The Glass Bees
by Ernst Jünger · first published 2000
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4HN commenters
2016–2025first – last mentioned
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In The Glass Bees the celebrated German writer Ernst junger presents a disconcerting vision of the future. Zapparoni, a brilliant businessman, has turned his advanced understanding of technology and his strategic command of the information and entertainment industries into a discrete form of global domination. But Zapparoni is worried that the scientists he depends on might sell his secrets. He needs a chief of security, and Richard, a veteran and war hero, is ready for the job. However, when he arrives at the beautiful country compound that is Zapparoni's headquarters, he finds himself subjec
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I quite like Junger. The Glass Bees is a really interesting parable about technology. It predicts parts of the modern tech industry quite accurately. Most of the potshots in the article are cheap. I like this quote from Jean Cocteau about…
on “Ernst Jünger’s Narratives of Complicity” ↗Right out of Ernst Junger's best book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Glass_Bees (1957)
on “MIT Unveils New Robot Insect, Paving the Way Toward Rise of Robotic Pollinators” ↗The Glass Bees might be suitable reading for anyone working in AI. The Rain of Steel, on the other hand - it's just combat until the Armistice drops on the soldiers.
on “Ernst Jünger’s Narratives of Complicity” ↗I am currently reading "The Glass Bees", Ernst Junger's scifi novel from 1957. It's about a former cavalryman fallen on hard times who goes for a shady job interview with a technology mogul. Its kind of an extended meditation on changing times…
on “The Born Soldier” ↗…more conservative bent will be disappointed, too. No Ernst Jünger for you! Yes, you can get the Rain of Steel, it's too well known to be suppressed, but not the Adventurous Heart or the (very topical) Glass Bees. And heaven forfend you read the Marble Cliffs! But genderqueer stuff on top of genderqueer stuff, and the rent is still too high.
on “‘Knowledge is power’: new app helps US teens read books banned in school” ↗The idea that The Glass Bees is "little-known" is ... curious. It was republished by New York Review Books, not exactly a small little press no one's ever heard of.
on “Hacker News Highlights, the Alan Kay Edition” ↗