Gnomon: A novel | 
pickYeah. YEAH! I just love the way Harkaway writes. I hope nobody ever asks me to explain this book fully, but I'd go for 'sci-fi mystery with fantastical elements.' While the Matrix feels like an obvious reference point, I'd add Inception and Sucker Punch to the film comps. 1/?
"-a most diverting action of itself..." the demon in the peacock feather coat is hitting on the Ancient Greek alchemist. I love it here. ?
An amusing spin on the whole birds are raptors descended from dinosaurs thing. ☺️
Congratulations on selecting two of the least reassuring references in literature. 🫣
Given my 'hit and miss' experience of poetry, this analogy really resonates. 🎯
Dammit Harkaway. After 38 years, I am fully aware of my notebook abandoning tendencies and how slow and handcramping I find writing in comparison to the speed of type and how that is reflected in my dreadful handwriting and you're STILL making me want to write on physical paper with a nice pen! 🤦🏼♂️
Algorithms and art...for a book published in 2017, this is feeling very topical for current day! 🫤
Grandfather defeating the power of nightmares with art. 🥹💚
I love everything about this take down of fascism: "a bully's faith", "it is beneath you", that if the character applied his usual analysis it wouldn't stand up to scrutiny, that his dead wife would rather he have a shallow affair with a younger woman than succumb to the conspiracies surrounding this spurious ideology. ??
On the bus, on weekend errands, I recognize the feeling.
Uhhh, that symbol is called a fasces, and guess what violent, prejudiced, often dictatorial political ideology it gave its name to?
Yeah, this is not a good sign. 🫣
TLDR = TL;DR = Too Long; Didn't Read - As the name of an archive? LOVE IT.
“The corollary is that a book is not finished until it is read. The writing is not complete until what is said has passed from the physical volume which gives it sensory reality into another mind where it kindles thoughts and impressions: a whole understanding of what it means to be, ignited on foreign soil in an act that is either erotic or imperialistic, but in either case miraculous. We become one another.”
Thanks for the tag, @eeclayton!
1. Probably The Dark Heart of Italy by Tobias Jones.
2. Shamefully, I haven't finished a book at all yet this year.
3. Tagged, and just finishing biography of Byron, by Frederic Raphael, as well as listening to Murder by the Book, by Claire Harman (all of which are great).
Ok, we are underway...
Enjoying it so far. Wordy, weird and philosophical - might just be my kind of book!
Debating whether to start this - have read mixed reviews. It's completely my area of interest, but worried it's a bit rambling and overly complex. And there's only room for one Gravity's Rainbow in my life! Love the cover.
#LittensDressedInBlood 4 Sep “Every Breathe You Take”
In Gnomon, the System provides safety & security by constantly observing citizens—every action is seen, every word recorded. The System can even access its citizens‘ thoughts and memories.
so-soThis started out as a 5 star book but disappointingly failed to achieve its potential.
St Augustine is mentioned a lot in this section of the story which unusually features a strong woman in the ancient world.
This is a slow read but I am savouring every word.
My new morning read.
At 700+ pages I'm glad this is a Kindle rather than a dead-tree I have to lug along on my commute!
pickUpfront statement, I love Nick Harkaway as a storyteller, but this is by far his most baroque tale including a cast of characters such as the detective from a future surveillance state, a banker haunted by a god shark, an ancient alchemist, an artist who can walk through walls and a librarian who is more than she seems. An exploration of a state who has abandoned privacy for security and the implications of such a decision. Does it work
My snuggle buddy seconds as a book stand.
We are catching a few hours of quiet time before the holiday insanity begins.
Loved my afternoon at the Edinburgh book festival yesterday. The children's bookshop tent was particularly exciting, as was the grown up tent! With a friend I went to a really interesting talk about Gnomon by Nick Harkaway and We See Everything by William Sutcliffe. Both are obviously intelligent, well read and thoughtful on the subject of surveillance, in both their own writing and the wider world. A lovely bookish day out!
pickA detective in an surveillance society tries to uncover what really happened to a woman who died in the custody of "the system".
