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mxmlln's review against another edition
1.0
Directionless. Probably the best part of this book is the title. It incorrectly insinuates some SciFi plot. Instead, the contemporary story revolves around a close-to-retirement, failed consultant. His one final chance is to use a network connection to secure a Middle East business contract. However, his presentation is low priority and he must wait an unknown amount of days or weeks for his opportunity. The book is filled with the irrelevant events until his meeting. By far the worst book my club has selected :(
Themes:
Going to the tent everyday
Tumor
Suicide neighbor
Insomnia
Colleagues
Ex wife
Father
Yousef
Doctor
King
Themes:
Going to the tent everyday
Tumor
Suicide neighbor
Insomnia
Colleagues
Ex wife
Father
Yousef
Doctor
King
deecreatenola's review against another edition
1.0
Never judge a book by its cover. That's what I did with this book and I was very sorry I did. The cover is made to look like a hand-carved wooden cover on a book you might find in a Middle Eastern bazaar. I was also intrigued because the author wrote Zetouin, which is a non-fiction story about a muslim man who was falsely imprisoned after Katrina. The cover caught me, the slim New Orleans connection reeled me in.
I should have known when the description said that the story was elegiac. Boy, was it. I couldn't stand the main character, Alan Clay, and his utter self-involvement and lamentations over the mistakes he's made. Yes, it does place it well in our current times and gives some framing for the current economic state we are in. But the story is so plodding, with very little actually happening. That is part of the point, but that doesn't make it any more enjoyable. The only things I liked were the description of Saudi Arabia in all of its dichotomies and the character of Yousef. I would have much preferred story focusing on Yousef.
I should have known when the description said that the story was elegiac. Boy, was it. I couldn't stand the main character, Alan Clay, and his utter self-involvement and lamentations over the mistakes he's made. Yes, it does place it well in our current times and gives some framing for the current economic state we are in. But the story is so plodding, with very little actually happening. That is part of the point, but that doesn't make it any more enjoyable. The only things I liked were the description of Saudi Arabia in all of its dichotomies and the character of Yousef. I would have much preferred story focusing on Yousef.
amytreadwell's review against another edition
3.0
With shades of death of a salesman and a whiff of the sheltering sky, this book appealed to my love of books about downward spirals--of people, places, industries. Hologram covers all three.
readingbecs83's review against another edition
4.0
I would give this 3.5 stars. Nowhere near on par with what is the what or zeitoun, but a quick read with an interesting story.
brittrivera's review against another edition
3.0
I picked up this book for three reasons:
1. It is written by Dave Eggers, a writer I enjoy reading and want to read more books by
2. It was on the "buy 2 get 1 free" table at Barnes and Noble and my mom had already picked out two other books
3. I heard it was going to be a movie starring George Clooney so I thought, "Why not?"
This book reminds me a lot of a film also starring George Clooney called Up in the Air or what I like to call the genre of White Middle Age Men Having Existential Crises. Funny how I like that genre, but dislike its female counterpart mostly because those books/movies involve a 40 something divorcee traveling "because she can" and finding "real world experiences" all while "discovering herself."
In this story Alan Clay has every right to be a Man On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown. He's a failure as deemed by society and therefore has a hard time living with himself. This is one of those books where you find yourself going, "Oh no, you're really not going to do that, are you?" A LOT. Alan is flawed, so much so that he seems too flawed and therefore unrealistic if that makes any sense. But I liked him while still feeling embarrassed/pitting him at the same time.
A Hologram for the King is a book that could only exist today; It captures our fears of the increasingly global economy, the idea of being replaced by technology, the cultural misunderstandings despite the fact that the "world is flat." All interesting ideas viewed through the lens of a middle aged man poised at the turn of it all.
“They were so in love with the world, and so disappointed in every aspect of it.”
*Update* It's Tom Hanks, not George Clooney. Strangely I can see both working out.
1. It is written by Dave Eggers, a writer I enjoy reading and want to read more books by
2. It was on the "buy 2 get 1 free" table at Barnes and Noble and my mom had already picked out two other books
3. I heard it was going to be a movie starring George Clooney so I thought, "Why not?"
This book reminds me a lot of a film also starring George Clooney called Up in the Air or what I like to call the genre of White Middle Age Men Having Existential Crises. Funny how I like that genre, but dislike its female counterpart mostly because those books/movies involve a 40 something divorcee traveling "because she can" and finding "real world experiences" all while "discovering herself."
