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luch@books.solarpunk.moe

Joined 2 years ago

Another queer, neurodivergent, anarchist trans femme on the world wide web

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Tmnr: If I Could Reach You 7 (2022, Kodansha America, Incorporated) 4 stars

Uta, a teenage girl living with her older brother Reiichi and his wife Kaoru, experiences …

A Lot To Unpack

4 stars

Content warning Plenty of details on the series and its ending; lengthy discussion of romantic feelings a minor character has for an adult

Alexander Reid Ross: Against the Fascist Creep (Paperback, 2017, AK Press) 4 stars

[From the Back Cover]

As the election of Donald Trump shows, fascism in all its …

A Valuable Infodump

4 stars

This text leaves me with the distinct impression that it was written rapidly in the wake of the election of Trump—and that's not necessarily a bad thing. But it /is/ a /lot/ of information to take in: names, organizations, ideas, movements. If you're not familiar with many of these things in advance, it can be difficult to distinguish between the "blink and you'll miss them" fascist actors and movements, and the ones that have had a deep and lasting impact. Sincerely, it's something of a 300-page infodump.

That said, i still think it's very much a text worth reading. I didn't try especially hard to remember every last detail that i was reading; it was more an impressionistic read-through, but even this was really valuable to me. It makes a few things clear: fascists are /everywhere/, trying at all times to find entry points into other movements in order to …

David S. Dummit, Richard M. Foote: Abstract algebra (Hardcover, 2004, Wiley) No rating

Goodness, this is the big one.

I have a long and complicated relationship with Dummit & Foote. This is a text that one can get absolutely lost in, and i absolutely have. For example, i think that at one time i had solved (nearly?) all of the problems in Part I. It's full of excellent examples, it's full of wonderful exercises, and… honestly, one could probably spend the rest of one's life reading it if one wished.

That's both good and bad.

On the one hand, it's wonderful about taking its time, about being complete, thorough, approachable to students at just about any level of post-proofwriting-course experience (or maybe with an elementary number theory course under their belts). It's a text that really tries to bring everything it can to the student, and be a comprehensive guide. And… the student is well-rewarded for their efforts. This text has a lot …

Walter Rudin: Principles of mathematical analysis (1976, McGraw-Hill) No rating

One of the canonical undergraduate texts, this is my first time opening it, and… i must say, i'm impressed. I've read several undergraduate analysis texts, but this is probably the one i've enjoyed most. Of course, it may be that things look different because of the experience i already have, but, still, i think it's a wonderful read. The presentation is clear and efficient, and there are some stylistic choices that feel right to me. For example, Rudin's definition of the "upper limit" of a sequence (or its "lime superieur," or its "limsup") is in terms of the limit points of said sequence thought of as a set, rather than in terms of the limit of the sequence of suprema of tails of the sequence, which is the usual definition (and which i have /always/ found cumbersome to think about). This definition may be less efficient in terms of actually …

Klaus Jänich: Topology (1984, Springer-Verlag) No rating

From the Back Cover: "This is an intellectually stimulating, informal presentation of those parts of …

Thus far, i've found this an engaging read. The presentation of the material is lean, which has its advantages and disadvantages. I'm mostly reading this text as a review, so its complete lack of formal exercises and its brisk (but, crucially, complete) summary of undergraduate topology is perfect for me. But i think even the novice would find this an excellent companion to something like Munkres, the traditional introductory topology text. Indeed, this text presents a number of examples very clearly, with excellent diagrams and accompanying descriptions. Further, Jänich has a real talent for keeping the reader's eyes on the larger picture, on developing ideas and intuition, and not getting overly bogged down in technical details (which they trust the reader will be able to provide—these tend to serve as the text's exercises).

Perhaps the main thing to bear in mind while reading is that some portions of the text …

Bruce E. Levine: Profession Without Reason (2022, AK Press) No rating

There is today a crisis in psychiatry. Even the former director of the National Institute …

Another text I'm interested in reading because I'm not sure how it will resonate. I'm interested in reading a good-faith critique of contemporary psychological practice (i.e. one from, like, not Scientologists) for various reasons; but I'm also wary of the sub-title, which claims that it has a complete solution to the issues it raises—I worry this boldness (verging on arrogance) may be telling of some rot in the foundations of the work. We shall see…

wants to read Carceral Capitalism by Jackie Wang

Jackie Wang: Carceral Capitalism (2017, Semiotext(e)) No rating

In this collection of essays in Semiotext(e)’s Intervention series, Jackie Wang examines the contemporary incarceration …

I've been meaning to reread this for a few years now, as it had a dramatic impact on me when I first picked it up four or five years ago. I think it's well worth a read to anyone interested in the inescapable connection between racial hypercarcerality and hypercapitalism in the US. It's approachable for someone with little to no knowledge on the topic, but I think that even people who have some knowledge already will get something from this—even if it's just how well-expressed the ideas are.

reviewed Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami: Killing Commendatore (2019, Penguin Random House) 5 stars

From the Publisher:

When a thirty-something portrait painter is abandoned by his wife, he secludes …

Murakami Motifs Late in Life

4 stars

Content warning There are mild spoilers about topics and small pieces of content contained in the work; a mention of sexual assault; and something that feels dangerously close to sexualisation of a child's body

reviewed One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Casey McQuiston: One Last Stop (Paperback, 2021, St. Martin's Griffin) 5 stars

For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: …

Queer Feels, Liberal World

4 stars

This gave me some Big Feels.

It's been a few years since I was on a big trans lit kick (Nevada, He Mele A Hilo, The Masker, Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones, a few others I can't recall the exact titles for rn), and I think I forgot what it feels like to feel queer resonance with a work.

The romance here, the descriptions of emotions, touches and responses to touch, intimacy, sex… there were many moments that I read through a film of tears. It felt Good.

But as the book wore on, some of the cracks around the edges started to feel more Significant. In particular, the politics of this world rang hollow for me, to the point of taking away from the rest of the plot some. It is extremely painful for me to watch queerness become deradicalised and more domesticated—more acceptable to cishet, patriarchal, Liberal …

Casey McQuiston: One Last Stop (Paperback, 2021, St. Martin's Griffin) 5 stars

For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: …

Whew, got some mixed feels here. Some profoundly good ones, and some less great ones. I'll have to decide whether to do a spoiler-filled review or (more likely) a separate comment with fleshed-out, spoilery thoughts. Stay tuned.