I was disappointed in this novel. In my opinion it promised much but failed to deliver in a number of ways. The premise is excellent and appeals to my own views of the world. In the near future it is, for ecological purposes, made illegal to produce or own paper books. The “Great Recycling” sees the authorities taking possession of all books and recycling them. Paper is considered as precious to the extent that a piece of paper embedded in banknotes is vital to the banknote’s value. That being the case the only way to read books is using, “The Book”, a government sponsored e-reader that, like the Kindle, is connected via wireless networks. On a regular basis, the network connection is used to “update” everyone’s device. The hero, Holden Clifford, realises that text from his favourite novel, “The Catcher in the Rye”, has been changed and sets out to discover why. In his search he finds that all texts are subject to alteration to mould the thinking of the readers. There is an Orwellian comment that I think of often; (paraphrased) “Whoever controls the present controls history; whoever controls history controls the future.” This phrase sums up the motivation of this novel, but nowhere in the novel is this motivation brought out strongly enough to make a reader care. Instead of giving more indication of the socio-political implications of someone controlling and amending all the texts available to the people, Clifford emphasises the insult this is to book lovers and how book lovers should be willing to give their lives to protect their right to read the original texts. As Holden continues his investigations he discovers that people who realise there are text amendments and who start asking questions mysteriously disappear. “The Publishing House” is the master of the amendments and their agents, with typical US secret service trimmings, chase up on anyone asking about why the books have been changed. Also, they can track what people are looking at on their “Book”, and if people are looking up texts that have been extensively amended, then they disappear. I’m afraid the plot left me a bit cold as there were many gaps some of which are: Paper is really scarce, yet the hero and his friends burn logs on the fire; The Publishing House can track people’s movements, yet Holden gives out the address of his friends’ hideaway with no consideration of security leaks; Everyone holds up in a single house, Waco style, and yet there is no hint the authorities can find them; Holden becomes a hailed hero of a movement without the story giving us any indication of why; When launching their biggest move, the climax of the book, a contact in the target organisation is made simply by phoning up people and asking contacts who might be in a position to help; and more… I’m afraid the plot was rather naïve and may have suited a 1950s novel but looks rather innocent for the twenty-first century. At the end of the story there is a request that the reader send a letter to their local Senator pleading for legislation against censorship and to ensure secure electronic copies of every text are made and protected from amendment and manipulation. This helps the book in one way and damages it in another. It helps in that one starts to feel, “Ah, this is a book about a good cause. Yea! Sure I’ll support it and write off to my Senator. Good for the author to have brought this to my attention.” In that way one is left with a warm feeling about the book and starts to consider it a great piece of work. On the other hand, one might think: “Ah! What a clever trick to make the reader ignore the poor plot and editorial errors and to have a little tug at the old heart-strings.” Another attempt to appeal to the reader’s goodwill was the constant reference to well loved classics, in particular “The Catcher in the Rye”, “Fahrenheit 451”, and “The Little Tin Soldier”. This became somewhat irksome. Editing was another problem. I believe a good editor would have ensured that “acre”, a measure of area, was not used as an indication of distance, and that “stationary” was not used to mean “stationery”. The editor may also have prevented the inclusion of some quite convolute sentences that didn’t seem to make much sense. I ignored the strange formatting of the document. It may have been a technical problem, but if not it would appear the book was written in a world where paragraphs hadn’t been invented. Apologies for such a long review, but I felt this book had such a great premise with so much promise that it deserved a bit of specific comment and analysis.
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The Book begins with the one phrase that every bibliophile the world over immediately ignores; `Don’t Read This Book’ pulls the reader into a dystopian world that combines Orwell’s Big Brother with Bradbury’s bookless society. In ignoring the opening four words the reader enters the society of the future where paper and thus books have been outlawed on environmental grounds follow the exponential rise of the e-reader and the development of the government funded The Book. In this world we meet Holden Clifford, a sprinkler fitter for General Fire Protection, who enjoys reading his Book until he stubbles upon a page of his favourite book, The Catcher in the Rye, on the wall of his favourite bar, which he doesn’t recognise or find in the version on his Book. Intrigued by this he seeks out Winston, a rich gentleman he worked for some time previous, who shows him the truth and the extent of the truth. Thus begins an epic adventure of the little guy fighting back against an organisation whose size and power is unknown and who are willing to do whatever they can to maintain the society they have created.
This is a gripping intense story that will terrify all lovers of the written word as those in power desecrate the many wonderful books, essays and writings that have become part of everyday life. Clifford’s words are descriptive and engaging and draw you in deeper and deeper until you’re on the edge of seat, willing Holden and his friends to success. The details included within throughout the story make it all the more believable and all the more terrifying because of that. The characters themselves have their roots in classic and modern literature, the names alone attest to that, and the inclusion of real books and real quotes adds to the drama and excitement of the work, especially when they are ones you have read and remember reading and enjoying. Holden is the typical anti-hero with his role being thrust upon him as the movement to save and rekindle the written word gains strength.
