back to article I Saw a Man, Once Upon a Time in Russia and How to See the World

El Reg bookworm Mark Diston trawls through the latest from the publishing world encompassing Owen Sheers delivery of an intense portrayal of accidents and their consequences. Ben Mezrich gives a gangster-esque spin through the corridors of power and industry in Russia, and Nicholas Mirzoeff takes on the gargantuan task of how we …

  1. Chris Miller

    I Saw a Man has just finished as Book at Bedtime on Radio 4. Available to listen again here.

  2. frank ly

    Hmmm

    " I am reminded that obscene means "off stage". "

    Collins: C16: from Latin obscēnus inauspicious, perhaps related to caenum filth

    OED: Late 16th century: from French obscène or Latin obscaenus 'ill-omened or abominable'.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but [....]"

    Indeed, as soon as one sees the ya (Я) in the title one knows that book, author, and publisher are to be given wide berth.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but [....]"

      <<Indeed, as soon as one sees the ya (Я) in the title one knows that book, author, and publisher are to be given wide berth.>>

      Yes. It is the publishing equivalent of a mistaken Chinese character being used as a bogan-chav tattoo.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but [....]"

        > It is the publishing equivalent of a mistaken Chinese character being used as a bogan-chav tattoo.

        Agreed.

        In any case, I did like Diston calling a spade a spade. Too many reviewers go for the apologetic approach when faced with a bad book or an incompetent author.

        Also, a supposedly "non-fiction" book by someone who doesn't even speak Russian? How did he do his research? Google Translate?

  4. Kubla Cant

    Blue marble

    the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph of Earth taken from an Apollo spacecraft, the first time the author claims that humanity could see itself as a whole

    It's a beautiful photograph, but my recollection is that the most striking thing about it was that it was just as expected. Terrestrial globes had shown the world in a similar way for centuries. It's a bit like the way the view from a plane window changes from surroundings to map as you climb.

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