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dude_watchin_with_the_brontes's review against another edition
2.0
In some ways this reminds me of The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao, in that there are SO MANY things I love about it, but Yu cannot let you forget, even for a second, exactly what he thinks women are for. The last story was so explicit about it, it left me so upset.
I liked the first story a lot, Standard Loneliness Package, which had a really interesting premise, and a pretty good execution except for, you guessed it, there is only one woman, and she is defined 85% by her relationship with the protagonist and 15% by her relationship with her father. Hero Absorbs Major Damage was similar - very cool premise, lots of humor, but there's only two women and one of them is the love interest, and the other is
Troubleshooting, Inventory, and The Book of Categories were all interesting in the vein of Invisible Cities or Einstein's Dreams in that they seemed to be mostly focused on the thought experiment, and less so on developing characters (or at least, more than one every-man character), and that may be why they were among the better stories.
Overall, though, this book reminded me of that quote from The Social Network (which I have never seen, but has brought about one of my favorite quotes of all time): You're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole.
Spoiler
It is literally a letter to all women that they should love men who seem unloveable so they don't kill themselves.I liked the first story a lot, Standard Loneliness Package, which had a really interesting premise, and a pretty good execution except for, you guessed it, there is only one woman, and she is defined 85% by her relationship with the protagonist and 15% by her relationship with her father. Hero Absorbs Major Damage was similar - very cool premise, lots of humor, but there's only two women and one of them is the love interest, and the other is
Spoiler
in love with the love interest (which is played for "ooh, that's hot!", while male homosexuality is played for "ew gross no homo" laughs).Troubleshooting, Inventory, and The Book of Categories were all interesting in the vein of Invisible Cities or Einstein's Dreams in that they seemed to be mostly focused on the thought experiment, and less so on developing characters (or at least, more than one every-man character), and that may be why they were among the better stories.
Overall, though, this book reminded me of that quote from The Social Network (which I have never seen, but has brought about one of my favorite quotes of all time): You're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole.
rocketiza's review against another edition
4.0
Four stars may be a little generous, but when Yu hits, he really hits.
katieparker's review against another edition
3.0
A very quick read, given that I finished it in a day (even after reading 150 pages of a different book). Some stories I really liked (Standard Loneliness Package, Open), while some I had a harder time following (The Book of Categories, Note to Self). Overall, it was quirky and had some good, insightful moments.
asunnybooknook's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 thought provoking but written for men by a man fr
helpfulsnowman's review against another edition
3.0
A lot like his last book, this one left me feeling a bit confused, but also kind of awed.
Charles Yu is an awesome writer, and he has awesome ideas. He's a great science-fiction writer because he uses technology and science as an avenue to talking about human emotion instead of using it to talk about big spaceships, haunted spaceships, or really, extra big spaceships.
Does anyone write books about small, humble spaceships anymore?
I also appreciate that he's not afraid to experiment. He's not afraid to write a collection of very different stories, to write some that are very short, or to play around with different formats.
Some of it goes over my head, though. When things get theoretical, or when reading a story about a guy writing letters to an alternate dimension version of himself, I'm lost. And I don't know what the threshold is, but after being lost there is a certain number of words I can read before needing to be anchored again.
So a great Charles Yu story is great. A not-as-great Charles Yu story is a little like being in a science class that's above your level. You're marveling at some big stuff one minute, and then in the next you're lost. It's good to take classes that make you feel like that. But I've always preferred great stories to good classes.
Charles Yu is an awesome writer, and he has awesome ideas. He's a great science-fiction writer because he uses technology and science as an avenue to talking about human emotion instead of using it to talk about big spaceships, haunted spaceships, or really, extra big spaceships.
Does anyone write books about small, humble spaceships anymore?
I also appreciate that he's not afraid to experiment. He's not afraid to write a collection of very different stories, to write some that are very short, or to play around with different formats.
Some of it goes over my head, though. When things get theoretical, or when reading a story about a guy writing letters to an alternate dimension version of himself, I'm lost. And I don't know what the threshold is, but after being lost there is a certain number of words I can read before needing to be anchored again.
So a great Charles Yu story is great. A not-as-great Charles Yu story is a little like being in a science class that's above your level. You're marveling at some big stuff one minute, and then in the next you're lost. It's good to take classes that make you feel like that. But I've always preferred great stories to good classes.
rdonovan01's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
skbarks's review against another edition
5.0
Funny, moving, whip-smart, beautiful, and so, so creative. I enjoyed all of the stories and loved a lot of them, and the last one in particular is deadly. I want to read something new by this guy every day.
"The sorry cancels itself out, and it might only mean this: that happened to you, and I can see that it hurt, and I am going to say this word, sorry, that corresponds to something, a vector, a medium of propagation and/or force-carrying particle that allows transmission or communication of sorry, or the related but not identical state of sorryness, a mysterious action-at-a-distance between humans that allows one human, separated in space and time from another human, to impart upon the other an influence, an effect. The state of being sorry."
"The sorry cancels itself out, and it might only mean this: that happened to you, and I can see that it hurt, and I am going to say this word, sorry, that corresponds to something, a vector, a medium of propagation and/or force-carrying particle that allows transmission or communication of sorry, or the related but not identical state of sorryness, a mysterious action-at-a-distance between humans that allows one human, separated in space and time from another human, to impart upon the other an influence, an effect. The state of being sorry."
assyrians's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
shannonmatalone's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
pdestrienne's review against another edition
fast-paced
3.5
I read this while I was super anxious so I'll probably never remember anything about the experience. Not the fault of the book tho.