Totally, absolutely, kinda ok. This book was obviously written before his more famous, and better, Ready Player One. And it's just not as good. The characters are not well written at all, and the story is pretty dumb. It's got a hackneyed story line and is really just an opportunity for Cline to show off his deep knowledge of pop culture. Sure, I read the whole thing but I was traveling for work and brainless, just ok entertainment was what I needed. But honestly, it just wasn't that good.
This is so much more than a literary version of The Office. It is funny and touching and all about the life and relationships we have in our office lives, but it goes way beyond that. Even better, the voice is a very unique one and in fact , I would argue, is not just one. The trick though is that transition form one to the other is seamless. This was a great read.
So far it's not a bad book but it's not a great one either. It's an “eco-thriller” so I dig it because I am very interested in the environment. But because it's Neal Stephenson, it's more about the character than the environment and since the charcter's voice isn't terribly readable, this book isn't as good as his others. Still, I want to read it all the way through and am not bored.
On second read street 20 years It was good but definitely convoluted. I could see his desire to really expand his worlds and get into the details of massive political upheaval. But it wasn't nearly as finally tuned yet as it becomes in his later books. Entertaining but definitely a few storylines that sort of got lost in the shuffle and others that seemed to pop up out of nowhere and all of a sudden take over the entire book
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