Henrik Carlsson's Blog

After bailing on Frank Herbert’s Dune I’ve dipped in and out of a few books. First, I gave ”Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” a go. Maybe it’s the audiobook’s fault, maybe it’s mine but I just couldn’t stand it for more than fifteen minutes. So instead I jumped into The End of the World as We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand, an anthology telling stories about the world of Stephen King’s The Stand. This was much more my cup of tea, but about half (maybe) into the third short-story I lost steam and I took a break. That break has lasted for a month or so now.

A week or so ago I started Arthus C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Now this is absolutely my cup of tea! I watched Kubrick’s movie many years ago and it is a classic for a reason. That being said, I think I’m one of the weird people who like the novel better.¹ The story is fascinating even though I know where it will all end up. It’s got just the right amount of details to keep the nerd inside me interesting, while not getting bogged down in endless regressions on orbital mechanics². It also feels quite relevant again as our interest in space travel are increasing again, at the same time as the current fixation on AI.

The format of the audiobook also fits my life perfect right now. A single chapter is never longer than fifteen minutes, which happens to be the length of my commute to work. When they’re significantly shorter than that, two usually adds upp to no more than fifteen as well making it perfect for listening to while driving to work.