Just imagine a world where there are no books or libraries, no paper, pens or pencils, no ink…no written words, where everything is sent direct to your own personal Book, updated regularly by The Publishing House. Clifford has taken the recent popularity of the many e-readers available and has let his imagination go wild, a word of warning perhaps, let’s hope it is heeded as his new world order is terrifying to say the least. A superb book, a must read for a book lovers and an absolute must must MUST read for `real’ book fans the world over.
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Let me preface this by saying that there are very few books out there that deserve such a high rating, and it was sheer luck that I happened to stumble across this one in my search for a self-published author with a book under $3. Having read the electronic version, now, I’m considering paying the full price for the print.
While a bit slow in the beginning, the story quickly picks up and launches the reader into a world where government-issued ereaders have driven paperbacks into obscurity as illegal examples of a profligate society. Sounds good for conservationism, doesn’t it? Wrong. The ebooks have been censored, with words – and oftentimes, characters – deleted from the manuscripts. Even the Bible was altered. This Orwellian novel is an example of conspiracy theory that is chillingly believable. The concept may sound outlandish, but it appeals to our love of the written word and the importance of the truth, while admonishing our gravitation towards electronic gadgets and willingness to disregard the intangible worth of something easily mass-produced. It was good in theory, but corrupted in its execution.
The characters were easy to invest in emotionally, and while some, such as Marion, were not as developed as they could have been, it still manages to work in a piece that is essentially plot-driven. The dialogue is believable, as is the basic sequence of events. The sole chink in the armor of credulity is that the Ex Libris movement was able to remain undetected for so long. I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never came – at least, not in the way that I had anticipated.
Now, the reason why this book receives a 4.5/5 for language is because there are a few instances where words are misused: “all together” in a case where “altogether” really is appropriate, or “vigilante” for “vigilant”. (Yes, I am fully aware that this is being nitpicky.) The way in which the first chapter was written also made it hard to get into the story, but the writer seems to settle into a comfortable rhythm as you move out of the preface and into the beginning of Holden Clifford’s tale. Don’t let the first two pages turn you off – the rest of it is well worth reading.
Once again, the electronic formatting leaves much to be desired in the way of a built-in table of contents, chapters that start on new pages, and improper indenting of first paragraphs. As before, these hiccups have no bearing on the review above. The book was good enough for me to stop processing these minor annoyances after the first few screens.
Stimulated Outlet Book Reviews
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Very disappointing,
I was disappointed in this novel. In my opinion it promised much but failed to deliver in a number of ways.
The premise is excellent and appeals to my own views of the world. In the near future it is, for ecological purposes, made illegal to produce or own paper books. The “Great Recycling” sees the authorities taking possession of all books and recycling them. Paper is considered as precious to the extent that a piece of paper embedded in banknotes is vital to the banknote’s value.
That being the case the only way to read books is using, “The Book”, a government sponsored e-reader that, like the Kindle, is connected via wireless networks. On a regular basis, the network connection is used to “update” everyone’s device.
The hero, Holden Clifford, realises that text from his favourite novel, “The Catcher in the Rye”, has been changed and sets out to discover why. In his search he finds that all texts are subject to alteration to mould the thinking of the readers.
There is an Orwellian comment that I think of often; (paraphrased) “Whoever controls the present controls history; whoever controls history controls the future.” This phrase sums up the motivation of this novel, but nowhere in the novel is this motivation brought out strongly enough to make a reader care. Instead of giving more indication of the socio-political implications of someone controlling and amending all the texts available to the people, Clifford emphasises the insult this is to book lovers and how book lovers should be willing to give their lives to protect their right to read the original texts.
As Holden continues his investigations he discovers that people who realise there are text amendments and who start asking questions mysteriously disappear. “The Publishing House” is the master of the amendments and their agents, with typical US secret service trimmings, chase up on anyone asking about why the books have been changed. Also, they can track what people are looking at on their “Book”, and if people are looking up texts that have been extensively amended, then they disappear.
I’m afraid the plot left me a bit cold as there were many gaps some of which are:
Paper is really scarce, yet the hero and his friends burn logs on the fire; The Publishing House can track people’s movements, yet Holden gives out the address of his friends’ hideaway with no consideration of security leaks; Everyone holds up in a single house, Waco style, and yet there is no hint the authorities can find them; Holden becomes a hailed hero of a movement without the story giving us any indication of why; When launching their biggest move, the climax of the book, a contact in the target organisation is made simply by phoning up people and asking contacts who might be in a position to help; and more…
I’m afraid the plot was rather naïve and may have suited a 1950s novel but looks rather innocent for the twenty-first century.
At the end of the story there is a request that the reader send a letter to their local Senator pleading for legislation against censorship and to ensure secure electronic copies of every text are made and protected from amendment and manipulation. This helps the book in one way and damages it in another.
