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A review by justinkhchen
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
4.0
4.5 stars
A love letter to friendship and curiosity, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is a puzzle-solving adventure filled with millennial quirkiness and Silicon Valley eagerness.
I'll admit this is not a piece of 'serious' literature with the most in-depth characters, and its conclusion is a little simplistic and cliché, but what it does provide is a huge dose of passionate optimism. The reader can easily sense Robin Sloan's genuine obsession, and fan-boying over all the covered topics, from practical movie special effects, to typography. I also thoroughly enjoy the parallel made between the pioneering spirit of book printing and today's boundless advancement in the tech industry.
I recalled this book blew up when it was first released in 2012, and the hype ended up provoking some unwarranted cynicism: yes, Google is mentioned constantly (I didn't mind it, but I also work with Google on the daily, so maybe I'm already immune), yes, there's an overlay of 'techbro' attitude—but with the lighthearted tone, I didn't find any of its remarks problematic, and calling this novel 'glorifying start-ups without addressing the toxicity' might be an exaggerated over-reaction to a topic beyond the novel's intent and reach.
While I wholeheartedly enjoyed the carefree joy offered in Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, I do recognize this is probably best suited for a relatively niche audience; if you're a bookish millennial who loves puzzles and D&G, and is looking for a breezy escapist read with lots of imagination, then give this a try!
p.s. this is another book that's great on audiobook—the stream of consciousness writing style is well-suited for the medium, and the narrator really stretches his boundary to portray all the characters.
A love letter to friendship and curiosity, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is a puzzle-solving adventure filled with millennial quirkiness and Silicon Valley eagerness.
I'll admit this is not a piece of 'serious' literature with the most in-depth characters, and its conclusion is a little simplistic and cliché, but what it does provide is a huge dose of passionate optimism. The reader can easily sense Robin Sloan's genuine obsession, and fan-boying over all the covered topics, from practical movie special effects, to typography. I also thoroughly enjoy the parallel made between the pioneering spirit of book printing and today's boundless advancement in the tech industry.
I recalled this book blew up when it was first released in 2012, and the hype ended up provoking some unwarranted cynicism: yes, Google is mentioned constantly (I didn't mind it, but I also work with Google on the daily, so maybe I'm already immune), yes, there's an overlay of 'techbro' attitude—but with the lighthearted tone, I didn't find any of its remarks problematic, and calling this novel 'glorifying start-ups without addressing the toxicity' might be an exaggerated over-reaction to a topic beyond the novel's intent and reach.
While I wholeheartedly enjoyed the carefree joy offered in Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, I do recognize this is probably best suited for a relatively niche audience; if you're a bookish millennial who loves puzzles and D&G, and is looking for a breezy escapist read with lots of imagination, then give this a try!
p.s. this is another book that's great on audiobook—the stream of consciousness writing style is well-suited for the medium, and the narrator really stretches his boundary to portray all the characters.