Category: Reviews

Reviews: Anne Applebaum on Eastern Europe

Post author By jon
Post date August 7, 2020

Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe (2012) and Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe (1994) by Anne Applebaum

Anne Applebaum’s recent book is so good, I’ve been working my way through her back catalogue.

Two books about the “borderlands” of Europe – Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Hungary, Belarus and Moldova – their crushing and Sovietization following 1944, and subsequent re-emergence in the 90s are excellent if you have an interest the region, its history, and the recent destablilisation.

Pure joy, and the best non-fiction book I’ve read this year

Books Politics Reviews

Review: Twilight of Democracy

Post author By jon
Post date August 7, 2020

The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends by Anne Applebaum (2020)

So I’ve been on a massive Anne Applebaum kick for the last couple of weeks. A very long time ago I’d read her history of the Gulag, an extremely jolly read, and subsequently forgot about her.

The best political, and one of the best nonfiction books, of the year. This is a million miles away from the often tiresome hot takes of the internet punditry.

Books Lit Crit Nabokov Nonfiction Reviews The Feud

Review: The Feud

Post author By jon
Post date January 7, 2020

Vladimir Nabokov, Edmund Wilson and the end of a beautiful friendship by Alex Beam

An amusing, light-footed but increasingly partial and even sloppy account of the infamous disintegration of a long-standing literary friendship.

What’s important in a friendship? Does loyalty and tolerance in disagreement come first – or does principal, character and rapport count for more? For a quarter of a century, Vladimir Nabokov – already a well-respected Russian author in the European emigration, but virtually unknown in his adopted American home; and Edmund Wilson, the pre-eminent critic of his day, were vital friends.

Books Nonfiction Reviews

Freud: The Making of an Illusion

Post author By jon
Post date February 7, 2019

by Frederick Crews (2017)

This is a comprehensive and illuminating independent history of the early days of Sigmund Freud, from his early neurological work, his fixation on cocaine and the nose as the source of all neurosis, to his development of the ideas of libido and repressed sexuality. A weighty and extremely thorough book, it is nonetheless very entertaining in parts, particularly in the cocaine sections.

A weighty and extremely thorough book, it is nonetheless very entertaining in parts, particularly in the cocaine sections.

Arcana Backgammon Books Reviews

Review: Backgammon Magic

Post author By jon
Post date April 15, 2018

20 Lessons for the Developing Player by John Novak & Radek Dobias (2013)

Backgammon Magic is a slight book of 20 “lessons” – interesting positions with analysis – and a potentially interesting idea, which is that neural-net analysis renders many classic backgammon “rules” incorrect. There is a lot of emphasis on play against AI (and some dismissal of the advice and rules of thumb of backgammon greats), and all the problems purely concern checker play.

Interesting idea but major flaw in analysis

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