Tag: non-fiction

Darren Todd “Pirate Nation”

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This book isn’t entirely about digital piracy. It delves into many aspects of copyright law as a whole, as well as its application in the modern world. So-called “digital piracy” is just one facet of the topic. The author attempts to look at the issues from various perspectives, though it’s clear that they have less affection for copyright lobbyists, as they highlight how outdated this law has become and how it largely benefits corporations more than creators and authors themselves.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking to deepen their understanding of what lies behind modern concepts in this field—how much “pirates” are truly pirates, what drives both sides, etc. This knowledge will help you better adapt to the evolving world instead of holding onto outdated notions.

My rating: 4/5

Lawrence Durrell “Bitter Lemons of Cyprus”

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You can’t always trust book blurbs. The book is essentially the author’s account of a couple of years spent in Cyprus in 1953-54. These were likely the last years when the island could still be called both unified and peaceful. At first, you can clearly sense the author’s condescending attitude toward the locals, even though he calls them his friends. Gradually, this tone fades, giving way to reflections on the difficult political situation on the island, which led to tragic and bloody consequences. Had the British made the right and, most importantly, timely decisions back then, we might not have had the bloody history and forty years of division and intercommunal hatred that still exist on the island today. Sadly, history doesn’t deal with hypotheticals.

As for the writing itself, the book is uneven, sometimes slipping into dull recollections of meetings with friends whose names mean nothing to most readers, then shifting to colorful descriptions of the local lifestyle or detailed analyses of the events of those years.