Books: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (2011)

It’s been a while since I read a science fiction book that was just pure fun as much as it’s clever. 

On the surface, the premise seems a bit pandering: It’s 2041, and the world has been over thirty years in the grips of the Great Recession. Most people spend most of their free time in the greatest, most massively-multiplayer virtual world ever created –sort of a bigger version of World of Warcraft- called OASIS. Pretty much all gaming and sci-fi and fantasy worlds you can think of have been ported into this massive virtual multiverse, and players can move from planet to planet (and fantasy to fantasy) via Star Trek like teleport pads or any space ship from almost any science fiction film created. Designed and created by James Halliday and Ogden Morrow, OASIS becomes the solution for many who seek to escape the real world. But when Halliday learns he is dying –and with no heirs or other family- decides to leave his vast fortune (something like $240 billion) to anyone who can solve where he hidden an Easter Egg within the vast universe of OASIS. But years later, no one has figured out the puzzle, and thus the only ones who seem interested are people called “gunters,” a subculture of people who’ve become obsessed with Halliday and who spend hours upon hours going through everything he wrote and reliving almost every aspect of the 1980’s, because Halliday was fascinated with 80s pop and nerd culture of all kinds, including sci-fi, fantasy, anime, Giant Robot Japanese shows, Duran Duran, videogames and Dungeons & Dragons. So all the challenges, all the riddles involve trivia from that era, so Ready Player One becomes a massive mash-up of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Matrix (as USA Today called it) and Stephenson’s Snow Crash and other novels that feature a treasure hunt premise. Our hero and narrator, Wade Watts, is an awkward teenager, poor, over-weight, with acne and is living with his aunt in what amounts to future version of a trailer park, where RVs are stacked upon each other twenty or more trailers high to preserve ground space (which is a very clever idea, in my opinion). Like all gunters, he too seeks to solve the riddles and gain the fortune that will take him away from the world he currently lives in. Then one day, Wade stumbles upon the first clue in Halliday’s game and sets in motion a race to the finish. But there are some, including a huge corporation, that is willing to do anything, including kill people, to get control of the money and OASIS itself.

This is a delightful novel, fast-paced page turner and surprisingly well constructed. Debut novelist Ernest Cline –who wrote the screenplay for the little seen (but worth it) indie film Fanboys- spent much of his young adulthood working a series of low-paying tech support jobs that allowed him to surf the Internet while on the clock and research his many pop-culture obsessions. His love of the 1980’s shines with endless nods to almost every popular pop culture event that made that decade my favorite as well. 

In the end, Ready Player One is pure escapism, yet there is coda to it as well, but it does not interfere with the pacing. One thing that interests me is that Cline sold the rights to Warner Bros and I’m curious how the studio and Cline (who is writing the screenplay) intend to use the multi copyrighted material of other companies and studios. I mean the holders might not want to sign the rights over, but if handled right, this could be a great movie the same way Toy Story was. Everyone knows the story of Mattel not allowing Barbie to be used in the first film, only to realize what money the lost by not allowing Pixar to use her –so the quickly acquiesced for the later films. 

As huge fan of the 1980s and classic video games, Ready Player One is a valentine to the era and an enjoyable trip to those halcyon days.

Bent-Cons founder, Sean Holman

Books: Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2001)

 

I would like to say that, when it comes to reading, I usually choose what I read and not let outside influences –such as reviews- color my choices. Both Cloud Atlas and Life of Pi have been on my radar for a long time, yet –oddly- their popularity prevented me from reading them when they were released in 2004 and 2001, respectively. Yes, as many people are, when it comes to reading, I like the familiarity and I usually like a certain genre. When it comes to something new, something challenging, I hew and haw at it. A part of me wants to read books that challenge me, mostly for the intellectual part of my Id. Yet, I’m also intimidated by them as well, often pondering if I’m smart enough to understand the metaphors the author is trying to convene –like I said when I posted about the novel Cloud Atlas, I liked it but admit maybe I was not “smart” enough to get it fully.

