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After about thirteen years I decided to give this a reread and realized I did forget a lot of it. It took longer to read due to the parallels between the state of the world and it's themes. I kept having to put it down for a few days. Most of the book is a simple read with only the last third becoming emotionally more difficult.
It's a disheartening book but I think it's something people should read regardless, at least once.
Thanks for reading!
https://lostartpress.com/products/the-anarchists-workbench?_pos=7&_sid=de4e398f0&_ss=r
Just sharing a link to the webpage that offers a free ebook. I thought it was important for people to know the origin of this book instead of simply linking to the download itself. This book will walk you through the steps of creating your own workbench that is primarily focused on woodworking. Hope it inspires someone to give it a try. Enjoy!
"“The Anarchist’s Workbench” is – on the one hand – a detailed plan for a simple workbench that can be built using construction lumber and basic woodworking tools. But it’s also the story of Christopher Schwarz’s 20-year journey researching, building and refining historical workbenches until there was nothing left to improve."
"Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil" examines the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi bureaucrat instrumental in organizing the Holocaust. Eichmann was captured by Israeli agents in Argentina in 1960 and tried in Jerusalem for crimes against humanity. Hannah Arendt controversially described Eichmann as "terrifyingly normal," emphasizing his thoughtlessness and blind obedience to orders rather than inherent sadism or hatred. He executed his role as a logistical organizer of mass deportations and killings with bureaucratic efficiency, seeing himself as a law-abiding citizen fulfilling his duties.
Arendt coined the term "banality of evil" to highlight how ordinary individuals, through moral disengagement and adherence to authority, can commit horrific acts. She criticized the trial for its theatrical nature and questioned Israel's jurisdiction, arguing it was more about Jewish suffering than Eichmann’s crimes. Her work sparked debates on morality, justice, and the nature of evil, challenging traditional views on Nazi perpetrators.
"Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil" examines the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi bureaucrat instrumental in organizing the Holocaust. Eichmann was captured by Israeli agents in Argentina in 1960 and tried in Jerusalem for crimes against humanity. Hannah Arendt controversially described Eichmann as "terrifyingly normal," emphasizing his thoughtlessness and blind obedience to orders rather than inherent sadism or hatred. He executed his role as a logistical organizer of mass deportations and killings with bureaucratic efficiency, seeing himself as a law-abiding citizen fulfilling his duties.
Arendt coined the term "banality of evil" to highlight how ordinary individuals, through moral disengagement and adherence to authority, can commit horrific acts. She criticized the trial for its theatrical nature and questioned Israel's jurisdiction, arguing it was more about Jewish suffering than Eichmann’s crimes. Her work sparked debates on morality, justice, and the nature of evil, challenging traditional views on Nazi perpetrators.
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/edgar-rice-burroughs/beyond-thirty
Just sharing an ebook that's free to download and own. Check your local public domain laws to verify. Enjoy!
"Lieutenant Jefferson Turck is a naval officer from Pan-America, the unified supercontinent and dominant world power of the 22nd Century. Though he is only twenty-one, he is greatly respected by the crew of the aero-submarine Coldwater."
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/edgar-allan-poe/poetry
This is a collection of poetry that is free to download and own. Check your local public domain laws to verify. Enjoy!
"Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most celebrated of American poets. His early work is firmly rooted in the Romanticist tradition, but he quickly found fertile ground in Gothic horror, leading to such renowned poems as “The Raven,” “Lenore,” “Tamerlane,” “The Bells,” “Annabel Lee,” “Eulalie,” and many more."
"Collected here is all of Poe’s completed poetry in the public domain, in chronological order of writing. Where poems were originally collected into a single volume and individual writing dates are not available, volume ordering has been preserved."
Jim Kay dropped out as the illustrator in 2021 after doing the first five books in the series and we've kind of been in a holding pattern ever since.
Levi Pinfold was just announced for the final 2 books.
Sample of his art here:
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/h-g-wells/the-time-machine
Here is some classic science fiction. Again, this version is in the public domain and free to download and own. Check your local laws to verify. Enjoy!
"The Time Machine is the novel that gave us the concept of—and even the word for—a “time machine.” While it’s not Wells’ first story involving time travel, it is the one that most fully fleshes out the concept of a device that can send a person backwards and forwards in time with complete precision. Time machines have since become a staple of the science fiction and fantasy genres, making The Time Machine one of the most deeply influential science fiction novels of the era."
Harry Frankfurt’s “On Bullshit” is a philosophical exploration of the nature and societal impact of “bullshit.” Frankfurt defines bullshit as speech or communication that is indifferent to the truth, distinguishing it from lying. While liars deliberately distort the truth, bullshitters disregard it entirely, focusing instead on personal goals or persuasion without concern for accuracy.
Frankfurt argues that this indifference to truth makes bullshit more dangerous than lies because it undermines the value of truth itself. He attributes the rise of bullshit to societal pressures to express opinions on topics regardless of expertise, often prioritizing appearance over substance. This growing disregard for truth, he warns, poses a significant threat to society’s ability to discern reality.
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/leo-tolstoy/war-and-peace/louise-maude_aylmer-maude
Just sharing another book. Enjoy!
"Against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, five aristocratic families in Russia are transformed by the vagaries of life, by war, and by the intersection of their lives with each other. Hundreds of characters populate War and Peace, many of them historical persons, including Napoleon and Tsar Alexander I, and all of them come to life under Tolstoy’s deft hand."
https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/jack-london/the-call-of-the-wild
I'm sharing an ebook that is in the public domain. This particular ebook is free to download and own. There are multiple formats available. Enjoy.
