exposure and referent for certain emotions. We were just watching Pitch Perfect last night and the writers clunkily have Kendrick watching The Breakfast Club with tears in her eyes. So a reasonable device. But the noirish “I don’t know how I got here and cannot remember yet something is wrong with reality” approach repeated over and over for a couple hundred pages got tiresome for me. The Lev character was poorly sketched, in my opinion. If he is going to be so central, he had to be more compelling. Many other characters, (Min, Jem) also seemed to merely serve as foils to construct the plot.

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V.V. Ganeshananthan’s novel “Brotherless Night”

My sister recommended V.V. Ganeshananthan’s novel “Brotherless Night.” It is a very straightforward “historical fiction” account of a young woman’s experiences during the Tamil Tiger civil war against the Sinhalese government of Sri Lanka. The reader learns a bit of history. I wouldn’t say it is a highly literary novel; the prose is straightforward. The characters remain fairly static. The mysterious K. and T. after a decade of experiences in war seem hardly changed. The young woman protagonist Sashi similarly has no epiphany or like. If the intent is to present the matter-of-factness of actions in a slow war like the Sri Lanka civil war, then it does that admirably. if the intent was to present “a private affair” then I would take Beppe Fenoglio.

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Making New People: Politics, Cinema, and Liberation in Burkina Faso, 1983-1987, by James E. Genova

I reviewed this for the International Journal of African Historical Studies. When the review becomes available I will post a link. Very much enjoyed reading it. Nicely written. Covers a lot of ground, focusing on the four years of Sankara’s regime.

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The Awakening, by Kate Chopin

We read and discussed for my neighborhood book club. Highly recommend. Looking forward some day to being in the Gulf of Mexico, walking along a beach, drinking some coffee, walking streets of New Orleans, and having my digital voice assistant prompt me with references to Kate Chopin and the novel. It won’t “grab” the modern reader the way it must have in 1899, but it is very evocative and remains an early example of interiority 100 years after Jane Austen… Anticipating Virginia Woolf and James Joyce.

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Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson

I tried. I really did. and I wanted to like it. I really did. And maybe I thought I learn something; more dubious about that, but still a possibility. Failed. Total. The writing is godawful. Robinson’s intent is in the right place. The absolute right place. But intent matters for little when the reader is slogging, skimming, skipping by reading the first line of a section and jumping to the next. That is not a good sign. Eventually I could not take it. Robinson tries for the grab bag in terms of mishmash of characters, mishmash of styles, and like chatgpt a mishmash of truthiness… The initial heatwave apparently is the only memorable narrative element of the novel, since most reviewers refer to that, and at least in the next two-thirds I would agree. But I stopped. Sorry.

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When people like Newton Ahmed Barry are threatened and persecuted, #Burkina may win a battle but will lose a war

The long-term isn’;’t looking good, regardless of what happens with the war against the djihadists. The story is here:

Newton Ahmed Barry s’est montré, ces derniers mois, très critique vis-à-vis de la Transition. Il est taxé, par les « partisans » du pouvoir, de « journaliste impérialiste » servant les intérêts de la France. Ce pays avec qui, les relations se sont considérablement dégradées (dénonciations d’accord, rappel de l’ambassadeur Hallade). Plusieurs fois ces personnes se réclamant soutiens du régime, ont proféré des menaces allant jusqu’à demander la mort du journaliste. Le journaliste qui fait de fréquents séjours à l’étranger pour ses consultations est récemment rentré au Burkina. Depuis, il s’inquiète pour sa sécurité.

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Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan

Tremendous short highly literary fiction. Loved it, perhaps because it is short. But so rich. I definitely could spend hours reading literary scholars about what Keegan does and how she does it. Filled with allusions, it seems, to mythology and Joyce… What could be more moody than the snow falling, on the living and the dead. Here is a relevant review by Mark Phillips.

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The Closers, by Michael Connelly

Page turner police procedural. First one I read about the L.A. detective Harry Bosch. I’ll take Chandler, Chester Hines, or George Higgins I think. Serviceable, but I found the prose super-clunky and the characterization wooden. I can see the appeal. At the end I turned the pages so fast because I couldn’t wait to get out of the book, not because I was appreciating it.

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Fabrication des colliers à la bibliothèque de Koho #Burkina

Dans le cadre de ses activités d’animations dans les bibliothèques, l’animateur de l’ABVBF Boué Alidou a reçu le 11 mars 2023, 07 élèves du primaire pour une séance d’apprentissage de fabrication des colliers en papier. C’est une activité qui se fait avec les feuilles des journaux et de la colle liquide. Après avoir donné les différentes explications, j’ai annoncé le premier pas sous le regard des participants en fabricant deux colliers. Il faut noter que c’est avec joie que les participants ont chacun fabriqué son collier. Ils sont partis avec leurs colliers tout en espérant partager leur création avec des amis et des frères.

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Séance de dessin à la bibliothèque de Dohoun #Burkina

Lors de sa visite à la bibliothèque de Dohoun, le jeudi 02 mars 2023, l’animateur de ABVBF, Alidou BOUÉ, a organisé une séance de dessin au profit de plusieurs enfants. Pour la réalisation de cette tâche, il a été aidé par le gérant de la bibliothèque, Kahoun Sibiri. Avant de débuter, ils se sont entretenus avec les enfants pour savoir ce que chacun allait dessiner. À l’issue de l’entretien, le choix des enfants s’est porté sur un canari. Pour ce faire, l’animateur leur a d’abord donné des explications sur ce que c’est qu’un potier et comment il procède pour fabriquer des canaris. Par la suite, il a posé des questions aux enfants sur les explications qu’il leur avait données. C’est après avoir bien répondu aux questions posées que les enfants ont commencé à dessiner le canari. À la fin de la séance, chacun a pu réaliser son dessin avec l’aide de l’animateur et du gérant. La joie se lisait sur les visages des participants.

