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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
Such a varied and intricate book jumping in time and across characters across of web of connections (I guess that was the point with Bix' creation). Still thinking about how I felt about it. You'd get into one character then it would switch up style and view to another, many times, with all of them intertwined but often a distinct style. I had a lot of "now who was Ames? .... oh that one!" moments.
“Those who have not read goon squad…” will not understand one thing that happened here. Maybe I’ll go read goon squad and come back to this. Otherwise I am not sure how or why I finished this. It was unreadable.
unmatched character building, especially considering there are 183 of them.
Filled with characters who used to be on 30-Something, and they ought to find their way back there. I abandoned it before I got bogged down in their too-familiar struggles, their avoidable entanglements, their selfishness, oh, you know, being contemporary and wealthy. If someone can convince me that there is anything of consequence in the novel, I'll reconsider it.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
I'm shocked that Egan would take on a sci fi type topic, one whose themes seem to run through much of the great film and literature of our current time (series like Maniac, films like the Beast, and novels like You Feel It Just Below the Ribs are only a few examples from my own recent reading/viewing).
Carrying on in the grand tradition of DeLillo, Egan ably exposes the flaws in technology designed to fix the psyches of every human (with the evil and fascist assumption that any of us need to be fixed). Bix is one of those hipster douches who really believed the internet would unite, rather than polarize, society, when it was an utterly corrupt proposition from the start, only accessible to those with wealth and elitism, closed to all others. Which is why their so called notions of 'community standards' was always corrupt: it assumed everyone was a rich intellectual or academic who would behave politely at all times(and of course this particular elite is so stupid that he doesn't realize that 95% of the lakes in WI and MN are man made, NOT glacial).
Most of the characters are desperately seeking authenticity at the most inauthentic time in world history, which gives the book a tinge of sadness that (almost) makes me feel bad for the younger generations, who are still hoping for what Egan calls a sudden reconfiguration of the past that will change the entire fit and feel of your adulthood, the moment that will cleave you from the mother whose single goal was your happiness. This theme is played out in even uglier fashion in the novel I mentioned above, which sees children taken from parents at birth, then have all of their memories erased at age 10.
The problem is that characters like Lulu believe that there are intrinsically good and bad people, and has an inordinant fear of the latter, failing to see that her elite status and entitlement do far more violence to the people of the world than any act by a so called violent person. She seems to love online court records and wants everyone on display, warning about their permanent records (just like my 70s childhood!). The email threads depicted, rather than being contrived, are among the most telling aspect of these characters, illuminating facets of our discursive world and the way it has been gamified.
It's a sort of redemption tale in which no characters are redeemed, and it's a sad statement on the current conditon of society. a world where social media is antisocial, narcissistic, and propagandist, so grossly inauthentic.
While I was shocked to discover it as I was reading, at least she got a little something out of dating the evil Steve Jobs (and I don't just mean the computer he gave her in the 80s or 90s).
Carrying on in the grand tradition of DeLillo, Egan ably exposes the flaws in technology designed to fix the psyches of every human (with the evil and fascist assumption that any of us need to be fixed). Bix is one of those hipster douches who really believed the internet would unite, rather than polarize, society, when it was an utterly corrupt proposition from the start, only accessible to those with wealth and elitism, closed to all others. Which is why their so called notions of 'community standards' was always corrupt: it assumed everyone was a rich intellectual or academic who would behave politely at all times(and of course this particular elite is so stupid that he doesn't realize that 95% of the lakes in WI and MN are man made, NOT glacial).
Most of the characters are desperately seeking authenticity at the most inauthentic time in world history, which gives the book a tinge of sadness that (almost) makes me feel bad for the younger generations, who are still hoping for what Egan calls a sudden reconfiguration of the past that will change the entire fit and feel of your adulthood, the moment that will cleave you from the mother whose single goal was your happiness. This theme is played out in even uglier fashion in the novel I mentioned above, which sees children taken from parents at birth, then have all of their memories erased at age 10.
The problem is that characters like Lulu believe that there are intrinsically good and bad people, and has an inordinant fear of the latter, failing to see that her elite status and entitlement do far more violence to the people of the world than any act by a so called violent person. She seems to love online court records and wants everyone on display, warning about their permanent records (just like my 70s childhood!). The email threads depicted, rather than being contrived, are among the most telling aspect of these characters, illuminating facets of our discursive world and the way it has been gamified.
It's a sort of redemption tale in which no characters are redeemed, and it's a sad statement on the current conditon of society. a world where social media is antisocial, narcissistic, and propagandist, so grossly inauthentic.
While I was shocked to discover it as I was reading, at least she got a little something out of dating the evil Steve Jobs (and I don't just mean the computer he gave her in the 80s or 90s).
Each chapter is a completely different set of characters written in
different styles. It jumps around and barely mentions the point which is a technological where you can revisit memories. It just wasn’t my cup of tea.
different styles. It jumps around and barely mentions the point which is a technological where you can revisit memories. It just wasn’t my cup of tea.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
challenging
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Just as with A Visit From the Goon Squad, Egan’s character development is so well-executed; I enjoyed unwinding the interconnected relationships.
I enjoyed the weaving of relationships across multiple characters and was pretty engaging