Ready Player One -- Ernest Cline


Ready Player One: The book is engaging and there are some really-interesting world building themes going on. I love how it explores what a truly immersive virtual reality experience might be like and I especially like how the barriers between the virtual world and the real world erode over the course of the book. It stimulates deep introspection about the fantasy worlds (games, Netflix, social media, books, etc.) to which we like to escape. On the downside, the economic and political building blocks were wholly unbelievable. The author had a tenuous grasp of economics. The resulting lack of internal integrity detracted from the story and its usefulness as a thought experiment. Thanks for the recommendation, Harrison!
Verdict-- Lukewarm 
Wiki for more

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Foundation -- Isaac Asimov -- Lukewarm

Image
I read this because people I admire talked about it (Elon musk, Orson Scott Card, Ben Shapiro). It's classic science fiction in an ancient context. It was published in the 50s, 15 years before the earliest start trek, 25 years before star wars, and 35 years before Enders game, all of which are ancient history. In many ways, it belongs to the era of   Edgar Rice Burroughs'  Prince of Mars or even H.G. Well's War of the Worlds more than it does modern science fiction. That being said, there are some truly brilliant ideas explored in the text. First, the book doesn't follow a protagonist, which means no character development and no human story. Instead, Asimov overtly follows humanities' story, jumping from viewpoint to viewpoint and century to century in galactic civilization. In some ways, it reads more like a collection of short stories in Sanderson's Cosmere or perhaps even something from the MCU, but the novel still manages to drive a narrative crafted aro...
Read more

The Shallows: What the internet is doing to our brains -- Nicholas Carr

Image
The Shallows  This is a fascinating look at “what the internet is doing to our brains”. Better still, it’s an analysis of how technological interfaces from maps, the alphabet, clocks, etc. have changed the way we behave. I found the historical section particularly compelling and the overall message is one that merits deep thought. I’m not sure the analysis of what “the internet” is doing is particularly accurate. The argument is that it’s a medium that fragments our consumption, which detracts from our ability to understand the gestalt. I think that's a true generalization, but I use it to listen to entire books, not fragments, so I'm not sure the fragmentation is necessarily a product of the tool. There is a vain that addresses how search engines foster groupthink, I think that is particularly true and relevant.  Thanks, Harrison! Verdict Recommend
Read more

A Tale of Two Cities — Charles Dickens — Recommend

Image
This is a re-read for me, but I got much out of it this time than the last. I picked it up because I wanted a fresh look at the human side of the French Revolution in light of the political unrest  (protests, riots, murders, etc.) that have marked the 2nd half of 2020 in the USA. In some ways, it's relieving to see the differences between pre-revolution France and USA 2020. The differences between rich and poor are nowhere near as pronounced and social mobility is much, much higher. On a more doer note, the similarities are disturbing. Most disturbing of all is the similarities between the french revolution leaders and the leading voices of the would-be 1519 revolutions in 2020. Specifically, the need for equity over equality, vengeance over reconciliation, and the identification of problems over the proposition of solutions. This ideology is what lead to the reign of terror.  With that preface, I can't recommend this book enough right now as a cautionary tale. It's ever mo...
Read more