Twilight of Democracy

Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism by Anne Applebaum
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Quite disappointing but maybe, knowing A. Applebaum's personal connections in Poland, I expected too much.
The author laments changes in political climate, mainly in Poland and USA but pays very little effort to analyse whether and how it is connected to serious socioeconomic changes in these countries.


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Powrót do Edenu

Powrot do edenu by Agnieszka Burton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Bardzo dobrze napisana książka - wiele świetnie podanych informacji o Australii, i to również takich, które trudno znaleźć w powszechnie dostępnych źródłach, silne emocje międzyludzkie, atmosfera napięcia i niepewności.
Intuicja radziła mi dać tej książce minimum 4 gwiazdki - zimny umysł zredukował to do trzech.
Pozytywne argumenty podałem na wstępie.
A jakie były te negatywne?
Takie same...
Za dużo emocji - trudno mi znaleźć wytłumaczenie co tak łączyło Agnieszkę i Johna, że zdecydowała się przenieść z centrum Europy do chaty w gęstej puszczy i towarzystwa niezrównoważonych psychicznie osób.
Autorka jest zafascynowana Aborygeńską tradycją. Do tego wplata elementy hinduskiego i hippisowskiego mistycyzmu - trochę tego za dużo jak na mój logiczny umysł.


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Orbital

Orbital by Samantha Harvey
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I started reading this book with good hopes, first few chapters enforced them, I got some feeling how is life in a space capsule,importance of contacts with The Earth.
It is confirmed soon - the news comes that mother of a crew member, Chie, died.
My reflection is that the only place where a story may happen is Earth,
After reading few more chapters it is confirmed - there is no story in this book :(
On one hand it confirmed humankind connection to Earth, on the other... brought a question: am I interested in reading over and over the map of the word?
I jumped to the last two orbits - same as the first ones.
Thank you.

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Przyszłem

Przyszłem, czyli jak pisałem scenariusz o Lechu Wałęsie dla Andrzeja Wajdy by Janusz Głowacki
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Po lekturze innej książki J. Głowackiego - Z głowy - wiedziałem czego się spodziewać - książka pisana dla kasy czyli to i owo o wszystkim co może się wiązać z życiem L. Wałęsy w latach 1980-84.
Druga gwiazdka to za dobrą prezentację wielu prywatnych szczegółów natomiast w którymś momencie mocno znużyło mnie czytanie jak można by przedstawić ten czy tamten fakt w zupełnie inny sposób.

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Z głowy

Z głowy by Janusz Głowacki
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Bardzo dowcipna opowieść i za to ta druga gwiazdka, ale bardzo nie podobała mi atmosfera książki - fascynacja seksem i alkoholem.
Prócz tego odniosłem wrażenie, że autor odczuwa satysfakcję ze wspominania wielu znanych osób ze świata kultury i mieszania ich z tym bagnem.

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Wandering through Life

Wandering through Life: A Memoir by Donna Leon
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Very disappointing.
I gave it 2 stars only because I appreciated author's writing style and sense of humour.
As for contents - google search pointed to a review starting with "Delightfully approachable but disappointingly unrevealing".
That's right - waste of time.
There is only one topic which inspired me to some thoughts: work in American institutions in other countries - Iran, China, Saudi Arabia.
I worked 2 years in Middle East and met American professionals there. My impression was - arrogance and disregard for the job and surrounding environment.
Donna Leon confirms it 100%.

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Gemini

 Gemini -  yesterday Google notified me they can support me even better - new Assistant - Gemini - CLICK.

I am open to interesting suggestions, so I tried.
- Who won this year's Nobel Prize in Literature?
- Han Kang, South Korea.
- How many women have won the Nobel Prize in Literature?
- 18, in recent years they have won more often than men.

That's right.
On the sidelines I will mention that the Prize has been awarded 116 times, so it will take a long time for the gender balance to even out.

Then I asked if any books by this author are available in public libraries in Melbourne.
They are, I was given the appropriate links.

Seeing that my Twins know something I tried something that really interests me...
- Do you know anything about Joice Nankivell-Loch?
- I don't know, it may be private information that I don't have access to.

Transcript of the further conversation below...

I admit that my answer was brusque, but I think it was justified.

I was interested in the matter because an Australian woman with that name was decorated with the Polish highest distinction - Order of the White Eagle in 1923. The decoration was probably made by the Chief of State - Józef Piłsudski.

I know quite a bit about this lady, I bet that more than 99.9% of Australians.

Unfortunately, I did not do better on Polish soil.
Last year, on May 3, the 100th anniversary of this decoration struck, so I sent an email with this information to:
- President of Poland - A. Duda,
- The Polish consulate in Australia, 
- The Australian consulate in Poland.

In the email I suggested that it could be a nice element during diplomatic meetings.
The Polish Consulate in Australia responded nicely.
The other two recipients - not a word.

I don't have any major complaints - Joice Nankivell-Loch definitely didn't feel good in Australia, she chose to do charity work in other countries - Poland, Greece, Romania, British Mandate of Palestine. I'm not surprised that Australians don't know about her.
As for the President of the Republic of Poland, I got a warning that the Chancellery is not able to respond to all emails, so I they don't guarantee a response.

But Artificial Intelligence?

Just be aware!