'The Big Time' by Fritz Lieber

 

'The Big Time' is a locked-room mystery set in a recuperation station outside the universe, where soldiers from across time rest between missions. The soldiers - including a tentacular alien, a Roman Centurion, a British Tommy, a Nazi officer, and others - have all been recruited to fight a universe-spanning, time-spanning war between two mysterious factions who repeatedly rewrite history to try to ensure their own far-future cosmic dominance. Sounds awesome!

My understanding was that it was an influential classic of the Change War trope. Now I've read it, I wouldn't use the word 'classic': the novel has aged extremely poorly, and while there are certainly things to like, these are the mainly on the ideas front rather than the execution. As a piece of post-WW2 pacifist fiction, it contains some interesting reflections on the nature and futility of war, but the overall package feels very wooden and awkward. Unfortunately, unless you are interested in the history and development of the Change War trope, I would advise against reading this old novel.

I received a battered 1961 Ace paperback edition of 'The Big Time' with a funky cover from a friend. As I read, my old paperback was coming apart in my hands. First the front cover fell off, and I took to using it as a bookmark. Then, the back cover fell off. I started imagining the old book just wanted to be read one more time in its old life, and I felt sorry for it. I wonder how many people had read this copy before the covers finally gave way in my hands, perhaps thought it was mind-blowingly inventive in its first decades of life. I'm going to repair the cover with Sellotape as best I can and then donate the book to a local charity shop, hopefully it will find a reader who enjoys it more than I did.

Following this short, interesting, but unsatisfying foray into the Change War trope, I think it is probably about time for me to read 'This Is How You Lose The Time War', published 61 years after 'The Big Time'.

'The Righteous Mind' by Jonathan Haidt

The Righteous Mind serves as an introduction to moral psychology, in particular to the theories favoured by, and personally developed by, the author. The book's narrative thrust is the author's personal hero's journey through academia. He relates how his understanding of the topic grew over the years, from his time as a student through to carrying out the research that led to the Moral Foundations theory. This is a very effective mechanism for introducing all the various concepts to the reader, naturally building on what came before, and the autobiographical elements give you a personal connection with the author-protagonist. The narrative sweeps you along, you share his joy at learning more at each step of the journey, and cheer on as the quest continues. Haidt's intuitionist theories are also very compelling, and do provide a good framework for understanding people of various political and religious persuasions. It's an excellent example of how to communicate ideas from academia to a lay audience.

 That being said, there's plenty to criticise in Haidt's theory and conclusions. The central metaphor of the Elephant and the Rider irritated me. The elephant represents your emotional intuition, whereas the rider is your reasoning. The elephant does most of the work and movement, with the rider having little influence over where it goes: your emotions make most of your decisions, and your reasoning goes along with it, making up post-hoc justifications to rationalise the decision after the fact. This is a useful metaphor, but throughout I couldn't help thinking of real-world elephant riding, where the elephant has been brutalised into submission to make it passive enough to ride. 

The 'Emotions First' approach also provides an easy built-in method for dismissing Haidt's critics: their elephants have recoiled, and their riders are rushing to come up with justifications to rationalise this response. Haidt does not discuss criticisms of his theory from other academics; instead, the theory forms the conclusion of his hero's journey: now he can return to the real world to share his wisdom and save American politics.

According to Haidt, a big part of the motivation behind his research and this book was frustration over the Democrats not connecting with voters, and a desire to understand conservative moralities that were extremely alien to him as a student at a very liberal university. Having gone on his hero's journey, Haidt is now an Enlightened Centrist who sees the merits and flaws of both sides: he sees morality for what it is, not for what it should be. In the book, he is presenting a descriptive theory of morality, which ostensibly avoids any judgment on what is actually good and moral. However, he does make these kind of judgments throughout, while also claiming not to.

He tries his best to be a both-sidesing critic of both liberals and conservatives, but the way he writes about the two camps is very different. An early chapter describes a visit to India, during which he began to see beauty in a society built on a deeply religious and socially conservative morality; many passages display a deeply orientalist romanticism, and elements of this romanticism are carried forward into descriptions of American conservatism. He writes with anthropological fascination of conservatives, but with a weary tiredness about liberals. As an ex-liberal, he is not excited or interested in liberal morality: he is familiar with and bored with it; he associates it with his own immaturity, and thus his criticisms of liberalism are couched with the cringe adults feel looking back on their younger selves.

This is not to say that his criticisms of liberalism are not valid, especially those about how a lot of liberals refuse to understand conservatives. This is a very real issue which prevents liberal criticisms of conservative positions getting through. A few years ago I read Margaret Thatcher's books, which I found a very useful and enlightening experience, enabling me to understand and critique her actual motivations and goals, rather than those of the demonic caricature presented in left-wing media. I remember discussing this with a friend who said, "But I don't want to give those views legitimacy by trying to understand their motivations."

Compared to other factors, Haidt places more blame on liberals refusing to understand conservatives for the extreme polarisation of American politics. The book was first published in 2012, and this is one of many of Haidt's opinions which has aged poorly over the subsequent decade. Evidently, despite the success and popularity of 'The Righteous Mind', it has failed to undo the polarisation he was decrying a decade ago, and the various culture wars over 'wokeness' have taken that polarisation to obscene new highs. In 2024, Haidt's soft criticisms of conservatives now read as extremely cowardly.

The book is also in part a response to the New Atheists, and this is another aspect which has aged less well. The New Atheists were in vogue when it was first published, but popular culture has now moved on considerably. He defends religion as a means of social and moral cohesion, and decries what he calls 'the Rationalist Delusion'. I enjoyed his argument in favour of evolutionary group selection via religions, and this aspect of the book nicely synergizes with Tara Isabella Burton's Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World, which looks at modern neo-religious movements through a similar lens to Haidt, and fills a large gap in his analysis.

