Entropy

It’s always good to re-read books you once thought were good. Sometimes, you discover that time has lent you perspective that reveals the flaws of what you once thought was good but is merely mediocre. Other times, experience allows absorption of ideas that may have bounced off a younger head. *heh* And very often re-reading a book simply brings things back to mind you once knew but had not thought about in a while, and current events or the experience of years casts those thoughts in a new light.

Jerry Pournelle insists he doesn’t write “literature”–and he’s right, if one goes by the debauched concept of literature espoused in late 20th/century early 21st century English departments or by literature critics *spit*. But he does write often cracking good fiction, extremely good (though often dense, good and readable, but densely-packed with information) non-fiction and has one of the best blogs (although he dislikes the word :-)) around. Really, his site is much, much more than a blog.

At any rate, I decided recently to re-read The Prince, a collection of stories based in his CoDominion universe. It’s pretty good fiction–not his best storytelling, IMO–though filled with pretty heavy-handed didacticism as well. Notaproblem, since the lessons he imparts are well worth absorbing… and thinking about again. A small sample from a dialog where a mercenary “technical advisor” is counseling some terrorists on effective revolution will serve to illustrate:

…the enemy will maintain superior conventional military power almost to the end. As your own plan outlines, we must keep the struggle on a political level as far as possible.” He smiled, an expression that went no further than his lips. “In this we are aided by the nature of reality, and the arrow of entropy. It is always easier to tear down than to build, to make chaos rather than order, to render a society ungovernable rather than to govern effectively.

OK, class, applications? Try to branch out farther than just “The Democratic party” OK?

🙂