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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
I have read this book at least half a dozen times and I keep going back. I think this is coupland's finest work. There is charm, sadness, technology and a snapshot of life at a very specific moment in time. With the exception of a notable lack of cellphones, this story could be 2013 as easily as it is 1993.
2018:
Re-read this again. There are certainly some dated references like "information superhighway" but there are certain messages that continue to resonate about tech/nerd culture and employment self-identity and finding a real life. Some of my favorite characters in all of Coupland's novels appear in this book.
2018:
Re-read this again. There are certainly some dated references like "information superhighway" but there are certain messages that continue to resonate about tech/nerd culture and employment self-identity and finding a real life. Some of my favorite characters in all of Coupland's novels appear in this book.
I genuinely can't believe it's been ten years since I first read this book, but apparently it has been, since I read it in the summer of 1997, right in the midst of the first web boom. It spoke to me then -- about creating your own family, about being happy versus having money and when the two intersect -- and it still resonates with me now. I can't speak to how well Coupland got the Microsoft culture, but I can speak to the fact that his sad, lonely geeks looking for love and connection reminded me of my friends then and still remind me of people I know and love.
This one took me ages and ages to get through. It's a good example of the sort of book I need to learn to put down and come back to later - not a bad book, but one I just wasn't feeling it at that moment. Instead I did my usual, suffered through, and essentially stopped reading. Maybe one of these days I'll learn, but most likely not.
This is the story of a group of Microsoft programmers in the early 90s who leave the company to form a start-up in Silicon Valley. It's written as journal entries on the protagonist's PowerBook. It's a fun trip back to that decade, and while you'd think all of the pop culture references would leave it horribly dated, the central themes the characters obsess over - finding meaning in what you do, balancing work and personal life, health, love, loss - are all timeless. The nerdy side of it even feels quite fresh and forward-thinking for the time. They were developing something similar to Minecraft in their start-up, and the idea of trying to make it big with a small start-up is easily as relevant today as it was back then.
It's a simple plot, a techie slice-of-life novel, which I found very relatable as a programmer in the future version of this world. But the characters all felt a bit flat to me. They just didn't come to life at all, and while they worked as vessels for Coupland to present his hilarious and interesting philosophical musings and rambling observations through, they left me with no attachment to the story. He did do a brilliant job near the end of finally bringing in actual human emotion, but that could have hit so much harder if I had felt anything prior to that.
I really wish I had read this in the 90s. I would have absolutely loved it. Reading it now just made me want to re-read JPod, a mid-2000s take on a programmer's life and the spiritual successor to Microserfs, which I see now isn't nearly as similar as I was led to believe. I typically find Coupland's novels to be entertaining and quick reads, and despite my issues this time, I think I could return to it at some point and get a lot more from it. This time, it was just alright.
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This is the story of a group of Microsoft programmers in the early 90s who leave the company to form a start-up in Silicon Valley. It's written as journal entries on the protagonist's PowerBook. It's a fun trip back to that decade, and while you'd think all of the pop culture references would leave it horribly dated, the central themes the characters obsess over - finding meaning in what you do, balancing work and personal life, health, love, loss - are all timeless. The nerdy side of it even feels quite fresh and forward-thinking for the time. They were developing something similar to Minecraft in their start-up, and the idea of trying to make it big with a small start-up is easily as relevant today as it was back then.
It's a simple plot, a techie slice-of-life novel, which I found very relatable as a programmer in the future version of this world. But the characters all felt a bit flat to me. They just didn't come to life at all, and while they worked as vessels for Coupland to present his hilarious and interesting philosophical musings and rambling observations through, they left me with no attachment to the story. He did do a brilliant job near the end of finally bringing in actual human emotion, but that could have hit so much harder if I had felt anything prior to that.
I really wish I had read this in the 90s. I would have absolutely loved it. Reading it now just made me want to re-read JPod, a mid-2000s take on a programmer's life and the spiritual successor to Microserfs, which I see now isn't nearly as similar as I was led to believe. I typically find Coupland's novels to be entertaining and quick reads, and despite my issues this time, I think I could return to it at some point and get a lot more from it. This time, it was just alright.
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I read this book since I love Jpod and that is suppposed to be a kind of sequel to Microserfs. I like Jpod a lot better. I don't know if it was because the characters in Jpod were the same as me when it was written and Microserf characters were 10 years older? I didn't find the characters as appealing in Microserfs. Some parts of Jpod were absurd and over the top but I loved that about that book. I'm interested in reading some other Douglas Coupland books now. I have Eleanor Rigby-any other suggestions?
Solid 3.5.
Coupland wrote this after “Life After God” which I enjoyed but somehow the short diary entries don’t quite work as well here. But it was ahead of its time, and less cynical about the tech industry than many of the books now.
Coupland wrote this after “Life After God” which I enjoyed but somehow the short diary entries don’t quite work as well here. But it was ahead of its time, and less cynical about the tech industry than many of the books now.
Very sweet, slightly dated but that really doesn't matter. It's startlingly sweet. Not at all what I expected. And so much more interesting and thoughtful than The Circle.
For some reason, my favorite part of this book was the description of the highway system.
I listened to the book on tape ready by Matthew Perry. It was very good. It is always fabulous to have a man read to you while on a road trip.
I first read this book when it came out in 1993(94?). In fact, I read the excerpt that was in WiReD magazine. It's such a perfect encapsulation of geeks circa right before the web boom of the mid to late-90s. I re-read this book about once a year, but each time the world in this books seems further and further away. Still, the characters and story are compelling. One of my favorite books.