Ready Player One
By Ernest Cline
In a not too distant dystopian future, humanity’s only relief from the world’s ills is an immersive virtual reality world called the OASIS. This gigantic computer simulation allows people to be whoever they want to be and play a seemingly endless variety of games. Children even attend virtual schools in the OASIS. The game’s creator, a computer genius named James Halliday, was obsessed with the pop culture and trivia of the 1980s and filled the virtual world with hundreds of references to his favorite movies, books, TV shows and video games from that era.
When Halliday dies, his vast fortune is left to whoever can complete a series of game-like quests within the OASIS. The quest consists of three increasingly difficult puzzles whose solutions are all rooted in knowledge of 80s pop culture. Wade Watts, a high school student who spends most of his waking time logged in to the OASIS, becomes the first person to solve the quest’s initial clue. After that, he is in a race to finish the quest, meeting new friends along the way (who he has never met in person) and trying to avoid dangerous enemies, including a greedy corporation intent on solving the puzzle and winning the prize first.
Your enjoyment of the book largely depends on whether or not you understand the myriads of 80s references. Anyone too old or too young probably won’t care. And even if you are a child of the 80s, a significant portion of the trivia involves video games so if you never played arcade games or had an Atari 2600, you also might feel excluded. Since I am a member of the target audience, I enjoyed the descriptions of 80s games and movies. I had a grin on my face when a game I loved as a kid (now largely forgotten) was a clue to one of the puzzles.
Cline’s prose is serviceable but nothing special. He writes in a “Hollywood” style that mostly describes the action to the reader. His characters are memorable even though many of them have only a few defining characteristics. The plot is fast paced for the most part, with a few slow stretches in the middle and an overlong finale. The OASIS is described in great detail and it does sound like an entertaining place to be. A huge opportunity for social commentary is missed as Cline only occasionally makes statements about how it’s actually not a good idea to spend your entire life logged into a computer game, no matter how difficult the :real” world is. Since the OASIS is presented as a super fun (albeit sometimes dangerous) game, the few comments about the necessity of going outside every once in a while are hollow. The theme that emerges from Ready Player One is that of “Games are cool!” While I enjoyed the book, I wish it had more substance. The 80s trivia was fun in a “Hey, I remember that movie/game/TV show!” way but there’s not much beyond that.
Content warning: There is quite a lot of profanity and crudeness in the novel, mostly of the “trash talk” variety. It adds very little.
Audio Book note: I listened to this book on CD read by Wil Wheaton, himself an 80s pop culture figure thanks to his role on the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation. Wheaton is an excellent reader and his enthusiastic tone adds to the enjoyment of the book. Never has a game of Pac-Man been narrated so vividly.
Morality: C-
Writing: B-
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Book Summary 2011: Fiction
Here is a summary of the fiction books I read in 2011.
K is for Killer by Sue Grafton
A fine entry in the long running series of mysteries featuring California PI Kinsey Millhone. I’m way behind on this series. “V is for Vengeance” was published last year.
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Maintaining interest in a thousand page novel is no easy task, but that’s what Brandon Sanderson has done in this massive first entry into a planned ten volume series. The trick in writing in the epic fantasy genre is to combine effective and credible world-building with interesting characters and a compelling plot. Sanderson does this very well. His specialty is creating believable “magic systems,” meaning the ways in which the fantastic elements are used are logically worked out and consistent. He is also very good at the narrative pace of the novel. As long as the book is, it is rarely boring and he saves some terrific plot twists for the final few pages. I’m looking forward to the next installment.
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
This clever novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2011. Each chapter in the book is a self-contained short story but together they all end up telling one big story. In addition, each story is told from the perspective of a different character and uses a unique literary style. Egan writes in first person, third person, and even a creative use of second person. One story is told in the form of a Powerpoint presentation!
The “goon squad” of the title refers to the ravages of time on people. Characters who at first are presented as young and full of energy can appear in later stories in pretty bad shape. Events and characters that seem trivial or tangential in one story take on greater importance in later stories.
The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke (audio book)
This is one of those cases where now that I’ve listened to the audio version of James Lee Burke’s excellent crime novel I can’t imagine actually reading it. The narration by Will Patton is perfect. He not only gets the Southern accents of the Louisiana setting just right, he comes up with a wide variety of voices for a considerable number of characters. Burke's ability to show multiple sides of the story, using both police and criminals made me think of the TV series The Wire. The presentation of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina is devastating. The story gets quite harrowing at times with some gruesome violence so the book isn’t for everyone.
