For some reasons, I am currently enjoying quite a revival of my teenage years, diving into IT, security, the hacking manifesto and so on. And also re-reading (or rather piling up) books I read at that time. And yes, a deep dive into an Asimov Omnibus WILL happen.

But, this article is not about my own brand of Sci-fi nostalgia. Or is it?

Edward Snowden released his memoirs a few weeks ago. Immediately followed by a backlash from the US government which is actually what compelled m to buy the book which I would otherwise have missed.

So what about the book?

As a memoir, Permanent Record focuses mostly on Snowden’s motivations or more exactly how his thought process evovled from chilhood to the release of the documents and what happened next.

As much as I feel close to his experience, especially his relationship with computers and the web in the 90s and minus the genius with code aspect, I don’t really feel I learned much from the book.

As personnal such a memoir can be, CitizenFour, the documentary shot during the leaks by Laura Poitras, manages to present a more human side of Snowden. similarly, on the leak themselves, you won’t learn much more, beyond the context of the Intelligence Community and how the bulk collection mentality emerges and then submerged everything.

Which in a way is coherent with his approach. He felt he couldn’t see himself explaining the impact of his findings to the public so he went with journalists. But for a book, I don’t know, something’s missing

Another thing I would have loved to learn more about is what he has been doing in his 6 years in exile in Russia. And once again, this is sadly just broadly explained in the epilogue.

Final world

As much as I appreciate what Snowden has done, I won’t recommend his book. Watch CitizenFour, watch his interview with John Oliver, you’ll learn more