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Séance d’activités à la bibliothèque de Humanitas

Dans le souci de promouvoir l’éducation en motivant les collectivités à davantage fréquenter la bibliothèque, le gérant de la bibliothèque de Humanitas s’évertue à organiser des activités au bénéfice des usagers. Ainsi, au cours du mois de mars, il a réalisé deux activités. D’abord, le 07 mars, une séance de lecture libre a eu lieu en faveur de cinq élèves composés de trois filles et de deux garçons, tous du primaire. Avant de débuter, le gérant a permis à chaque enfant de choisir son livre. Au regard de leur âge et de leur niveau scolaire, ils ont préféré les Bandes Dessinées. Au cours de la lecture, le gérant a remarqué des difficultés chez certains enfants. C’est ainsi qu’il a décidé de lire le livre Le 20ème de cavalerie avec eux. L’objectif a été de renforcer la capacité des enfants dans la lecture des Bandes Dessinées. Par la suite, le 10 mars, quatre élèves ont bénéficié d’une séance de dessin. En effet, chaque enfant a eu le privilège de choisir le dessin qu’il voulait réaliser. Cependant, il leur était interdit de dessiner des armes à feu, des armes blanches et les personnes nues. À travers ces deux activités, les participants ont beaucoup appris et ils ont été sainement occupés.

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Production de livres du au Centre Multimédia de Houndé (CMH) #Burkina

La production de livres au Centre Multimédia de Houndé (CMH) a repris son cours. En effet, à ce jour, c’est huit cents (800) copies de quatre (4) nouveaux titres qui ont été imprimées, à raison de deux cents (200) copies par livres. Cette phase d’impression est l’aboutissement d’une longue période de traitement desdits livres par l’équipe de l’association Amis des Bibliothèques de Villages du Burkina Faso (ABVBF) appuyée par le directeur de Friends of African Village Libraries (FAVL) afin d’améliorer leur qualité. Le traitement a consisté à lire à maintes reprises les livres, à relever les fautes et à les corriger, à s’assurer une bonne mise en forme des textes et des dessins d’illustration. Ce sont donc des livres de qualité qui seront bientôt mis à la disposition des lecteurs, pour leur bonheur. Pour rappel, les livres produits au CMH sont des livres écrits par de jeunes scolaires du premier et second cycle et qui traitent de réalités locales.

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Eleven+1 really good sci-fi or fantasy novels for spring break and summer reading

Since I just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Memory (and will add Children of Time, but not Children of Ruin), I was thinking about what other sci-fi – fantasy novels I have enjoyed reading so much that I can see myself looking forward to reading again in 5 years (say)…. Here are the other 11, in no particular order:

*Bloodchild by Octavia Butler
*The Hainish novellas and stories, by Ursula Le Guin
*Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie
*The Raven Tower, by Ann Leckie
*A Deepness in the Sky, by Vernor Vinge
*The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss
*Station Eleven, by Emily St. James Mandel
*Eifelheim, by Michael Flynn
*Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke
*The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks
*China Mountain Zhang by Maureen McHugh

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Children of Memory, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Gripping for the first 7/8, especially if you are familiar with the earlier novels of the trilogy. Tchaikovsky manages to join, in one novel, the space opera genre (new planets, new technologies, faster than light travel!), with the Ursula Le Guin careful anthropological detail about a small community, and a reader favorite, the looped story with slight variations generating the feeling in the characters and reader at the same time that “something is not right.” The corvids are a great innovation. The aliens are right here, if we take the proper time perspective and have a rich enough imagination (echos of Ted Chiang’s parrot short story?). But that last 1/8 was a hot mess in my opinion… maybe really careful reading would uncover what Tchaikovsky was doing, but I just found it poorly edited.

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My review of The Deep Blue Between, by Ayesha Harruna Attah, available on African Access


A well-written and interesting historical young adult novel about two survivors of slavery in early 1900s West Africa and Brazil.

Here is the link:

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Aurora, by Kim Stanley Robinson

The first half was excellent. Just the kind of involved, detailed, ordinary life scifi, about a sub-light-speed travel to colonize a world far away. But the second half spiraled out, for me… and so I skimmed it. And a very clunky ending.

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Mickey7, by Edward Ashton

Enjoyable action sci-fi about colonists on a new world. Sort of like the Murderbot series. I tend to prefer more literary and involved reading, but sometimes a light touch is enjoyable.

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Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, by David Grann

A student passed this book on to me. Incredible story about the Osage murders of the 1920s, and the involvement of the nascent FBI. Early staff of FBI solved the case, but left many stones unturned. The facts of the story tell an unrelentingly grim history of how settlers, often in collusion with local officials and law-enforcement and judges, used violence and corruption to leave a trail of tears. Reading this 100 years after the events should still fill every American with shame. Libertarian types especially should be confronted, over and over, with this historical record. Their naive self-serving “clean slate” rhetoric is maddening.

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