And, of course, since movie versions of both books were coming, and I have (and had) every intention of seeing them, I wanted to read the book first. Which brings up another thought: do I spoil the movie when I know its ending? Yes, I guess in some sense I do, but I’ve found over the years that reading a book after seeing the movie sometimes makes me feel uneasy. Because I know the ending, the book –no matter how pretty the words- loses its magic of discovery. Books have always felt more magical to me than movies or TV shows adapted from books. I think part of that comes from the idea that books don’t have to be linear in nature –even though they are- like movies have too. Perhaps this is why Stephen King is so hard to capture on screen, his books are so dense with material, that screenwriters cannot add all those nooks and crannies.

So, I read Cloud Atlas, though I’ve yet to see the film. I’ve now finished Life of Pi, and am filled with hope I will see this film.

I enjoyed the book immensely, finding the character of Piscine Molitor Patel to be a fascinating young man. His love of religion, and his inability to accept just one, is perhaps his most enduring quality. One could say that Martel’s choice of giving him three saviors –not only from his Hinduism, but also Christianity and Islam- he covers the bases of the many readers who might enjoy this parable is cheating, but then I have a good friend who reminds me much of Pi. My friend Adam has this same love, so for me, the character of Pi is very much real.

This is a story of survival, one that pits a sixteen year-old boy, and a 450 pound Bengal tiger against the element of nature. When Pi’s family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, they bring along with their zoo animals as well, as they too are bound for a new home in Toronto. But for reasons unknown, the ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a life boat, his only companions are a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, the after mentioned tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker.

At its core, it’s an adventure novel that fully embraces the idea of the power these stories once had. It reminds me much of books written in the 18^th and 19^th Century where boys (mostly) are dispatched into high adventure by accident and end up using their wits they never knew they had to survive. But it’s also a commentary on how we relate to these stories, our beliefs. Like religion that Pi so heartily believes in, he realizes that they are stories. Like all faiths of religion, their tales are never confirmable because they are, in essence, just parables and metaphors. But for some, that is faith. For others, they’re fantastical tales. 

As the reader, you are left to choose which is which.

Some Boys of Bent-Con 2012

Remembered

White Wine in the Sun

I really like Christmas
It's sentimental, I know, but I just really like it
I am hardly religious
I'd rather break bread with Dawkins than Desmond Tutu, to be honest

And yes, I have all of the usual objections
To consumerism, the commercialisation of an ancient religion
To the westernisation of a dead Palestinian
Press-ganged into selling Playstations and beer
But I still really like it

I'm looking forward to Christmas
Though I'm not expecting a visit from Jesus

I'll be seeing my dad
My brother and sisters, my gran and my mum
They'll be drinking white wine in the sun
I'll be seeing my dad
My brother and sisters, my gran and my mum
They'll be drinking white wine in the sun

I don't go in for ancient wisdom
I don't believe just 'cos ideas are tenacious it means they are worthy
I get freaked out by churches
Some of the hymns that they sing have nice chords but the lyrics are dodgy

And yes I have all of the usual objections
To the miseducation of children who, in tax-exempt institutions,
Are taught to externalise blame
And to feel ashamed and to judge things as plain right and wrong
But I quite like the songs

I'm not expecting big presents
The old combination of socks, jocks and chocolate is just fine by me

Cos I'll be seeing my dad
My brother and sisters, my gran and my mum
They'll be drinking white wine in the sun
I'll be seeing my dad
My brother and sisters, my gran and my mum
They'll be drinking white wine in the sun

And you, my baby girl
My jetlagged infant daughter
You'll be handed round the room
Like a puppy at a primary school
And you won't understand
But you will learn someday
That wherever you are and whatever you face
These are the people who'll make you feel safe in this world
My sweet blue-eyed girl

And if, my baby girl
When you're twenty-one or thirty-one
And Christmas comes around
And you find yourself nine thousand miles from home
You'll know what ever comes
Your brother and sisters and me and your Mum
Will be waiting for you in the sun
Whenever you come
Your brothers and sisters, your aunts and your uncles
Your grandparents, cousins and me and your mum
We'll be waiting for you in the sun
Drinking white wine in the sun
Darling, when Christmas comes
We'll be waiting for you in the sun
Drinking white wine in the sun
Waiting for you in the sun
Waiting for you...
Waiting...

I really like Christmas
It's sentimental, I know...

