You see a used book store as you drive home, pass it by, but something tells you to turn around. You walk in, greeted by a woman with a revolver at heYou see a used book store as you drive home, pass it by, but something tells you to turn around. You walk in, greeted by a woman with a revolver at her side and books in her eyes. You tell her you don't know why you stopped by. You don't read paper books, and you don't know what you're doing there.
The armed woman sizes you up and tells you to wait. You wait, think she forgot about you, and decide to leave. She stops you on your way out and hands you a book. She spent 10 minutes looking for it because she knew, she just knew, this book was for you. You look at the old tattered western, pay her 2 dollars for it, and leave.
You open the book on an airplane, and you see through the eyes of Jack Burns, and now you understand what she knew.
A man and his horse, traveling without a plan. A man who sees apartments building as large graveyards. A man who prefers to walk on dirt over concrete. A man who relishes the taste of hunger. A man who struggles to understand what everyone else does. And a society that cannot fathom that one can deprogram themselves from the rest of the masses by choice.
Not for every reader, but great storytelling. ...more
It is the perfect pronoun to describe something we fear, or better, don't understand. Great book.It is the perfect pronoun to describe something we fear, or better, don't understand. Great book....more
Down on his luck hacker guy meets wunderkind gal in the not too distant dystopic future. Together, they navigate the advancedClassic cyberpunk story:
Down on his luck hacker guy meets wunderkind gal in the not too distant dystopic future. Together, they navigate the advanced technological corporatocracy they live in to stop the powers at be from completing their nefarious plans.
Impressive work just because of its ability to predict the usage of technologies like the internet, augmented reality, and Wikipedia/Google earth... back in 1992. It also predicts social phenomena such as school/mass shooting and corporate statehood.
Strangely, but important for the plot, it also heavily delves into the philosophy of linguistics, biblical lore, and religion in general.
Lots of the terminology in the book is out of sync with today's vernacular, we don't use the metaverse, but the internet. But we do have avatars still to display our digital selves, so some of the terms have stuck.
Fun read, but rushed ending. If you enjoy science-fiction, it's a good read as you'll find the origins of a lot of cyber-punk references. ...more
It is not often that a fictional book can explain philosophy better than works on philosophy; it does so here. What philosophy exactly? I'm not sure..It is not often that a fictional book can explain philosophy better than works on philosophy; it does so here. What philosophy exactly? I'm not sure... the book deals with the topics of "heaviness" and "lightness" as applied to love, politics, and the general disposition of the human being. However, the character development of the novel's protagonist is so superbly melancholy, the philosophy only hits you later.
The writing is in a class by itself. Ideas, sayings, or passages are repeated (often verbatim) many times throughout the book, and instead of being superfluous, they are essential for both character development and the reader's understanding. The slightly anachronistic style events are narrated in seems odd, but works so well with the shifting perspectives of the protagonists.
I listened to the English version of this book (translated from Czech). Great, but sobering, book. ...more
Clark does a good job driving the story not by character, but by plot. The plot is very interesting, and very difficult to predict and enters a territClark does a good job driving the story not by character, but by plot. The plot is very interesting, and very difficult to predict and enters a territory rarely explored in science fiction, not what I expected at all in the end. That said, lots of progressive thinking is mentioned throughout the book, and any fans of classic science fiction writers should enjoy it (Heinlein and Asimov come to mind)....more
Pretty simple, right? What do you mean you don't understand entropy? Of course you understand entropy, I assure you. Every time you see a sand castle crumble away in the wind, every time your car breaks down on the road, every time somebody you know dies and is gone forever... you are seeing entropy in motion. Entropy is the measure of disorder in a system... a measure of chaos. The second law of thermodynamics tells us that entropy in a closed system, be it your sand castle, car, or life... never decreases, it will only ever increase to maximum.
But here's the thing, it's not really a law by any means. Nothing in all of actual physics states that this must be, physics actually says it's perfectly possible for random sand molecules to be blown in a way where they land and form a perfect sandcastle (instead of making one crumble away). So why not? Why don't we see things like this happen? Statistics. Yes, the second law of thermodynamics is actually a statistical principle; entropy could indeed decrease in a system (any system like this would be considered a perpetual motion machine), but it's just not statistically likely.