Despite these flaws, and others not described here, I do actually very much recommend the book. The Moral Foundations Theory is a useful if imperfect descriptive model to help you understand different moralities, like the similarly useful but imperfect Political Compass. The narrative sweeps you along like a rousing adventure; it's a great example of a non-fiction book that takes you on a ride and makes you feel like you've learnt a lot. After the initial exhilaration fades, the flaws become more obvious the more you think about it, but not so much that I wouldn't recommend it to others.

'The Quick Roasting Tin' by Rukmini Iyer

I received this book along with 'The Green Roasting Tin' and 'The Roasting Tin Around the World' for my birthday in 2022. Initially, the World book was my favourite - the geographical organisation gives you a sense of exploring the world through food - but now I'm not so sure.

The Quick book is organised into themed chapters such as 'Worknight Dinners' and 'Date Night', which I didn't feel as excited by. However, I think this book may contain recipes I love more than those in World.

Over the past two years I've made 51/75 recipes in this book, some of them multiple times.

Worknight Dinners - 11/11 recipes made

These were some of the first recipes I made from this book - because most of the meals I cook are 'Worknight Dinners' - but as a result most have faded from memory and my notes are not especially detailed. The Tomato, Leek & Artichoke Bake (pg40) is my favourite from this section and one I have made multiple times - it is a vegetarian alternative to Toad-In-The-Hole that periodically becomes a household regular when jarred artichokes are on offer in Lidl. The Cauliflower Curry (pg42) is great, but is similar to other cauliflower curries in Iyer's other books. I remember really enjoying the Beetroot Orzotto (pg34), but made the mistake of making it too many times in a short period and going off it - I haven't made it since, unfortunately.

Family Favourites - 7/11 recipes made

The Baked Gnocchi with Ham Hock and Peas (pg50) is great comfort food, and probably my favourite of Iyer's baked gnocchi recipes, although I write 'lol' next to where it says 'Serves: 4 generously' because we comfortably ate it all between two of us. The Sweet Potato Curry (pg60) is a solid easy curry, while the Broccoli and Bacon Pasta Bake (pg62), an improved version of the Kale and Bacon Macaroni Cheese in the World book, has become a household regular - I made it two nights ago and had the leftovers for lunch today. The Whole Tomato Dhal (pg70) was my favourite dhal recipe until a more recently discovered slow cooker dhal recipe.

Make Ahead Lunchboxes - 9/10 recipes made

Each of the recipes I tried from this section I have ended up making multiple times, and my work colleagues were often jealous of my packed lunch. Bulgar wheat is magical, as are naan croutons. The only recipe here I haven't made is the Fig, Chicory, and Hazelnut Salad (pg86).

Date Night - 7/10 recipes made

After 'Worknight Dinners', this was the section I next focused on, because each dish is aesthetically impressive despite being very easy to make. The Roasted Ricotta with Tomatoes and Aubergine (pg104) I have made multiple times as part of a Mediterranean spread while hosting guests. The Baked Gnocchi with Dolcelatte, Figs, and Hazelnut (pg106) was delicious but extremely rich and indulgent - definitely a special occasion dish. The Scallop Gratin (pg108) was great, but scallops are expensive so I haven't made it again. The Sage and Mushroom Tart (pg110) was one of my husband's favourites, but I found the texture of the pine nut mixture unpleasant. The Vietnamese style fish (pg114) was gorgeous.

And then there's the Pomegranate Duck. With this dish I felt like I'd discovered a new level of culinary enjoyment. It was a bit of a faff to make, but the mixture of flavours and textures were absolutely divine. I was thinking about it for days afterwards. Just thinking about it now has made me want to make it again as soon as possible.

Feed a Crowd - 4/12 recipes made

I was initially put off from this section, because I had incorrectly assumed that a 'Crowd' was rather bigger than 4 people. I enjoyed the four recipes I tried from this section, but don't really get why they've been grouped together as Crowdfeeders. The Charred Tenderstem (pg152) is a variant of a stir fry recipe in India Express, and I prefer the the even quicker stir fry version.

Weekend Cooking  - 5/10 recipes made

The breakfast dishes - pancake (pg170), baked eggs (pg172), traybake (pg174) - were great ways to start the day. I made the traybake for brunch yesterday, and it was certainly easier than making a fry up. The baked eggs with asparagus soldiers I enjoyed with a friend who was visiting in summer; we ate them sat outside in the garden. The Chilli Peanut Chicken (pg180) is another great comfort food recipe, one that's become a bit of a household regular. As I type, I am reflecting that is has been a while since I last made it, and I ought to correct that. The Fish Stew (pg186) was excellent, but the cost of the ingredients has prevented me from making it again, though I should treat us to it again sometime.

Sweets - 8/11 recipes made

I am not as fond of baking as I am of cooking, but the sweet made here were received well and some of them I have made more than once. The Sage and Dark Chocolate Cookie Cake (pg194) has wonderful herby savoury notes from the sage, which make it very distinct and memorable (I have made it twice to take into work). We've Blackberry and Pistachio Cake (pg196) a few times for dessert when we've had friends over for dinner. The Pomegranate Yoghurt Cake (pg198), Salted Chocolate Peanut Brownies (pg200) and Pecan and Dark Chocolate Banana Bread (pg206) were all well received at work. The Gingerbread Pears (pg208) was the first of the sweet recipes I made, and I've made it a few times since then, including most recently to take to a friends' Christmas meal; to the same meal last year I took the Apple Crumble Cake (pg212).

Reflecting on all these recipes to write this review, I am extremely glad to have made and eaten such a wide selection of dishes over the past two years, and now want to make many of them again soon. I highly recommend others eat them too!