Quote:
Originally Posted by plastroncafe
Show of hands, who's read the book?
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I have. Eh, it's okay. I liked it, but it's nerd porn. It panders heavily to its audience. Whether that's intentional, I'm not sure. The author, Ernest Cline, seems to really enjoy throwing out references to the things he loves and if it works, it's because it is part of the story, but his writing style was a little too brisk for my tastes. It's more casual and descriptive during the references, but I can't even remember what happened at the end because he just rushed right through that. All of that kind of works because it's written in first person, almost like a memoir or auto-biography.
However, his second book, Armada, didn't have the veil of the easter egg plot to hide under, and so you had the same kind of characters, making mostly the same kind of references, with that speedy "let's just get this thing over with" pace, with the same kind of almost non-descriptive "I go here, I go there, I do this, I do that" writing and it's just wish-fulfillment. I've nothing against authors writing wish-fulfillment material, but the main character has to earn it.
Having said that, I love Steven Spielberg. I have full confidence in him. A lot is said about the Spielberg references in the story, but I feel like the biggest reference in the book is a John Badham film. I wonder if that scene will be in the movie.
08-05-2017, 10:36 AM
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