Meaning a sand castle could coincidently form by the winds blowing dust randomly..., but it won't. It won't because the statistical likelihood of the wind and molecules to just happen to be in the right position and velocity for this sand castle to just appear is so slim, I do not have enough memory in my computer to type out all the zeros I need to put behind the odds of it happening (1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,...).
This statistical principle is so powerful and universal, we call it a law. It explains a lot of things in our universe. Before we knew about the second law of thermodynamics, it used to bother physicist that we could move in any direction in space (up, down, forward, backward) but we could only move in one direction in time. Space and time being so closely linked, why was it we could only move forward in time? It’s because entropy always increases that we move forward in time (and never back in time), in a way time is just a measure of increasing entropy. We only go from one moment to another as entropy increases.
Ahhh, I see what you are thinking. Yes, our universe is a closed system, and yes that does mean it will die, . You think it's a little sad that in the end chaos will always win? I don't think so, after all life is beautiful don't you think? Life is amazing in that it can bring a little bit of order in this chaotic world, but funny enough, without entropy there would be no life. So I don't think it's sad, it's just the natural state of affairs that we will grow old, live our lives fighting entropy, and we will die. it's really quite beautiful.
If you want to read a book that asks the questions: what if we could defeat entropy? What if we could win? What would happen? Read this book. ...more
This book resonated with me. It's written in a conversational format, the protagonist is in a one-sided conversation with you as you read. Key themes This book resonated with me. It's written in a conversational format, the protagonist is in a one-sided conversation with you as you read. Key themes are questions of innocence, existence, good/evil, and ultimately human nature. Instead of a summery, here are some of many quotes I highlighted in my e-reader from this book for one reason or another:
“Only one thing is simple in my case: I possess nothing.“
“It was not a matter, mind you, of the certainty I had of being more intelligent than everyone else. Besides, such certainty is of no consequence because so many imbeciles share it.“
“... wealth shields from immediate judgment”
”I planned to puncture the tires of invalids’ vehicles [wheelchairs], to go and shout “lousy proletarian” under the scaffoldings on which laborers were, to slap infants in the subway. “
“I announced the publication of a manifesto exposing the oppression that the oppressed inflict on decent people.“
“I tried accordingly to give up women, in a certain way, and to live in a state of chastity.“
“true debauchery is liberating because it creates no obligations.“
“ marriages, which are merely formalized debauches”
“Truth, like light, blinds. Falsehood, on the contrary, is a beautiful twilight that enhances every object.“
“I didn’t cling to what I owned. To tell the truth, I was a little ashamed to own anything.“
‘But I’m not being crazy; I’m well aware that slavery is not immediately realizable. It will be one of the blessings of the future”
If you like his book "The Stranger", I think you'll like this. If you are super religious, you might not care for this book.
Bradbury does an amazing job of describing his world; when he tells me the protagonist is burning books, I smell smoke. To call the words he uses to iBradbury does an amazing job of describing his world; when he tells me the protagonist is burning books, I smell smoke. To call the words he uses to illustrate his story anything short of vivid would be an understatement. The dialogue he creates inside his character's mind and with other's often develops into beautiful prose. The weakest element is the plot, which is a bit too formulaic (standard dystopian society) with an ending that is too coincidental. 4/5 for the masterful word-crafting and the fact that this book about censorship, has actually been censored. ...more
This is a prodigious book; it takes a lot to get through it. Additionally, It's like reading many different stories at the same time, and so the satisThis is a prodigious book; it takes a lot to get through it. Additionally, It's like reading many different stories at the same time, and so the satisfaction of it's conclusion is multiplied. It was published in a serial manner originally, with the people of it's time waiting in anticipation of each installment. The book laboriously goes through minute details of of things such as the 19th century french aristocracy, the reign and fall of Napoleon, the life of solitude in an European prison, and other obscure things. Recommended to only the most ardent readers to take this book on; they will not likely find anything novel in it's pages, as ardent readers likely have already discovered these elsewhere. But they will appreciate how the author handles the major themes of love, revenge, forgiveness, and hope.
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