I was on a deadline to read this as I'm attending an author event at the Edinburgh book festival. As such I probably read it at a faster pace than I normally would, which may or may not have helped with my comprehension. Chin scratching and confusing but intense, immersive, satisfying and an eerie look at what could be.
pickIn Gnomon, a detective investigates the death of a woman during a mental interrogation, a standard procedure in this near-future world of surveillance and constant monitoring by AI. Somehow the dead woman, Diana Hunter, has eluded the System, even inside her own mind. As the detective explores the narratives Hunter created, she comes to see her world in a new way. A big, complex, demanding and brilliant book.
This is not okay. I do not consent. I do not consider the intrusion legitimate, and I do not accept the argument that it is in the interest of the nation as a whole, nor that If it were in the nation‘s interest that would make what is happening to me acceptable. Just because something is done according to the law does not mean that it is lawful.
I always like the idea of Harkaway books but it‘s so hard to get past the beginning for me. I‘m past the beginning of this one but it‘s not coming easy.
The eternal dilemma: It is very late (2am) on Sunday night; have got 25 pages in Japanese to translate tomorrow; should I start this now?!?
Day 3 of the @bookriot #Riotgrams Challenge: naked hardcovers! 💚🦈📚
Todays @torontopubliclibrary hold shelf haul. No one bother me this weekend.
pickA remarkably smart and entertaining read with a surprising and satisfying finish. It felt a bit long in places, but, oh so worth it.
My first #24in48 !!! Late start because of work!!! Enjoying the latest Nick Harkaway! Simon does not seem pleased to be in the photo 😹😹
Really enjoying this unusual book so far. Shades of David Mitchell‘s ‘The Bone Clocks‘. #breakfast #cotebrasserie #muswellhill #muswellhillbilly #n10 #bookstagram #books #currentlyreading #nickharkaway #gnomon #booksandcoffee #coffeeandbooks #caffeine #caffeineaddict #wakeupandsmellthecoffee #contented #saturday #muswellhillsaturday
Ok 640 page book recommended by @Liberty and sitting right on a front shelf when I walked into the library for lunch, yes, I will check you out and take you home....we will take this journey. #IAlreadyHaveBooksToRead #AnotherTome #LibrariesRock
Some one has just recommended this to me. It looks incredible!
Described as “a mind-bending Borgesian puzzle box of identity, meaning and reality in which the solution steps sideways as you approach it.”
pickIt's hard both to review and describe this one. It's a long twisty tale that folds in on itself. If that sounds interesting then you might like this, but I can also see people really disliking or just losing patience with it.
Ok, I have no idea what is happening. There‘s a shark involved. I don‘t know if this is real or some whacked out dream sequence. Also, I have 600 pages to go before January 1 so I‘m not sure I‘m gonna finish this. Yikes.
There‘s a part where a character contrasts an assassin to a murder detective and all I can think of is Sherlock and Moriarty. Is Harkaway #Sherlocked?
I‘m reading this one now, got it from First To Read. A character is described as a bookish person. Thought y‘all would want to know.
pickFantastically ambitious, complex and thought-provoking but confess I struggled to make it to the end. But overall worth the effort.
This book is messing with my head lol
pickMy this was a rather interesting book. Here is the link to my goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2191781004.
Thank you @PenguinRandomCa @PenguinPublishing @penguinrandomhouse @penguinusa for the ARC.
New Nick Harkaway, I have heard mixed reviews but I don‘t care because it is a new Nick Harkaway novel. Merry Xmas to me.
The further I get into this book, the writing style reminds me of "House of Leaves". I keep asking myself "What In the heck am I reading?"
This is my latest ARC. Thank you @PenguinRandomCa @PenguinPublishing @penguinrandomhouse @penguinusa
