VICTORIA NG
PEER RESPONSE
I am a 'traditional' reader, in the sense that I've stuck solely to physical books. In more recent years I've turned to eBooks as well, but I've found these difficult to read on my phone, not just because of text size (yes, I can increase the text size, but then I read a couple of words per page, which I find silly in all honesty) but because I prefer to have a physical page to turn. I may or may not be a more tactile learner in that sense, though I've never tried to find out.
In any case, I've been - for the longest time - avoiding audiobooks. I dislike change, and I love my hardcover and paperbacks. That's the other thing about physical books - it's so satisfying for me to have a shelf full of books, as opposed to a collection on my phone in my pocket. That's not nearly as impressive for myself! However, Sarah has not only created a widely-ranging curation of literary works I've never heard about, but she's also presented them as examples for compelling reasons as to why I might enjoy audiobooks (and the individual works themselves). At the very least, I'm curious. Perhaps, in some ways, technology may not be so bad.
Or perhaps I just prefer a good physical page turner with my tea. Who knows? I will, when I have the time to try an audiobook out!
A curation of the rock bands who have remained at the top of their game - Holly Dashwood (source)
I don't know much about music of any genres - my knowledge of most of music extends to 'I listen to it and I might love it or hate it or anywhere inbetween'. Consequently, I found Holly's curation brimming with information - it made for a fascinating read. A lot of names were there that I recognised, and I finally found out why a lot of them were famous. Not only did Holly talk about histories of the various bands in her curation, she also painted a picture of the musical scene and how both the bands and the scene has changed and evolved. She spoke about different bands using different styles and techniques with both songwriting and performance, and how each band had changed as history went on - and how this might've also affected both new and old fans along the way.
All in all, Holly's curation was packed with information, presented in a way that was easy to read and digest, and she also painted a very fascinating picture of the rock music scene, as influenced and lived in by the many bands. I thoroughly enjoyed the read and the introduction to a world that I didn't know much about.
Together or apart, our choice, final version. - Sam Watsen-Taylor (source)
Sam's curation focuses on the relationships between humans, AIs/robots, and other races. The curator looks at how each 'race' has a function/place in society, and how they interact with each other. I wasn't really sure what Sam was looking for. I found a lot of summary of the story - which I found helpful for most of the collection, as I had very little knowledge of a lot of the things Sam picked - at the expense of analysis. I didn't know why some things had been picked. I would also have been more interested in what made Sam pick each piece - how did it speak to you, or make you react? I feel like that connection between Sam and their work was lost in translation, so to speak, and so I found it difficult to connect with the work too.
I also felt that in some places, there was an underlying need to argue for what defined sentience. For example, Krell from Star Wars The Clone Wars: Darkness on Umbara saw Clone Troopers as obedient slaves without sentience or independent thought (in the end they proved him wrong). In contrast, the selection of Transformers, a show of alien robots, shows them as a fully sentient race capable of thoughts, feelings, and discourse. This is a relevant issue in this day and age (and some movies, most notably Blade Runner, bring up similar issues of what makes sentience) considering the abundance and advancement of technology.