In this story Alan Clay has every right to be a Man On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown. He's a failure as deemed by society and therefore has a hard time living with himself. This is one of those books where you find yourself going, "Oh no, you're really not going to do that, are you?" A LOT. Alan is flawed, so much so that he seems too flawed and therefore unrealistic if that makes any sense. But I liked him while still feeling embarrassed/pitting him at the same time.
A Hologram for the King is a book that could only exist today; It captures our fears of the increasingly global economy, the idea of being replaced by technology, the cultural misunderstandings despite the fact that the "world is flat." All interesting ideas viewed through the lens of a middle aged man poised at the turn of it all.
“They were so in love with the world, and so disappointed in every aspect of it.”
*Update* It's Tom Hanks, not George Clooney. Strangely I can see both working out.
mazloum's review against another edition
4.0
This was a nice surprise. I walked into Hologram not knowing what to expect, the title seemed a bit on the sci-fi side, and the synopsis was intentionally vague. So, I started reading it, and it seemed to be one of the most honest works of fiction in recent memory. Eggers lays out the protagonist Alan Clay bare to the reader; his feelings, his thoughts and all his weaknesses and loathsome character traits. They're all there for you to see and feel, and it's done wonderfully through concise prose that feels familiar and inviting. Even the other characters are seen through his eyes.
I would also be wrong to fail to mention the other star of this novel: Saudi Arabia. Having spent some time there myself, I found the cultural references and implications to be largely true, and the novel manages to be honest, lacking the whole 'Westerner in the land of arabs' angle. I found myself curious to know more about Youssef and his guitar-strumming friend, a testament to the novel's well-developed characters.
So, pick this up sometime. It's a lot of fun.
I would also be wrong to fail to mention the other star of this novel: Saudi Arabia. Having spent some time there myself, I found the cultural references and implications to be largely true, and the novel manages to be honest, lacking the whole 'Westerner in the land of arabs' angle. I found myself curious to know more about Youssef and his guitar-strumming friend, a testament to the novel's well-developed characters.
So, pick this up sometime. It's a lot of fun.
bthooper's review against another edition
4.0
Egger's prose is clear, concise, simple. But he wrestles thoughtfully with contemporary themes. Granted, a middle-aged white American male might relate to this book more than others, it is still a simply told but sophisticated story that is worth a read.
jdintr's review against another edition
4.0
There is only one reason to get into this book: you are an American or a US-phile who cares enough about the country's place in the world.
This is a parable, to be read for its message more than mere entertainment. Eggers has strong opinions of America's generation-long decline (Being a fellow Gen-Xer, the use of Schwinn bicycles was poignant. I remember how they were THE bike of my childhood, yet now they're just Chinese-made knockoffs not worth buying for my own kids.)
They closing scene of the book, an unsuccessful sexual encounter, goes beyond parable to allegory. The surreal scenes of Clay's young colleagues in the tent are hilarious, almost Beckettian.
I care deeply for my nation as it is cannibalized by me-first economics and political dreams of Limited Greatness. Hologram really brings this to light.
This is a parable, to be read for its message more than mere entertainment. Eggers has strong opinions of America's generation-long decline (Being a fellow Gen-Xer, the use of Schwinn bicycles was poignant. I remember how they were THE bike of my childhood, yet now they're just Chinese-made knockoffs not worth buying for my own kids.)
They closing scene of the book, an unsuccessful sexual encounter, goes beyond parable to allegory. The surreal scenes of Clay's young colleagues in the tent are hilarious, almost Beckettian.
I care deeply for my nation as it is cannibalized by me-first economics and political dreams of Limited Greatness. Hologram really brings this to light.
bahoulie's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this better than some of Egger's other post-Heartbreaking Work fiction. Less frenetic. However, I found the ending fairly unsatisfying, which may have been the point. The life of the protagonist is certainly unsatisfying. But, as always, I enjoyed a lot of the strange, unhappy stuff that seems to go on inside Egger's mind.