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kivt's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this up because I had read and enjoyed the short story version of the third story, The Satoshi Affair. The book was a mixed bag.
The introduction was unreadable. O’Hagan tells a great story when he’s focused on a narrative, but the minute he gives himself space to ruminate, his prose goes straight to hell. It’s purple, repetitive, full of entirely unnecessary and clunky literary allusions, and massively self-indulgent. His theme throughout the book is the blurring of the line between fact and fiction, or real person and literary character, that people closely associated with the internet supposedly inhabit. He also likes to draw attention to his writerly duty to report the truth above all else. Especially above the close relationships he develops with his subjects. I guess these are fine themes, but they’re not very interesting in his handling. The latter mostly serves to justify his poor boundaries.
The first chapter, Ghosting, is often compelling. The final pages are hand-wringing apology/love letter to Julian. Sometimes the story is a great character study of a sexist narcissist who can’t live up to, nor entirely understand, the values he symbolizes. Other times, it’s a miserable defense of the idea of the man.
The second story, The Invention of Ronald Pinn, is unreadable. The premise is unethical, O’Hagan is unconvincing and trite in his defense of his actions, and he didn’t even tell an interesting story. He’s at his most self-indulgent here.
The third story, The Satoshi Affair, is the strongest. I was happy to get a conclusion! O’Hagan’s portrait of Craig Wright as a conflicted and ambivalent character is much more convincing than the one of Assange. He does a nice job of laying out the case for Wright at the same time as he destabilizes it. The book is worth a read for the first 3/4 of the Assange story and all of this one.
The introduction was unreadable. O’Hagan tells a great story when he’s focused on a narrative, but the minute he gives himself space to ruminate, his prose goes straight to hell. It’s purple, repetitive, full of entirely unnecessary and clunky literary allusions, and massively self-indulgent. His theme throughout the book is the blurring of the line between fact and fiction, or real person and literary character, that people closely associated with the internet supposedly inhabit. He also likes to draw attention to his writerly duty to report the truth above all else. Especially above the close relationships he develops with his subjects. I guess these are fine themes, but they’re not very interesting in his handling. The latter mostly serves to justify his poor boundaries.
The first chapter, Ghosting, is often compelling. The final pages are hand-wringing apology/love letter to Julian. Sometimes the story is a great character study of a sexist narcissist who can’t live up to, nor entirely understand, the values he symbolizes. Other times, it’s a miserable defense of the idea of the man.
The second story, The Invention of Ronald Pinn, is unreadable. The premise is unethical, O’Hagan is unconvincing and trite in his defense of his actions, and he didn’t even tell an interesting story. He’s at his most self-indulgent here.
The third story, The Satoshi Affair, is the strongest. I was happy to get a conclusion! O’Hagan’s portrait of Craig Wright as a conflicted and ambivalent character is much more convincing than the one of Assange. He does a nice job of laying out the case for Wright at the same time as he destabilizes it. The book is worth a read for the first 3/4 of the Assange story and all of this one.
quintus's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
quietdomino's review against another edition
dispatches from the edges of the internet from a very good writer who also is maybe a little too pleased with himself and is definitely deeply pissed off at Julian Assange
skaggsy's review against another edition
I loved this. I wasn't expecting it to expand my mind but it did.
amyzig's review against another edition
2.0
I had much higher expectations of this book - It was very name-droppy and boring. I had hoped it would go into more of the psychology behind why people choose to hide behind the internet, but it didn't.
joesb's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.75
sagelawrence04's review
2.0
Well-written essays but not topics I was interested in. I liked The Invention of Ronald Pinn the most.
angelahayes's review against another edition
5.0
5 Stars
The Secret Life: The Bond Is the first instalment of The Secret Life series by Shay Mills. This is an emotive, heart-wrenching coming of age story that is mainly set the 1970’s and early 1980’s- but transitions from past to present and back again multiple times over the course of the story.
Mr. Mills sets a more serious tone here than in the other books of his that I have read. The friendships, bonds, and camaraderie of the characters felt like a cross between “Stand By Me” and “The Outsiders”- which gave it an added emotional factor.
We begin the story with an unexpected call that William (our narrator) receives about the death of his close friend, army buddy Aaron. The loss hits him hard, especially when he takes delivery of all Aarons personal journals- a lifetime of memories and life events- full of the secrets Aaron hid from the world. The journals are sent to help William better understand Aaron and aid him in composing a eulogy for his friend. But those books contain more than William expected- and so he soon finds himself thrust into a story of poverty, dysfunctional family dynamics, accidents, abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual), harrowing adventures, mischief, first love, puberty, jealousy, revenge, loss, grief, tough lessons, and so much more.
