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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
[No spoilers] Really cool book. The vignette-style writing and the interconnected narratives mirrored the underlying theme of the book, that you can upload your consciousness and memories to the Collective, and other people can access your memories through that Collective. Each vignette was a snippet of a character’s life, and that is like a memory, a snapshot of their life. The connections between seemingly unrelated characters gave that “small world” type of feel that a mega social media like thing makes more and more possible. As a reader, it was also really satisfying when the connection to other characters was revealed, like an “oooooh that’s who they are!” moment. Sometimes it got difficult to keep track of the characters, though, so I’d suggest mapping them out or referencing a character list online (which I did) to keep up.
I wish the theme of uploading your consciousness and it’s implications were explored a bit more. Although it’s presence was always felt and often alluded to, I felt like it took a backseat while the focus was on the human characters. The human characters are also very interesting, and perhaps the author was choosing to focus on them, comment on humanity, society, etc. I just wish a little more exploration of the uploading consciousness was done.
Just an additional thought on gender in the book: the book is essentially set in the present day, sort of from early 2000s to now. A lot of gender roles of the characters in the book seemed a bit old-fashioned to me. This gave a weird feel of the setting being futuristic (with big advances in tech) and old-fashioned (witch traditional gender roles popping up often). Maybe this was intentional, but not sure what to make of it.
I wish the theme of uploading your consciousness and it’s implications were explored a bit more. Although it’s presence was always felt and often alluded to, I felt like it took a backseat while the focus was on the human characters. The human characters are also very interesting, and perhaps the author was choosing to focus on them, comment on humanity, society, etc. I just wish a little more exploration of the uploading consciousness was done.
Just an additional thought on gender in the book: the book is essentially set in the present day, sort of from early 2000s to now. A lot of gender roles of the characters in the book seemed a bit old-fashioned to me. This gave a weird feel of the setting being futuristic (with big advances in tech) and old-fashioned (witch traditional gender roles popping up often). Maybe this was intentional, but not sure what to make of it.
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Too much going on, too many characters, really hard to connect with anyone.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Intriguing but a bit confusing I would be interested in reading again
3.5 I feel like I wasn’t in the right head space for this book. I loved goon squad so much but the although some of the characters and plot points came back to me as I read this one I found myself constantly thinking now who was that again/what happened in goon squad. I think without having read goon squad the section on the trip to the dictatorship may make little sense. Each section was very well written and I found the last section compelling but it didn’t quite all hang together for me.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
reflective
medium-paced
Onmogelijk na te vertellen boek. Het gaat over authenticiteit en clichees, over kunstmatige intelligentie, briljante uitvindingen en de beperkingen daarvan, over hoe we allemaal in kaart gebracht zijn, maar sommigen zich daarvan weer bevrijden (zie De Cirkel van Eggers) en over familie, genen, veelbelovendheid en het niet waarmaken, ouderschap, liefde, risico's en zekerheid, carrières en het verkloten daarvan (het is ook een heel Amerikaans boek), verslavingen, gekte en nog veel meer. Met een enorme hoeveelheid personages waarvan ik de helft zou moeten kennen van Bezoek van een knokploeg, maar eerlijk gezegd herkende ik ze niet en eigenlijk was dat ook geen probleem. Jennifer Egan schrijft prachtig en met veel gevoel en veel gevoel voor detail, waardoor een situatie en een personage onmiddellijk gaat leven. Ze experimenteert volop met vorm, zoals emailgesprekken met alle gebreken van haastige communicatie, oeverloze lijsten opsommingen van tips voor spionnen en klachtenlijsten. En toch blijf ik doorlezen en vond ik het geloof ik nog mooier dan de Knokploeg, maar zeker weten doe ik het niet, net zomin als ik eigenlijk weet wat ik nu precies gelezen heb. Intrigerend, dat in elk geval.
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes