The Sudden Appearance of Hope

The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North (2016) 468 pages

People began to forget who Hope Arden was when she was sixteen. Eventually, even her parents didn't understand why she was in their house. Hope became a world traveler, stealing cash and valuables and buying fake passports on the dark web to finance her life. (One can't earn a living in the usual ways when everyone sees you as a newcomer each time they look at you.)

In her travels, Hope notes a phenomenon called Perfection, an app used by people--especially wealthy people--that is downloaded to one's phone and which takes over one's life with strong suggestions for ways to look and act, well, perfect. It's an insidious program offering prizes at various point levels, as well as penalties which take away points, too, causing its users to obsessively follow its directives.

Through the dark web, Hopes meets another person, who, like herself, wants to destroy Perfection. This story leads us all over the world, including the Middle East, the US, and Europe. Action plus introspection abound. Why does Perfection, with its cookie cutter results, appeal to its users?  And what kind of life can one lead if one can't develop any relationships (outside the digital world) because no one can remember you?

Comic Art Propaganda / Fredrik Stromberg

Comic Art Propaganda: a graphic history by Fredrik Stromberg. 176 p.

The author spends a little too much time discussing whether particular comics can be counted as successful examples of propaganda, but he provides a broad array of comics, of many types and from many countries, that fit his basic categories of topics: war, religion, politics, etc. My favorite was probably the social engineering section--which, as the author points out, is a type of propaganda that almost never succeeds because it's usually deadly dull: Don't smoke! Stay in school! An example I really liked uses the character of Popeye the Sailor Man to give speeches to children about the different types of jobs available, although of course they had to change the character's iconic manner of speaking, so what was the point of using him in the first place? Using Bugs Bunny to lecture about automotive safety is also pretty weird--somehow, "responsible" is not the first word I'd associate with Bugs--but that book has the title "It's Fun to Stay Alive!" so it gets extra points.