Oh, it brings me back

[crankyoldman]

Finished Little Brother, because Doctorow's style is wonderfully easy to follow. I've pretty much read everything he's done except his short stories, so I've become pretty comfortable with his style of writing and some of his common devices, a couple he'd gotten over thankfully (no more Et Tu Brute? betrayals, yay). I liked the book, even if there's a nagging sense of deja vu for a lot of it, then again, I was super into cyberpunk for a while, which is what this novel pretty much is to a T. Despite being set in a VERY close future, it retains a lot of that sensibility; the politics may have changed, but it's still the same game of fighting The System. While a lot of people are quick to point out Mary Sue in stories, I tend to be quicker to notice her cousin Gary--mainly because the genres I've liked best have traditionally been rather male-dominated. And the kid in this book requires a little suspension of disbelief on occasion (computers have been a major part of my household since I was three, and I've got my fair share of hackers that I know personally, and at times the kid's a little too good) but that's why it's fiction. It does its job in an efficient and engaging way, so the verdict is it's a good book. Not perfect, and maybe almost too upfront in places, but then you need that once in a while, especially when your focus has been narrowed for a while. And I love Ange and feel dirty because she's like seventeen. I am such a boy sometimes. XD

It was kind of funny seeing some of my dad's lectures about encryption and surveillance in a novel, though. I'm glad to see that my natural data paranoia and refusal to do the "anonymous usage statistics" bullcrap that comes with certain software and systems isn't wholly unfounded. Sure, I run Windows right now, but that's mostly for school, I'm going completely open source the instant I graduate and I can finally quit having to go in an tweak Windows to stop handing out my info--SERIOUSLY MICROSOFT I DO NOT LIKE YOU THINKING YOU KNOW MORE ABOUT MISS HEP (my laptop) THAN I DO AND CHANGING SHIT WITH "SECURITY UPDATES". Rat bastards.

There are a lot of projects planned for after graduation that I can't wait to get to. Omg. Can I has graduation please. First being an actual vacation where I can sit and read books and play games and not feel responsible for anything except eating and sleeping.

Oh, and Little Brother is free for electronic download. Even on your calculator. I don't suggest the PDF version, it's crazy with two columns. I had to finish the last chapter with that, because my Palm ran out of batteries (whoops, forgot to charge it). If you have any sort of handheld device, I'm sure you could read it easier off of one of those. Free books are basically awesome.

~Cendri

P.S. This lady is my new hero.

Comments

[astralavator.livejournal.com]

That is such a wonderfully awesome costume. The staff and the glasses are perfect. Also that was a very nice Rydia costume as well. It almost makes me wish I didn’t hate sewing as much as I do.

I was under the impression Gary’s were overly common so people didn’t bother to point them out as much as the Sues. I don’t know I find the whole name calling aspect of it distasteful which has absolute nothing to do with you post, just thinking out loud.

Anyway, from what I can surmise it sounds like an interesting book. It nice to see examples of people who’ve gotten used to someone’s style still enjoying their produce.

Try not to burn yourself out.