We live as long as we fly
I feel like writing something, but have nothing to write about. Usually it's the other way around, there are a million ideas and reasons, but I'm too lazy to bang on the keys, even lazier to formulate thoughts, and laziest of all to beautifully construct phrases.
Eventually I remembered a reason. I finished reading "War and Peace". To be completely precise, I've already managed to read Lem's "Fiasco" and half of the book "The Engines of God" by I don't remember who, because I haven't decided yet whether I like it or not.
First, about "War and Peace". Generally speaking, old man Leo goes hard paints sweeping canvases, quite epochal and true-to-life. A couple of times I even felt sorry for the characters. Especially for Prince Andrei, who says wonderful things when Pierre comes to visit him for the first time, and not only that time. I can brag a little - to get my worldview to be like Prince Andrei's, I didn't have to live to be almost 30 and get concussed by a shell. It's just a pity that the religious dude Tolstoy ultimately cleverly leads the reader to the point where even such staunch, literate and noble materialists and atheists as Andrei will eventually Behold the Grace of God (c)
And in general, Tolstoy stubbornly insists that life is a fickle thing, full of accidents, physiology determines the behavior of individuals, and circumstances determine the behavior of history. Fortunately, judging by his own murky life path, a modern person who has skimmed the surface of psychology would say that Tolstoy frequently sublimates his own complexes and over-reflects. It's also unclear why a philosophical essay is tacked onto the end, loosely connected to the rest of the text, unlike the historical musings right in the book. Is it to educate the readers? It's like the book itself is for entertainment, but at the end you have to do some mental work?
And, of course, I am not at all thrilled by the final conclusions about religion, which, you see, is the conscience of humanity, and the only thing capable of giving true meaning to life. Then narrow-minded people read this stuff (not all believers are narrow-minded, please don't twist my words) and later try to prove a point: "But Tolstoy said so!"
Fortunately, materialists and skeptics have their own, no less powerful minds. One of such people is the great Polish writer and philosopher Stanislaw Lem.
"Fiasco" - one of his last works in the sci-fi genre (formally), recognized by many as an extremely outstanding piece. However, when I read Lem, I get a feeling similar to the one I have when I listen to certain music. It's hard to put into words. The closest thing would be a pitiful helplessness, a dash of astonishment, detached shock and the question: "How?". How can a human being create something like this? What incredible imagination must one possess to create something that 95% of the people on the planet won't even be able to properly understand? What kind of intellect, for all of this to look quite consistent? What kind of knowledge and erudition, if in every tenth sentence there is a word you have to look up in the dictionary for clarification, and in every hundredth - a word that isn't even in the dictionary?
While Tolstoy and Dostoevsky pull far-fetched problems of morality and ethics out of thin air, Lem tries to apply such problems to the existence and development of civilization. He looks forward, instead of wallowing in questions that are unresolvable by definition.
Плитка белого шоколада, который я покупал каждый день, стоившая Ls 0.22 (39 центов) внезапно подорожала и теперь стоит аж Ls 0.29 (51 цент).
ОНИ НА МНЕ НАЖИВАЮТСЯ!
А ещё я играю в MMORPG (многопользовательскую онлайновую ролевую игру) EVE Online. Действие происходит в космосе, игрок - владелец межзвёздного судна (или сотни судов). Игра уникальна одной особенностью - 6000 звездных систем и 25000 игроков находятся одновременно на одном сервере. Насколько мне известно, больше таких игр нет, во всех остальных игровой мир делится на части. (шарды). Плюс отличная графика (скриншоты), подходящая музыка, навороченность ролевой части и настоящая космическая атмосфера.
Очень порадовала такая деталь. Когда подлетаешь к jumpgate (воротам для прыжка в другую солнечную систему) , видишь прямо в космосе огромный экран. На нём крутится реклама (к счастью, ненастоящая), и кое что ещё - объявления "Разыскивается за преступления против человечества" по отношению к игрокам-пиратам с суммой вознаграждения, выплачиваемого убийце пирата Такие детали придают играм дьявольский шарм и реалистичность. (Учитывая, что вознаграждение может добавить любой, и получить тоже любой, то есть всё на самом деле).