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-
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Connect Four: The Movie
Excerpt from my script for Connect Four: The Movie
Plot: Aliens invade Earth. That’s it.
Main Characters:
A spunky astrophysicist from Texas named Sissy Sullivan (to be played by Lady Gaga)
Her hunky boyfriend, a four-star general named Brian “Brick” McManly (to be played by either that guy from Twilight or the dude from The Hunger Games)
In this climactic scene, Sissy and Brick have managed to covertly board the mothership in a last-ditch effort to save humanity. The alien armada, a menacing fleet of black and red discs, hovers over the Earth.
Brick: What are we going to do? I see no way out of this!
Sissy: Wait, I think I found a way to get past the alien defense grid!
B; Where? I don’t see it.
S; Here! Diagonally!
B; Pretty sneaky, Sissy.
Plot: Aliens invade Earth. That’s it.
Main Characters:
A spunky astrophysicist from Texas named Sissy Sullivan (to be played by Lady Gaga)
Her hunky boyfriend, a four-star general named Brian “Brick” McManly (to be played by either that guy from Twilight or the dude from The Hunger Games)
In this climactic scene, Sissy and Brick have managed to covertly board the mothership in a last-ditch effort to save humanity. The alien armada, a menacing fleet of black and red discs, hovers over the Earth.
Brick: What are we going to do? I see no way out of this!
Sissy: Wait, I think I found a way to get past the alien defense grid!
B; Where? I don’t see it.
S; Here! Diagonally!
B; Pretty sneaky, Sissy.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Recent TV shows
Here's a quick look at some TV shows I've been watching.
Alcatraz
Alcatraz is the latest TV show from J. J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production company. Their previous shows include Lost, Alias and Fringe. The idea for Alcatraz is fine. Prisoners who were interred in the famous prison have mysteriously been brought forward to the present day. A San Francisco cop works with a comic shop owner/Alcatraz expert and a federal agent to figure out what’s going on. Unfortunately, the first several episodes have been long on boring police procedural formulas and short on moving the ongoing plot forward. We’ve gotten small glimpses of the big picture but the show needs to give a lot more if it wants to avoid cancellation.
Grade: C+
The River
Some of the folks behind the hit movie Paranormal Activity bring their brand of “found footage” horror to the small screen in The River. A world famous explorer has disappeared in the Amazon and his family and crew document their efforts to find him. Things get spooky really fast as the crew encounters ghosts and other unexplained phenomena. The first few episodes have been a mixture of genuine creepiness and unintentional laughs. Horror movies work best when they take their time, building suspense and unease until the truly scary stuff happens. In The River, things get crazy almost from the beginning. I had a hard time believing how quickly everyone accepted the idea of ghosts. Still, the premise is intriguing and I’m curious to see what happens in the remaining episodes.
Grade: B-
Downton Abbey
This incredibly popular show follows the class divisions between the servants and wealthy nobility in an English house in the the early 20th century. This has been done before in the series “Upstairs, Downstairs” (which I have never seen) and the movie Gosford Park (written by the same guy who writes Downton). The whole thing is awfully melodramatic. Plot points are telegraphed a mile away and the characters seem to be limited to a few types (nice person, mean person, sympathetic person, etc.). This would be a major concern if it weren’t for several mitigating factors. First, the show is extremely engaging and watchable. The acting is excellent. Most important of all, everyone speaks in a British accent.
Like Mad Men, Downton is intriguing in the way it presents a time period that seems foreign to us. It’s fascinating to see how people behave in ways that seem strange to us but were completely normal to them. You can’t help but wonder how you would behave if you lived back then. I’ve got two more episodes left in the first season and I’m pretty sure I’ll watch the second.
Grade: B+
Alcatraz
Alcatraz is the latest TV show from J. J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production company. Their previous shows include Lost, Alias and Fringe. The idea for Alcatraz is fine. Prisoners who were interred in the famous prison have mysteriously been brought forward to the present day. A San Francisco cop works with a comic shop owner/Alcatraz expert and a federal agent to figure out what’s going on. Unfortunately, the first several episodes have been long on boring police procedural formulas and short on moving the ongoing plot forward. We’ve gotten small glimpses of the big picture but the show needs to give a lot more if it wants to avoid cancellation.
Grade: C+
The River
Some of the folks behind the hit movie Paranormal Activity bring their brand of “found footage” horror to the small screen in The River. A world famous explorer has disappeared in the Amazon and his family and crew document their efforts to find him. Things get spooky really fast as the crew encounters ghosts and other unexplained phenomena. The first few episodes have been a mixture of genuine creepiness and unintentional laughs. Horror movies work best when they take their time, building suspense and unease until the truly scary stuff happens. In The River, things get crazy almost from the beginning. I had a hard time believing how quickly everyone accepted the idea of ghosts. Still, the premise is intriguing and I’m curious to see what happens in the remaining episodes.
Grade: B-
Downton Abbey
This incredibly popular show follows the class divisions between the servants and wealthy nobility in an English house in the the early 20th century. This has been done before in the series “Upstairs, Downstairs” (which I have never seen) and the movie Gosford Park (written by the same guy who writes Downton). The whole thing is awfully melodramatic. Plot points are telegraphed a mile away and the characters seem to be limited to a few types (nice person, mean person, sympathetic person, etc.). This would be a major concern if it weren’t for several mitigating factors. First, the show is extremely engaging and watchable. The acting is excellent. Most important of all, everyone speaks in a British accent.