Soles

Sports

Nips and a kiss

Famous

Books: Let Nothing You Dismay by Mark O'Donnell (1998)

It's Christmas Eve Eve Eve Eve Eve in Manhattan--five days from the holiday Ground Zero--but Tad Leary, the most confused man on earth, doesn't know whether to celebrate or go crazy. He's just been fired, he's about to be evicted from his sublet, he's getting nowhere on his overdue folklore thesis, "Social Hierarchies of Imaginary Places," and on top of everything else at age thirty-four (older than Christ), he's five-foot-one and still baby-faced, so he's treated like a child wherever he goes. Nonetheless, he's been invited to seven different Christmas parties that day, and he decides to explore every one of them for possible work, apartments, love, and just plain distraction. 

I picked up Let Nothing You Dismay mainly due to the fact that writer Mark O’Donnell passed away in August and was reading his bio. He and Thomas Meehan shared the 2003 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical for their work on Hairspray, and they wrote the 2007 film adaptation. The pair also worked on another John Waters musical adaptation, Cry-Baby, for which they received a 2008 Tony nomination. His twin brother, Steve O’Donnell, is the head writer of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and wrote two episodes of The Simpsons.

So I was intrigued and was able to find a used edition of his book at Iliad’s in North Hollywood. But while the novel is well written -filled with some tasty one-liners that will make you smile- the book takes forever to get going. And at a slim 193 pages, that’s a problem. Also, Tad seems a bit lost –which I guess is the point of the novel, a man at the crossroads- but I found this drifting from one party to the next more pointless than interesting. The book starts great and then there is this whole middle part that seems out of place with the start, and only in the final few pages does it become interesting again. 

The question is, if I find a used edition of his first book, Getting Over Homer, do I risk buying it after being somewhat disappointed with his second?

Two Hats

Sunday's Men

Boys of Light and Shadow

Books: The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde (2012)

In The Woman Who Died A Lot, the seventh volume of the ongoing series involving Thursday Next, author Jasper Fforde takes a break from the BookWorld to tell a story set firmly in his alternate universe town of Swindon. 

Thursday, now four months into her forced retirement due to the events of the previous book, is still finding “real” life a bit of a problem. The assassination attempt has left her with scares that will never heal but she must also deal with certain family issues –one that include her son Friday’s lack of momentum in his life now that his career in the Chronoguard was relegated to a might-have-been. Then there is daughter Tuesday, who is having difficulty perfecting the Anti-Smote shield needed to thwart an angry Deity's promise to wipe Swindon off the face of the earth, and Jenny, who doesn't exist.

But with Thursday Next, even a job as Head Librarian at The Swindon All-You-Can-Eat-at-Fatso’s Drink Not Included Library, does not mean a smooth life, especially with budget problems and the leader of the SLS –Special Library Service- who wants to do early morning raids to retrieve overdo books.

Then Friday and his fellow workers at Chronoguard get Destiny Awareness Letters that now describe their future lives now that time travel no longer exists. All are pretty depressing, but for Friday, it’s even more so. He’ll murder someone by the end of the week, and has no idea whom Gavin Watkins is and why he’ll kill the man. 

Meanwhile, Goliath Corporation is stepping up its attacks on Thursday by trying to replace her with a synthetic model, a Day Player. This, of course, brings her in contact with her nemesis at Goliath, Jack Schitt. 

Then there’s the looming death of the planet from Asteroid HR-6984.

*****************

It’s always nice to read Fforde, who fills his world full of clever puns and funny wordplay. His comic genius –who will remind many of the late great Douglas Adams- is that he never quite takes the whole thing too seriously. Still, like all science fiction writers obsessed with techno-babble, Fforde lays a great deal of it around and it becomes a bit much, which is why if you’re new  to Fforde, The Woman Who Died a Lot is not the best place to start. Even if you read some of the background on this series, it can be very confusing. The plot lines run sort of parallel and very rarely interact, which can be confusing.  

The novel is not breezy and one to be completed in a one or two sit-downs. As a matter of fact, I recommend taking a bit of time with the book, and don’t be a bit shy that you have to go back every once in a while.

But I love this bizarre world that Fforde has created and look forward to each new novel.