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| Virginia's Northern Neck |
Dear Booklcub,
Driving with the upmost care while listening to Bruce Holsinger's "Culpability", the concept of cars unexpectedly crossing lanes or the median kept me on alert. With or without technology, a fragile combination of seemingly random events can shape existence. Throw in the distraction of a phone mounted before me, the story being read to me or my wandering mind- it's a miracle the day is survived and the destination arrived.
Surviving and arriving at Kate's was excellent! Move over thoughts about unpredictability, fault, responsibility, blame, chat bots and AI - Kate indulged us with a wholesome supper to take away anxiety.
Holsinger's tale shook out the obvious conversations he slung at bookclub readers. We enjoyed the game yet felt a bit played as he included predictable twists, page-turning distractions and yet left us head-scratching over plot gaps. We had trouble grasping the opening accident scenario; I, for one, thought it would be clearly described later in the book, but it was not. Holsinger succeeded in his quest to entertain and provoke. Kate, thankfully, provided bookclub questions to keep us on track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WxdNMusE5Q
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Bruce's alter ego is scholarly. His 2023 Yale University Press "On Parchment": Animals, Archive, and the Making of Culture form Herodotus to the Digital Age" publication, presents the Linden Kent Memorial Professor at the University of Virginia in a different light: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300260212/on-parchment/
Please enjoy his 2014 piece on writers of historical fiction in "Humanities", The Magazine for the National Endowment for the Humanities. (—Detail from a portrait of Anne Boleyn (1504–36) c. 1533 (oil on canvas), English School, (16th century) / Loseley Park, Guildford, Surrey, UK / Photo © Mark Fiennes / Bridgeman Images) Note the play between plausibility and invention while reflecting on our own experience while reading our recent selection!
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| Deborah McNamara |
Finally, I wonder, what is your p(doom)? A term Holsinger refers to in his Oprah discussion, p(doom) is the probability of existentially catastrophic outcomes as a result of artificial intelligence. From the ABC (Australian) website is a great article (artwork above), "AI's Dark In-joke": https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-15/whats-your-pdoom-ai-researchers-worry-catastrophe/102591340 . If your head is not spinning or your heart sinking, please check out the chart of notable p(doom) values on this Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P(doom)
Kate's suggestions for an upcoming read:
"The Briar Club" Kate Quinn *chosen
"My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry" Fredrick Bachman
"All the Broken Places" John Boyne
Up next:
Happy reading,
LK
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