Like Mad Men, Downton is intriguing in the way it presents a time period that seems foreign to us. It’s fascinating to see how people behave in ways that seem strange to us but were completely normal to them. You can’t help but wonder how you would behave if you lived back then. I’ve got two more episodes left in the first season and I’m pretty sure I’ll watch the second.
Grade: B+
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.
Monday, August 1, 2011
update
Obviously, I haven't been reviewing any 80s movies recently. I figured this would happen. My next step then is to try, try again, only with a new theme. (I may come back to the 80s at some point.) I'm considering going back to the (wait for it...) 70s! More to come.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Back to the 80s: Prizzi's Honor
We're now up to the second week of June 1985. At last, something for the grown-ups!
Prizzi’s Honor
A hit man for the mob falls in love with a woman, who turns out to be a hit woman. It seems like a good match until they’re ordered to kill each other.
How did it play in 1985? It did fairly well at the box-office but it was more successful at receiving multiple Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actor and the award it won, Best Supporting Actress which went to Anjelica HustoN in a role directed by her father John Huston.
Did I see it then? No way. I saw very few R-rated movies in 1985 and probably wouldn’t have been interested in this one anyway. This is the first time I’ve seen it.
How does it play today? Summer movies are usually full of action, comedy and special effects, so it must have been refreshing for a movie aimed at adults to open up alongside the likes of The Goonies and Rambo. Prizzi’s Honor is a mob movie with lots of black comedy. It’ s similar to The Godfather and GoodFellas although it isn’t quite as good as either of those two. I’m sure if it came out today, it would be compared to The Sopranos (a show I never warmed up to).
The film’s main strength is the performances. As mentioned above, Anjelica Huston won an Oscar for her role as the manipulative outcast of the Prizzi family. She’s very good and I wish she’d had more scenes. Also good is William Hickey (better known to some of you as Uncle Lewis in Christmas Vacation) who plays the patriarch of the family. He was only 58 when he made this, but thanks to good acting and makeup he looks twice that age. Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner are also good in the leading roles.
I always have a difficult time with mob movies, mainly for the relative morality of the characters. Almost every person is violent and unpleasant. So what’s the attraction? I think audiences are fascinated by the family dynamics of these characters. They struggle to deal with their family, just like everyone does, except their differences are often resolved with guns and knives. The humor, as dark as it is, certainly helps. The most intriguing element of Prizzi’s Honor is the moral choices faced by Nicholson’s character. Will he uphold the Prizzi family honor, or go his own way? Will he remain loyal to his adopted family or will he kill his own wife? Without saying too much, let me once again refer to the film’s moral relativism which is the main problem. The viewer is forced to “root” for one group of immoral people against another. Making a rationally moral choice isn’t an option. The ending left me frustrated.
Next time: A science-fiction movie that was very popular and a fantasy movie that no one saw.
Prizzi’s Honor
A hit man for the mob falls in love with a woman, who turns out to be a hit woman. It seems like a good match until they’re ordered to kill each other.
How did it play in 1985? It did fairly well at the box-office but it was more successful at receiving multiple Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actor and the award it won, Best Supporting Actress which went to Anjelica HustoN in a role directed by her father John Huston.
Did I see it then? No way. I saw very few R-rated movies in 1985 and probably wouldn’t have been interested in this one anyway. This is the first time I’ve seen it.
How does it play today? Summer movies are usually full of action, comedy and special effects, so it must have been refreshing for a movie aimed at adults to open up alongside the likes of The Goonies and Rambo. Prizzi’s Honor is a mob movie with lots of black comedy. It’ s similar to The Godfather and GoodFellas although it isn’t quite as good as either of those two. I’m sure if it came out today, it would be compared to The Sopranos (a show I never warmed up to).
The film’s main strength is the performances. As mentioned above, Anjelica Huston won an Oscar for her role as the manipulative outcast of the Prizzi family. She’s very good and I wish she’d had more scenes. Also good is William Hickey (better known to some of you as Uncle Lewis in Christmas Vacation) who plays the patriarch of the family. He was only 58 when he made this, but thanks to good acting and makeup he looks twice that age. Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner are also good in the leading roles.
I always have a difficult time with mob movies, mainly for the relative morality of the characters. Almost every person is violent and unpleasant. So what’s the attraction? I think audiences are fascinated by the family dynamics of these characters. They struggle to deal with their family, just like everyone does, except their differences are often resolved with guns and knives. The humor, as dark as it is, certainly helps. The most intriguing element of Prizzi’s Honor is the moral choices faced by Nicholson’s character. Will he uphold the Prizzi family honor, or go his own way? Will he remain loyal to his adopted family or will he kill his own wife? Without saying too much, let me once again refer to the film’s moral relativism which is the main problem. The viewer is forced to “root” for one group of immoral people against another. Making a rationally moral choice isn’t an option. The ending left me frustrated.
Next time: A science-fiction movie that was very popular and a fantasy movie that no one saw.
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