Jonathan Fast (1) (1948–)

Odd one this - picked up at the Oxfam shop where they had a box of 'vintage' sci-fi. I am only half way through but I feel the need to record some thoughts as my feelings are going up and down - or maybe to and fro. It is definitely disappointing that someone writing a sci-fi book in 1977 would assume that by the time we were committing genocide and spreading slavery across the galaxy - only the men would be doing it. All women are either wives or 'scrugals'.... and not a sign so far that the author realised how blinkered he was being. Especially odd since a political, moral and philosophical strand of narrative soon comes into play, keeping me engaged and entertained.

3 and a half stars (which is a good rating for me), a light weight space romp backed by some good ideas and quite well written. I would read another if it came my way but not the science fiction which was all written around the same time...... actually NOT now I've seen the cover of The Jade Stalk! Not my sort of thing.… (meer)

Fast examines in brief 13 cases of rampage shootings at schools, and then examines 5 of these in depth in an attempt to understand certain aspects of this particular type of terrorism. Fast's thesis is that the shootings are a form of "ceremonial violence." A very unhappy child, socially marginalized may commit suicide, but the shooters also combine narcissism and a lack of empathy that causes them to turn their own destruction into a public event that he thinks will be celebrated by fellow outcasts.

Fast's thesis makes great intuitive sense, some but not all of the aspects appear in all of the cases. The book is a very interesting and readable overview of these shootings. Fast cites a vast body of literature that he read in compiling the book.

One flaw in the research is that Fast does not appear to have talked to the surviving shooters, and one of them, Wayne Lo, reported that Fast made no attempt to talk to him. Gregory Gibson, father of one of the victims, accused Fast of using more material from his own book, Gone Boy, than acknowledged in citations. It must be noted that Fast also included a lot of other information about the case, particularly things that happened after the period that Gone Boy covers, although I wonder how much of this is from Gibson's blog.

So in sum, there is some controversy about this book, but it offers a review of a number of school shootings and a thesis that seems plausible.… (meer)