Bits | Alex Loitzl

📚 Recent Read: The Battles for Cassino — E. D. Smith (1975)

The book asks why the battles [at Monte Cassino], in which thousands of lives were lost, were fought, and discusses whether there can be any justification for them.

Rating:

I read this book as it came up in the Monuments Men book. It’s mostly quite dry descriptions of troop movements and I probably should have gotten out a detailed map to follow along. I did enjoy the detailed description of the decision making process and how it was impacted by the broade context of the Allied Italian campaign, which was itself a sideshow to the offensive in France.

📚 Recent Read: The Monuments Men — Robert M. Edsel (2009)

The void of April to May 1945 was a period where past deeds could quickly be buried or mischaracterized, and today’s lie could become tomorrow’s truth.
Those who stepped forward, . . ., could not only save their own necks, but become invaluable to the Allied conquerors.

Rating:

The book stands out in that it interleaves descriptions of historical events with segments of imaginary conversations and actions, supposedly reflecting the sentiments of the protaginists expressed in letters to their loved ones. I’m taking it as a bad sign that I am appalled by the description of the one place appearing in the book that I know well: Altaussee.

📚 Recent Read: Earth for all — Dixson-Declève Sandrine et al. (2022)

Humanity has commandeered about half of this habitable land for farming, and we have modified or interfered with much of the rest in some way. For livestock production alone, we use an area of land equivalent to North and South America combined. In the ocean, around 90% of fish stocks are either overexploited or fully exploited. A rapidly growing aquaculture sector is taking up more coastal space each year. When it comes to the air, about 70% of birds by mass are farmed poultry, and the rest wild. We live on a planet of chickens.

Rating:

The book covers two scenarios of possible futures from the Earth4All model: Too Little Too Late, a future in which current trends continue, and Giant Leap, a possible future if we take action now. The book is a stimulating read, but depressing (hence only 3 stars) to see how little progress we’ve made, and how current conflicts and the climate crisis have only accelerated.

📚 Recent Read: Wie konnte das geschehen? Deutschland 1933 bis 1945 — Götz Aly (2025)

Ohne Frage arbeitete Hitlers Regierung mit politischen Techniken, die — in milderer Form — weiterhin in Gebrauch sind: die Manipulation von Informationen, die Zerstörung öffentlicher Räume, in denen gesellschaftliche Angelegenheiten frei diskutiert weden können; die Politik undgedeckter Staatsschulden; soziale Geschenke an die Massen bei zunehmend autoritärer Staatsführung; das Entfachen von Vorurteilen und Hass gegen geeignete und klar erkennbare Minderheiten, generalverdächtige Personen und Institutionen.

Rating:

Reducing Germany’s National Socialism and its leading figures to pure fanaticism prevents us from learning from the past. The book lays out a modern perspective, the culmination of Aly’s research, and illustrates how the regime’s financial debt shaped its decisions and how propaganda was used to draw an entire nation into complicity.

📚 Recent Read: Der alte König in seinem Exil — Arno Geiger (2011)

Was denkst du über das Vergehen der Zeit?
Das Vergehen der Zeit? Ob sie schnell vergeht oder langsam, ist mir eigntlich egal. Ich bin in diesen Dingen nicht anspruchsvoll.

Rating:

I got this book for free as part of Vienna’s “Eine Stadt. Ein Buch” campaign. It tells the beautiful story of the author’s experience with his father’s dementia, finding peace and joy in small moments.

📚 Recent Read: The Jungle — Upton Sinclair (1906)

Dr. Schliemann paused a moment. “And then, . . . it has been proven that meat is unnecessary as a food; and meat is obviously more difficult to produce than vegetable food, less pleasant to prepare and handle, and more likely to be unclean. But what of that, so long as it tickles the palate more strongly?” “How would Socialism change that?” asked the girl-student, quickly. It was the first time she had spoken. “So long as we have wage slavery,” answered Schliemann, “it matters not in the least how debasing and repulsive a task may be, it is easy to find people to perform it. But just as soon as labor is set free, then the price of such work will begin to rise.

Rating:

I really enjoyed this book, which has been on my reading list for a long time. The book depicts the real downward spiral of oppression and suffering, rather than a hero overcoming it. The later socialist speeches turn polemical, the story has already made the case.

My website is live!

I have finally managed to move away from websites I’ve slapped together from examples I found online and am now using hugo to build my personal website. I adapted the theme by Pascal Michaillat based on PaperMod. To keep living in my emacs world, I am using ox-hugo so that I can write posts and updates in org-mode. I hope the ease of posting updates keeps me motivated to start filling this page with exciting things I care about.