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bjornlarssen 's review for:
Attack Surface
by Cory Doctorow
It's a beast of a book that's definitely not for everyone. It's a nerd's paradise that's interrupted with infodumps for non-nerds ("let me check if I understood this correctly, what this application does is…"). Once you get past the technological jargon, it's a book about choices; power; security; power; and more power. Decisions – is it good enough to tie yourself to the less evil of two evils? Can we truly afford identity politics when all of us are at stake, only some of us can afford not to think about it…much? What if The Good Side wins, then seizes the power from The Bad Side – of course to only use it for good purposes? Who deserves freedom? We do, of course, but who's "we"?
Attack Surface leaves you feeling sort of nauseously optimistic, knowing you're most probably wrong – or nauseously pessimistic, knowing you're most probably right (that's me). Doctorow points out a lot of problems consuming humanity and the world, but his solution seems to be "just continue doing the right thing and eventually it must work." Thing is, most of us – as in us, humans – believe they're doing the right thing. There are surprisingly few people who would proudly declare "yes, I do bad things." Some of those very-well-meaning-indeed people are incredibly rich and will get richer – Doctorow even explains how. (Yes, I'm cynical, because I'm watching the climate catastrophe movement and what it has so far achieved. You don't get to negotiate with Mother Nature, but you apparently also don't get to negotiate with the 100 companies that produce 71% of world's emissions.)
When it comes to writing, Masha's internal monologue is both fun and, at times, distracting. I don't really understand the editing decision to sometimes switch into present tense for just one or two sentences. Occasionally deus-ex-machina (with emphasis on machina, in this case) was a bit too heavy-handed. It never made me want to stop reading, but I did frown every now and then.
Some of the subplots are left hanging or under-explained. It might be the author's way of saying "it's not over," not just about the book, but the *waves at everything*. May he be right and I – wrong.
Attack Surface leaves you feeling sort of nauseously optimistic, knowing you're most probably wrong – or nauseously pessimistic, knowing you're most probably right (that's me). Doctorow points out a lot of problems consuming humanity and the world, but his solution seems to be "just continue doing the right thing and eventually it must work." Thing is, most of us – as in us, humans – believe they're doing the right thing. There are surprisingly few people who would proudly declare "yes, I do bad things." Some of those very-well-meaning-indeed people are incredibly rich and will get richer – Doctorow even explains how. (Yes, I'm cynical, because I'm watching the climate catastrophe movement and what it has so far achieved. You don't get to negotiate with Mother Nature, but you apparently also don't get to negotiate with the 100 companies that produce 71% of world's emissions.)
When it comes to writing, Masha's internal monologue is both fun and, at times, distracting. I don't really understand the editing decision to sometimes switch into present tense for just one or two sentences. Occasionally deus-ex-machina (with emphasis on machina, in this case) was a bit too heavy-handed. It never made me want to stop reading, but I did frown every now and then.
Some of the subplots are left hanging or under-explained. It might be the author's way of saying "it's not over," not just about the book, but the *waves at everything*. May he be right and I – wrong.