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Tag: Iain M. Banks

The Book Nobody Can Recommend

August 29, 2026August 20, 2026 ~ cafebedouin ~ Leave a comment

A critic can recommend a book that changed him. What he cannot do is recommend, at scale and in advance, the book that would change him next — because what a critic sells is continuity of criteria, and that book's whole function is to break them. This isn't a complaint about any particular paper. It's … Continue reading The Book Nobody Can Recommend

Agree to Disagree or Fight

October 29, 2019October 29, 2019 ~ cafebedouin ~ 8 Comments

"'I don't believe in argument," he said......'You don't?' Erens said, genuinely surprised. 'Shit, and I thought I was the cynical one."'It's not cynicism,' he said flatly. 'I just think people overvalue argument because they like to hear themselves talk.''Oh well, thank you.''It's comforting, I suppose.' ... 'Most people are not prepared to have their minds … Continue reading Agree to Disagree or Fight

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