"Jack London spent nearly a year in Alaska and the Klondike, mining for gold and braving the Alaskan winter. There he was inspired to write what would become The Call of the Wild, one of his most famous novels. The Call of the Wild tells the tale of a domesticated dog stolen from his California family and sold to sledders in Alaska. As he adapts to the harsh and wild environment, he slowly sheds domestication and returns to his primal roots"
"Standard Ebooks is a volunteer-driven effort to produce a collection of high quality, carefully formatted, accessible, open source, and free public domain ebooks that meet or exceed the quality of commercially produced ebooks. The text and cover art in our ebooks are already believed to be in the U.S. public domain, and Standard Ebooks dedicates its own work to the public domain, thus releasing the entirety of each ebook file into the public domain. All the ebooks we produce are distributed free of cost and free of U.S. copyright restrictions."
cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/56619187
More than meets the eye, again and again.
At first, things seem quiet and unremarkable. A cliché premise, cliché developments, cliché characters... Actually, things didn't seem quiet and unremarkable at all; Re:Zero seemed boring and uninteresting. More of that ever-pouring slop Japanese webnovels insist on becoming, more of that persistent stench of mediocrity and the unbridled numbness of barren creativity.
Re:Zero is just more of the same old, same old.
At first...
But, at first, even the normal is strange. Even as we're born, we cry. We're confused, lost, terrified as the world that we now take for granted assaults our senses and wrecks our mind and body alike. Voices endless, smells, feelings, all of it is so much---too much! What makes life beautiful aren't the large pieces that we all have in common, but the small distinctions that make us unique. One would assume death is the same, of course.
All one can do is assume death is the same. That is, of course, except for Natsuki Subaru.
Re:Zero throws us into the typical isekai fantasy world---it even tricks us for a bit!---but pretty soon we understand that that's not the case at all. Natsuki Subaru doesn't die. Or rather, he dies and is then reborn. He gets to try again. That's what Re:Zero is about.
What if you could try again? What if your biggest failures were erased and you had a do-over?
As a premise, this is brilliant. It's not the first time I've read a time-travel story with a somewhat similar outline---shout-out to Mother of Learning---but Re:Zero is unique enough from within what I've read to trigger that novelty factor.
The cast is extensive and varied, including several of the traditional isekai tropes while continuously subverting them in some of the most creative ways possible. Even Subaru himself, the MC, is a subversion of the typical isekai MC. He reminds me of Kazuma from KonoSuba, actually, at first.
That's always the point, isn't it? At first, at first, at first... There's always more than meets the eye.
If that was all that Re:Zero was, it would be enough to make for a good story. However, Subaru is faced with the flip-side of his condition: he loses all the good parts too. The pain, the suffering, the despair that dripped from the pages when he loses everything was at times so overwhelming I actually had to take a breather. It's like the Witch's miasma bled through the screen and seeped into my eyes---that's the only reason I cried, of course...
What if you had to choose? What if you could try again, but even then you failed?
The ever-growing pressure of his mistakes digs into your heart and crushes your very soul, I'm telling you. Seeing him come to terms with how much he's lost and watching him gather the courage to keep going... It's beyond fantastic.
My biggest gripes with the novel are the following:
- The translation is mediocre and littered with errors;
- Subaru does too much talk no jutsu.
Still, it's not a big deal. I'm used to reading webnovels, so reading a poor translation isn't a significant problem; I just expected more. Subaru's incessant yapping can get frustrating at times, but I can rationalize it by saying that, well, if he dies, he can just try something else. When it works, it's hard to say that that wasn't the best option so... I can't really complain... I just don't like it that much. Let it be known, though, Re:Zero isn't just Subaru's yapsesh; he very much works! He tries, and fails, and tries, and fails, and he tries again. He tries everything he can think of. What I love most, perhaps, is that he doesn't get random power-ups like you see in other series. He gets stronger by failing and learning. He improves slowly by trial and error. It's really satisfying to see him figure things out!
The world is getting more and more complex by the volume, by the chapter, by the page really. By Volume 15, it felt like the world had grown ten-fold, both geographically and lore-wise. It's so complex and enticing with so many mysteries to dive into. I can't wait to learn more.
I mentioned the extensive cast already, but there's really no reason not to bring it up again. There isn't a single character I dislike in this whole thing. There are characters that are very much despicable, yes, but there aren't any of those cliché "bad because they're bad" or "good no matter what" characters. Every character is either extremely complex, with believable and deeply emotional motivations, or simply not developed enough to tell just yet. After all, there's so many characters but only so many pages to talk about them. I don't think that's to the detriment of the narrative in the slightest, though.
Really, the only character I actually have sincere gripes with is Subaru himself! Specifically in regards to his choice of heroine. He's wrong, and I'll stand by that. He's the only character in the whole series whose motivation I question. You'd think this would be a big deal, but it really isn't. He's an idiot, an irredeemable moron. That's what makes his story so compelling: we get to see an irredeemable moron turn into a somewhat redeemable moron, little by little, life by life, death by death.
Is this the greatest masterpiece of the 21st century? The century isn't over just yet, but it's in the running; I'll tell you that much.
What do you think?
Rating: 5/5
Read on Witch Cult Translations!
Disclaimer: I read the Light Novel version of Re:Zero, not the WCT webnovel translation.