The 39 Clues books 1 and 2 (audio book)
I listened to the first two volumes of this middle-grade series. If this had been around when I was 12, it probably would have been one of my favorites. The action centers around two children who become involved in a deadly quest around the world to uncover clues to unlock the secret of their powerful family Each book revolves around a historical character. In the ones I listened to, the figures were Benjamin Franklin and Mozart.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I must be one of the last people on the planet to read this popular young adult novel. It certainly is entertaining and makes me want to see the movie. Collins makes some interesting observations about our entertainment obsessed culture by placing the reader into the story making them as much of a voyeur as the people in the novel who are forced to watch the deadly Hunger Games. I have a bad habit of not finishing series so we’ll see if I get around to reading the other two books in 2012.
K is for Killer by Sue Grafton
A fine entry in the long running series of mysteries featuring California PI Kinsey Millhone. I’m way behind on this series. “V is for Vengeance” was published last year.
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Maintaining interest in a thousand page novel is no easy task, but that’s what Brandon Sanderson has done in this massive first entry into a planned ten volume series. The trick in writing in the epic fantasy genre is to combine effective and credible world-building with interesting characters and a compelling plot. Sanderson does this very well. His specialty is creating believable “magic systems,” meaning the ways in which the fantastic elements are used are logically worked out and consistent. He is also very good at the narrative pace of the novel. As long as the book is, it is rarely boring and he saves some terrific plot twists for the final few pages. I’m looking forward to the next installment.
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
This clever novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2011. Each chapter in the book is a self-contained short story but together they all end up telling one big story. In addition, each story is told from the perspective of a different character and uses a unique literary style. Egan writes in first person, third person, and even a creative use of second person. One story is told in the form of a Powerpoint presentation!
The “goon squad” of the title refers to the ravages of time on people. Characters who at first are presented as young and full of energy can appear in later stories in pretty bad shape. Events and characters that seem trivial or tangential in one story take on greater importance in later stories.
The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke (audio book)
This is one of those cases where now that I’ve listened to the audio version of James Lee Burke’s excellent crime novel I can’t imagine actually reading it. The narration by Will Patton is perfect. He not only gets the Southern accents of the Louisiana setting just right, he comes up with a wide variety of voices for a considerable number of characters. Burke's ability to show multiple sides of the story, using both police and criminals made me think of the TV series The Wire. The presentation of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina is devastating. The story gets quite harrowing at times with some gruesome violence so the book isn’t for everyone.
The 39 Clues books 1 and 2 (audio book)
I listened to the first two volumes of this middle-grade series. If this had been around when I was 12, it probably would have been one of my favorites. The action centers around two children who become involved in a deadly quest around the world to uncover clues to unlock the secret of their powerful family Each book revolves around a historical character. In the ones I listened to, the figures were Benjamin Franklin and Mozart.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I must be one of the last people on the planet to read this popular young adult novel. It certainly is entertaining and makes me want to see the movie. Collins makes some interesting observations about our entertainment obsessed culture by placing the reader into the story making them as much of a voyeur as the people in the novel who are forced to watch the deadly Hunger Games. I have a bad habit of not finishing series so we’ll see if I get around to reading the other two books in 2012.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Book Summary 2011: Christian Books
This is the first part of my summary of books I read in 2011.
Christian books
I read more Christian nooks this year than ever before, partly due to the fact that I joined a Bible study and chose to buy the books (at least most of them) used to facilitate weekly discussions. Here are some brief comments on each one along with a link to my review on Amazon where appropriate.
Triumph of the Lamb by Dennis E. Johnson
This is an excellent commentary on the last book of the Bible from an idealist perspective. My Amazon review is here.
Confessions by Augustine, translated by F. J. Sneed
I’ve gotten rather lazy about reading the classics and have not been following C.S. Lewis’s advice on reading an old book for every new one. At least the one classic I read this year is one of the all time greats, not just a Christian classic but one of the greatest works of Western literature: the Confessions of Saint Augustine.
