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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
Britain in the future is a pure democratic society run by the System--a voting system in which statistically selected citizens vote on everything from contract disputes to criminal trial outcomes--and the Witness--a surveillance system that sees everything, catalogs history, and carves into people's brains and memories to thwart, predict and punish crime. It works flawlessly. Except a woman died while being interrogated which is never supposed to happen. Inspector Melikki Neith is assigned to investigate the death. She begins by downloading the dead woman's interrogation--essentially a file sized collection of the woman's memories and thoughts--into her brain. Inside the dead woman's head, however, are the stories of other people: a Greek finance wizard being chased by a shark, an ancient alchemist trying to resurrect her dead son, an Ethiopian immigrant artist who has to save his granddaughter from a fire, a far future consciousness bent on world/universe destruction. Inspector Neith has to puzzle through these narratives and discover why this woman died and whether this perfect democratic System has something to hide as well.
This book was hard, but enjoyably hard. I learned so many new words: involuted, etiolated, let alone the title, Gnomon, which is a real word. The shark motif fascinated me. There were lots of mysteries in this book, and I'm pretty sure I only understood ten percent of them by the time I finished. In fact, my summary above might not be completely accurate, because I have competing ideas of what was truth in the novel and what was...something else. If I were smarter this book would probably be 4 stars for me. It gave my brain a workout and a challenge but with just enough fantastic ideas and fun plot to keep me reading.
This book was hard, but enjoyably hard. I learned so many new words: involuted, etiolated, let alone the title, Gnomon, which is a real word. The shark motif fascinated me. There were lots of mysteries in this book, and I'm pretty sure I only understood ten percent of them by the time I finished. In fact, my summary above might not be completely accurate, because I have competing ideas of what was truth in the novel and what was...something else. If I were smarter this book would probably be 4 stars for me. It gave my brain a workout and a challenge but with just enough fantastic ideas and fun plot to keep me reading.
For me this was a 2-star reading experience about a 4-star idea. More editing could have made this a better book. I think the author aimed to confuse the reader until the very end and that’s just not enjoyable. There is worthwhile criticism of the technological direction of the world, but I would expect that from sci-fi.
This is one of the wildest things I have ever read. The closest comparison would be the Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson. It's confusing, impressive, overwhelming and funny. Loved it.
I adore this book! It is delightfully complex, beautifully written, and leaves you feeling like you’ve accomplished something in the reading. This is not a novel you can rip through in a day. The first time I read it I finished the book, shut the cover for about thirty seconds then started it back over from the beginning. I’ve now read it three times. It’s got layers of storytelling that when taken separately would all make great compelling novels, but when woven together become more than the sum of their parts. It’s sci-fy and fantasy, part cautionary tale, and part exploration of the human experience. It’s not a book everyone will enjoy, you have to like getting a little lost in the weeds. If you are not comfortable not immediately understanding what you are reading this book is not for you.
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this last year but I realize I can't really remember it, so I think I'll have to read it again.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Phrases like "mind-bending" and "a puzzle box of a novel" get thrown around a lot - I'm as guilty of that as anyone - but this book is the genuine article in both cases. What begins as a futuristic crime thriller, redolent of "Minority Report" and a handful of "Black Mirror" episodes, quickly becomes something else altogether, something both ancient and brand-new. Think of this book as though PKD wrote "The Raw Shark Texts" in 2017 and you'll start to see where the book will take you, but even that mashup elevator pitch does the novel a disservice. This is a long, convoluted, confusing chunk of text and if you get it all at the moment you read it, I'm guessing you're either in the top echelon of geniuses or you're lying - but don't be dissuaded. Harkaway has written a passionate defense of the power of the mind, the individual mind, over the power of technology and it is well worth your time, if that's the kind of thing you go for. And even if that doesn't seem like your bag, come for the starkly different narratives that pepper the text: a sassy Roman alchemist who was married to St. Augustine, a Greek playboy financier who may be channeling a shark god, an Ethiopian painter whose grandchild is creating a brilliant new video game, the London detective trying to solve an impossible murder... and those are just the ones you start with, each brilliantly rendered with its own unique voice.
This is not an easy book. But it was an astounding one.
This is not an easy book. But it was an astounding one.
I am Gnomon and so is my wife.
This book has everything: near future cyberpunk dystopian noir detective, surveillance states, choice architecture, participatory democracy, memory replay, Roman alchemy, the financial crisis, mmorpgs, identity modelling, universe breaking post human give minds, lots and lots of sharks and more.
It is also the foundational text of a mystic cult for the cyber era and worthy of study and contemplation.
Imagine Orwell rewrote Cloud Atlas with help from Philip K Dick and Robert Anton Wilson.
This book has everything: near future cyberpunk dystopian noir detective, surveillance states, choice architecture, participatory democracy, memory replay, Roman alchemy, the financial crisis, mmorpgs, identity modelling, universe breaking post human give minds, lots and lots of sharks and more.
It is also the foundational text of a mystic cult for the cyber era and worthy of study and contemplation.
Imagine Orwell rewrote Cloud Atlas with help from Philip K Dick and Robert Anton Wilson.