I don't think anyone is claiming Europe can't hold back Russia in a land war. Nobody thinks Putin's tanks will be rolling in the streets of Paris, capital of a nuclear power. Doesn't mean Russia can't seize *some* territory and cause real trouble.

You lose points for not having a nuclear missile on display.

was that the one where Macron crushed Trump's hand. weird geopolitical sequence. and wasn't there a flying dude as well?

too soon

But would an inner-city child of the 1960s identify in any meaningful way with Shakespearean drama? With Middlemarch? He seems to think kids today lack that ability. I understand they may have a different ethnic background, but still. I personally didn't feel much kinship with Mr Darcy or whatever.

I found it a bit unconvincing on one key point. He says George Elliot and Shakespeare were so inspiring to *him* as a kid. Why would kids now–just one generation later–only be inspired by contemporary authors?

It was first proposed after Trump was out of office. But it was stalled and its later adoption was in direct response to the Lithuania-China spat. European Parliament factcheet on the ACI sets out China as the base case for response.

My honest purpose is I want people to engage more & better with books, in the hope they get as much enjoyment out of them than I do. I think it's useful to reflect on our relationships with important things, when perhaps that relationship is on autopilot? If you disagree with my ideas, it's all good

it's basically the opposite. The fundamental thing about enjoying reading is reading the right thing. My argument is that people are not deliberative about the book-selection process -- "let's just see what's at the shop". The result is you then read less ambitiously, less widely, less fulfillingly.

You seem to think I'm mortally offended by stuff that I merely point out I think should be less lauded than it is.

Like, my man if I don't like broccoli, and even if I write it here that I don't like broccoli, we can be fine even if you happen to love broccoli. It's all good.

Yes that's my point. There are better ways to make important decisions about book selection.

I don't find Goodreads all that useful either. I use it to see which book by an author is most notable (ie has most ratings) but the ratings themselves don't correlate with my own (I keep track of both)