This is the second time I’ve read the Confessions (although when I first read it I skipped the last few chapters.) There’s so much that could be said but what struck me the most was how contemporary Augustine’s story sounds. He may have lived in the 4th century but his journey from Christian home, to skeptic to one of the greatest theologians in church history is remarkably readable to a modern audience. What he goes through in life, both in regular everyday terms as well as his questions about the nature of God could be written today.
I highly recommend the translation by F. J. Sneed. It is very readable. Do not get any of the free versions available for the Kindle or iPad as they contain vastly outdated and difficult to read translations.
The Next Story by Tim Challies
Tim Challies is a blogger from Canada who posts daily on subjects of interest to Christians who are part of the Reformed tradition. One of his interests is technology and how Christians should relate to it. His book The Next Story deals with this subject in a very informative way. He discusses technology from many different angles and relates each aspect to Christianity. I especially appreciated his chapter on how technology distracts us. If you use Facebook, Twitter, or use a Kindle or iPhone, this book is perfect for you. (And that basically includes everybody.)
Did Adam and Eve Really Exist? By C. John Collins
I enjoyed this brief book on the subject of the historicity of Adam and Eve. My Amazon review is here.
Christian books
I read more Christian nooks this year than ever before, partly due to the fact that I joined a Bible study and chose to buy the books (at least most of them) used to facilitate weekly discussions. Here are some brief comments on each one along with a link to my review on Amazon where appropriate.
Triumph of the Lamb by Dennis E. Johnson
This is an excellent commentary on the last book of the Bible from an idealist perspective. My Amazon review is here.
Confessions by Augustine, translated by F. J. Sneed
I’ve gotten rather lazy about reading the classics and have not been following C.S. Lewis’s advice on reading an old book for every new one. At least the one classic I read this year is one of the all time greats, not just a Christian classic but one of the greatest works of Western literature: the Confessions of Saint Augustine.
This is the second time I’ve read the Confessions (although when I first read it I skipped the last few chapters.) There’s so much that could be said but what struck me the most was how contemporary Augustine’s story sounds. He may have lived in the 4th century but his journey from Christian home, to skeptic to one of the greatest theologians in church history is remarkably readable to a modern audience. What he goes through in life, both in regular everyday terms as well as his questions about the nature of God could be written today.
I highly recommend the translation by F. J. Sneed. It is very readable. Do not get any of the free versions available for the Kindle or iPad as they contain vastly outdated and difficult to read translations.
The Next Story by Tim Challies
Tim Challies is a blogger from Canada who posts daily on subjects of interest to Christians who are part of the Reformed tradition. One of his interests is technology and how Christians should relate to it. His book The Next Story deals with this subject in a very informative way. He discusses technology from many different angles and relates each aspect to Christianity. I especially appreciated his chapter on how technology distracts us. If you use Facebook, Twitter, or use a Kindle or iPhone, this book is perfect for you. (And that basically includes everybody.)
Did Adam and Eve Really Exist? By C. John Collins
I enjoyed this brief book on the subject of the historicity of Adam and Eve. My Amazon review is here.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Triumph of the Lamb - Book Review
Triumph of the Lamb by Dennis E. Johnson
There was a time when it seemed like the only Christian books I read were on the subject of eschatology. I read books that compared the different views on how to interpret the millennium and read a commentary on Revelation written from an amillennial perspective. I thought that was sufficient until I joined a Bible study earlier this year. The next book on their agenda was a book on Revelation. I initially had the rather cynical thought, “But I’ve already read a commentary on Revelation!” (That book was More Than Conquerors by William Hendriksen.) But of course, no Christian who is serious about learning everything they can about the Bible should be content with reading only one commentary on a particular book. It came as no surprise then, that I truly enjoyed Dennis Johnson’s book Triumph of the Lamb.
Johnson’s book is a concise, exegetical look at the last book of the Bible. After an introduction and an overview of Revelation, he presents it in a more or less verse by verse format, explaining what each verse means. Readers who are aware of the various schools of interpretation regarding Revelation will instantly recognize Johnson’s take as the idealist view. This view sees the many visions as symbolic of events and ideas that recur throughout the time between Christ’s advent and his return. Many of the visions show the same event from different perspectives (or “camera angle” as Johnson likes to put it.) The idea that the visions in Revelation are not presented in chronological fashion may be strange to some, but Johnson points out over and over that this is the only view that truly makes sense.