As William works his way through the journals he is struck by the misery, horror, rage, fear, loss, longing, and hopelessness woven through the books. But at the same time there is happiness to be found amongst the sadness and strife. Through William and Aaron, I got to be part of it all- seeing life through the eyes of Aaron from age 5 through to 13- following every stage of his younger years, and I came out the other side a little traumatised by what he went through- but also admiring the strength of character it took to endure! It isn’t over though- as Aaron’s story is set to continue in the next book- and I will be anxiously awaiting to find out what happens next.
There are a LOT of characters (65+) to keep track of- who either play a role in the story or who are mentioned in passing. There is also a lot of dialogue happening through the story which does slow down the flow of the storyline in places. The story was a little slow to get going while the groundwork was being laid out. But as the pace picked up, the story flowed more easily. In mentioning these things though, I also need to stress that these issues didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the story- only to encourage you to give this book the chance it deserves.
The story is mainly from William and Aaron’s point of view- but we do get several other perspectives that help to build depth, giving a bigger picture of the events.
If you are worried about graphic sexual abuse scenes- I can assure you that while we are left with a strong, heart-wrenching impressions of what happened, Mr. Mills doesn’t go into graphic imagery of the events- giving just enough detail and information to understand what Aaron goes through, while saving the reader from more horrifically disturbing images. There is violence, injury, and accidents depicted through the story- in the form of abuse and/or bullying- or as the result of sheer clumsiness, or down to daredevil antics gone wrong.
A word of warning though- have a box of tissues close at hand, because you are going to need them!
An emotive coming of age story about overcoming overwhelming odds!
Well done!
Thank you, Shay Mills!
The Secret Life: The Bond Is the first instalment of The Secret Life series by Shay Mills. This is an emotive, heart-wrenching coming of age story that is mainly set the 1970’s and early 1980’s- but transitions from past to present and back again multiple times over the course of the story.
Mr. Mills sets a more serious tone here than in the other books of his that I have read. The friendships, bonds, and camaraderie of the characters felt like a cross between “Stand By Me” and “The Outsiders”- which gave it an added emotional factor.
We begin the story with an unexpected call that William (our narrator) receives about the death of his close friend, army buddy Aaron. The loss hits him hard, especially when he takes delivery of all Aarons personal journals- a lifetime of memories and life events- full of the secrets Aaron hid from the world. The journals are sent to help William better understand Aaron and aid him in composing a eulogy for his friend. But those books contain more than William expected- and so he soon finds himself thrust into a story of poverty, dysfunctional family dynamics, accidents, abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual), harrowing adventures, mischief, first love, puberty, jealousy, revenge, loss, grief, tough lessons, and so much more.
As William works his way through the journals he is struck by the misery, horror, rage, fear, loss, longing, and hopelessness woven through the books. But at the same time there is happiness to be found amongst the sadness and strife. Through William and Aaron, I got to be part of it all- seeing life through the eyes of Aaron from age 5 through to 13- following every stage of his younger years, and I came out the other side a little traumatised by what he went through- but also admiring the strength of character it took to endure! It isn’t over though- as Aaron’s story is set to continue in the next book- and I will be anxiously awaiting to find out what happens next.
There are a LOT of characters (65+) to keep track of- who either play a role in the story or who are mentioned in passing. There is also a lot of dialogue happening through the story which does slow down the flow of the storyline in places. The story was a little slow to get going while the groundwork was being laid out. But as the pace picked up, the story flowed more easily. In mentioning these things though, I also need to stress that these issues didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the story- only to encourage you to give this book the chance it deserves.
The story is mainly from William and Aaron’s point of view- but we do get several other perspectives that help to build depth, giving a bigger picture of the events.
If you are worried about graphic sexual abuse scenes- I can assure you that while we are left with a strong, heart-wrenching impressions of what happened, Mr. Mills doesn’t go into graphic imagery of the events- giving just enough detail and information to understand what Aaron goes through, while saving the reader from more horrifically disturbing images. There is violence, injury, and accidents depicted through the story- in the form of abuse and/or bullying- or as the result of sheer clumsiness, or down to daredevil antics gone wrong.
A word of warning though- have a box of tissues close at hand, because you are going to need them!
An emotive coming of age story about overcoming overwhelming odds!
Well done!
Thank you, Shay Mills!
girlnextshore's review against another edition
2.0
Three true accounts of the modern day world in the interwebs - from ghosting to catfishing and being (semi-) evil geniuses. Tactful, yet factual anecdotes on how one’s sense of self can be disrupted in today’s digital age. The first part about Julian Assange sets the tone of narcissism, whilst the last part about Satoshi Nakamoto (aka Mr Bitcoin algorithm) was just mind-boggling. It won’t be everyone’s cuppatea, but it’s intriguing enough to keep pursuing.
lisanzio's review against another edition
3.0
la primera historia es un poco lenta y tarda en atraparte, pero las otras dos son una maravilla. todas giran en torno al concepto de la identidad creada a través de internet y como a la larga se pierde el sentido de la misma.