Caught In The Whirlwind
Book 1: Down And Out In The Magic Kingdom
So as I mentioned I think I’m going to be giving this 50 in 365 challenge another go. So here’s my first book.
Title: Down And Out in the Magic Kingdom
Author: Cory Doctorow
Pages: 208
Notes: This book is freely available under the Creative Commons license and you can download and read it for free at http://craphound.com/down/download.php
Summary
A look into the future where the internet is embedded in your head, death has been conquered and the economy is based entirely on one’s social standing in relation to others.
My Notes
I tend to avoid Cory Doctorow (Anti-DRM Zealot and creator/author of the popular blog boingboing.net). It’s not that I don’t agree with his message most of the time, it’s that I find he can be a bit preachy. So when this book was selected for the current Sword and Laser book club pick, I was a bit apprehensive about reading it.
Once I started digging into it though, I found I really enjoyed it. I was a little bit worried at the beginning as it’s one of those books that throws you right into the world and doesn’t explain any of the terms being used at all. But that bit is really just setting the tone and understanding what’s going on isn’t strictly necessary. Not only is it an engaging “what if?” type story detailing a future which is extremely plausible, it also raises a lot of really interesting questions relating to that future. Society is depicted in a state that seems too good to be true, with instant access to information anywhere and, more importantly, the defeat of death. Over the course of the book, you start to ask yourself if a “perfect” society like the one described (and the one which humans are striving for in our current time) is really a good thing after all? It’s too bad that I want to avoid spoilers in these entries (although the book is several years old) as I really want to go into the specifics. This is a book that practically begs to be discussed.
My only complaint is that the ending is one of those where it seems as though the author didn’t quite know how to finish it out, so the conclusion is fairly weak. But the ride makes it worthwhile, and it is a forgivable problem since this was the first book he has written.
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| Print article | This entry was posted by Jason on January 21, 2010 at 10:30 am, and is filed under 50 in 365. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