There are many strengths to the book. Johnson’s exegesis is solid. He offers sound interpretations not only of Revelation, but of the many verses from the Old and New Testaments that directly influence the text of Revelation. The Old Testament in particular is extremely important. I thought I was familiar with OT prophetic literature but I was amazed at just how much of Revelation is taken directly from such books as Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Zechariah. Johnson also remains consistent throughout the book. He frequently points similarities in Revelation’s visions and shows how they relate to one another and the overall picture of the book.
In addition his main points, Johnson also provides many interesting tidbits on subjects that might be of only passing interest to the casual reader. For example, he makes note of grammatical issues and how they relate to the proper translation of Revelation. He even points out which translations do a better job. (The NASB doesn’t fare so well.)
I enjoyed Johnson’s conclusion and felt it probably should be read first. (The appendix which explains the various views on Revelation is also useful and should be read at the start) He points out what the book should mean for Christians. It’s more than just a series of puzzles to solve. Revelation is primarily a book of hope. It comforts the people of God whether they are believers in the 1st or 21st centuries. Revelation shows that God hears our prayers and that the time is coming when evil will be completely wiped out. There will be no more tears and no more suffering. God lets us know that even though we must endure hardships now, He has promised to rescue us through the work of His son Jesus. Our ultimate destiny is eternal union with God in the new heaven and new earth.
I already lean strongly toward the idealist view but I’m sure that people who do not agree with it will still benefit from Johnson’s excellent presentation of this view. All four views (historicist, futurist, preterist and idealist) are orthodox and Christians should not be divided over them.
There was a time when it seemed like the only Christian books I read were on the subject of eschatology. I read books that compared the different views on how to interpret the millennium and read a commentary on Revelation written from an amillennial perspective. I thought that was sufficient until I joined a Bible study earlier this year. The next book on their agenda was a book on Revelation. I initially had the rather cynical thought, “But I’ve already read a commentary on Revelation!” (That book was More Than Conquerors by William Hendriksen.) But of course, no Christian who is serious about learning everything they can about the Bible should be content with reading only one commentary on a particular book. It came as no surprise then, that I truly enjoyed Dennis Johnson’s book Triumph of the Lamb.
Johnson’s book is a concise, exegetical look at the last book of the Bible. After an introduction and an overview of Revelation, he presents it in a more or less verse by verse format, explaining what each verse means. Readers who are aware of the various schools of interpretation regarding Revelation will instantly recognize Johnson’s take as the idealist view. This view sees the many visions as symbolic of events and ideas that recur throughout the time between Christ’s advent and his return. Many of the visions show the same event from different perspectives (or “camera angle” as Johnson likes to put it.) The idea that the visions in Revelation are not presented in chronological fashion may be strange to some, but Johnson points out over and over that this is the only view that truly makes sense.
There are many strengths to the book. Johnson’s exegesis is solid. He offers sound interpretations not only of Revelation, but of the many verses from the Old and New Testaments that directly influence the text of Revelation. The Old Testament in particular is extremely important. I thought I was familiar with OT prophetic literature but I was amazed at just how much of Revelation is taken directly from such books as Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Zechariah. Johnson also remains consistent throughout the book. He frequently points similarities in Revelation’s visions and shows how they relate to one another and the overall picture of the book.
In addition his main points, Johnson also provides many interesting tidbits on subjects that might be of only passing interest to the casual reader. For example, he makes note of grammatical issues and how they relate to the proper translation of Revelation. He even points out which translations do a better job. (The NASB doesn’t fare so well.)
I enjoyed Johnson’s conclusion and felt it probably should be read first. (The appendix which explains the various views on Revelation is also useful and should be read at the start) He points out what the book should mean for Christians. It’s more than just a series of puzzles to solve. Revelation is primarily a book of hope. It comforts the people of God whether they are believers in the 1st or 21st centuries. Revelation shows that God hears our prayers and that the time is coming when evil will be completely wiped out. There will be no more tears and no more suffering. God lets us know that even though we must endure hardships now, He has promised to rescue us through the work of His son Jesus. Our ultimate destiny is eternal union with God in the new heaven and new earth.
I already lean strongly toward the idealist view but I’m sure that people who do not agree with it will still benefit from Johnson’s excellent presentation of this view. All four views (historicist, futurist, preterist and idealist) are orthodox and Christians should not be divided over them.
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