How do you win something that's unwinnable?

The narration was by Anton Lesser, the translation was by Ian Johnston. Hope you guys like it~

Mat Brady

Hey Mat, Which audio version did you listen to? The narrator makes such a huge difference to if the book gets finished or not, particularly with teenages in the car. Cheers

I want to make the case for Picard: Obviously Picard isn’t Kirk. I think if you’re looking for someone on TNG with a similar temperament with Kirk, it’s River. But, even if their processes aren’t the same, I don’t think Kirk and Picard necessarily end up in different places. Picard fills the more reserved role, the “statesman,” if you will, but there is still fire and conviction below the surface that I think leads to action. He literally has an artificial heart because he was stabbed during a bar fight when he was young. There’s a TNG episode where Q forces Picard to explore what he would be like if this side of him wasn’t there, how different of a person he would have become. Picard, I think, is certainly more likely to defer to some sort of regulation, especially the prime directive, in his interactions, but it is because of this he is able at times to stand against Starfleet and the Federation. It is also because of this that I think he would enter the neutral zone in the Kobyashi Maru in an attempt to aid the dying ship. He may not have been one to reprogram the test (though perhaps a younger him would have considered it), but I also don’t necessarily think he would accept the no win scenario. He may not be as outwardly “maverick” as Kirk, but I think he is still often able to come to the same conclusions and actions.

The whole ‘Is Captain Kirk a cheater or a clever innovator’ reminds me of Odysseus from Classical Mythology. Greeks saw him as a guile hero who could come out ahead when the odds were stacked against him with quick thinking. Alternatively, the Romans saw him as a tricky coward who didn’t fight fair. On a related note, l recommend The Odyssey on audiobook for anybody interested. My roommate and l listened to it on a road trip, it’s a few hours long. If you’re into drinking games, take a drink whenever the narrative refers to Athena as ‘Athene with the Gleaming Eyes’, identifies a character as ‘Soandso, son of Suchandsuch’ or any time you hear ‘(their) words had wings’. Also, do not play drinking games on a road trip.

Mat Brady