It helps in that one starts to feel, “Ah, this is a book about a good cause. Yea! Sure I’ll support it and write off to my Senator. Good for the author to have brought this to my attention.” In that way one is left with a warm feeling about the book and starts to consider it a great piece of work.
On the other hand, one might think: “Ah! What a clever trick to make the reader ignore the poor plot and editorial errors and to have a little tug at the old heart-strings.”
Another attempt to appeal to the reader’s goodwill was the constant reference to well loved classics, in particular “The Catcher in the Rye”, “Fahrenheit 451”, and “The Little Tin Soldier”. This became somewhat irksome.
Editing was another problem. I believe a good editor would have ensured that “acre”, a measure of area, was not used as an indication of distance, and that “stationary” was not used to mean “stationery”. The editor may also have prevented the inclusion of some quite convolute sentences that didn’t seem to make much sense.
I ignored the strange formatting of the document. It may have been a technical problem, but if not it would appear the book was written in a world where paragraphs hadn’t been invented.
Apologies for such a long review, but I felt this book had such a great premise with so much promise that it deserved a bit of specific comment and analysis.
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|DO read this book,
The Book begins with the one phrase that every bibliophile the world over immediately ignores; `Don’t Read This Book’ pulls the reader into a dystopian world that combines Orwell’s Big Brother with Bradbury’s bookless society. In ignoring the opening four words the reader enters the society of the future where paper and thus books have been outlawed on environmental grounds follow the exponential rise of the e-reader and the development of the government funded The Book. In this world we meet Holden Clifford, a sprinkler fitter for General Fire Protection, who enjoys reading his Book until he stubbles upon a page of his favourite book, The Catcher in the Rye, on the wall of his favourite bar, which he doesn’t recognise or find in the version on his Book. Intrigued by this he seeks out Winston, a rich gentleman he worked for some time previous, who shows him the truth and the extent of the truth. Thus begins an epic adventure of the little guy fighting back against an organisation whose size and power is unknown and who are willing to do whatever they can to maintain the society they have created.
This is a gripping intense story that will terrify all lovers of the written word as those in power desecrate the many wonderful books, essays and writings that have become part of everyday life. Clifford’s words are descriptive and engaging and draw you in deeper and deeper until you’re on the edge of seat, willing Holden and his friends to success. The details included within throughout the story make it all the more believable and all the more terrifying because of that. The characters themselves have their roots in classic and modern literature, the names alone attest to that, and the inclusion of real books and real quotes adds to the drama and excitement of the work, especially when they are ones you have read and remember reading and enjoying. Holden is the typical anti-hero with his role being thrust upon him as the movement to save and rekindle the written word gains strength.
Just imagine a world where there are no books or libraries, no paper, pens or pencils, no ink…no written words, where everything is sent direct to your own personal Book, updated regularly by The Publishing House. Clifford has taken the recent popularity of the many e-readers available and has let his imagination go wild, a word of warning perhaps, let’s hope it is heeded as his new world order is terrifying to say the least. A superb book, a must read for a book lovers and an absolute must must MUST read for `real’ book fans the world over.
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|Worth much more than it costs,
Let me preface this by saying that there are very few books out there that deserve such a high rating, and it was sheer luck that I happened to stumble across this one in my search for a self-published author with a book under $3. Having read the electronic version, now, I’m considering paying the full price for the print.
While a bit slow in the beginning, the story quickly picks up and launches the reader into a world where government-issued ereaders have driven paperbacks into obscurity as illegal examples of a profligate society. Sounds good for conservationism, doesn’t it? Wrong. The ebooks have been censored, with words – and oftentimes, characters – deleted from the manuscripts. Even the Bible was altered. This Orwellian novel is an example of conspiracy theory that is chillingly believable. The concept may sound outlandish, but it appeals to our love of the written word and the importance of the truth, while admonishing our gravitation towards electronic gadgets and willingness to disregard the intangible worth of something easily mass-produced. It was good in theory, but corrupted in its execution.
The characters were easy to invest in emotionally, and while some, such as Marion, were not as developed as they could have been, it still manages to work in a piece that is essentially plot-driven. The dialogue is believable, as is the basic sequence of events. The sole chink in the armor of credulity is that the Ex Libris movement was able to remain undetected for so long. I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never came – at least, not in the way that I had anticipated.
Now, the reason why this book receives a 4.5/5 for language is because there are a few instances where words are misused: “all together” in a case where “altogether” really is appropriate, or “vigilante” for “vigilant”. (Yes, I am fully aware that this is being nitpicky.) The way in which the first chapter was written also made it hard to get into the story, but the writer seems to settle into a comfortable rhythm as you move out of the preface and into the beginning of Holden Clifford’s tale. Don’t let the first two pages turn you off – the rest of it is well worth reading.
Once again, the electronic formatting leaves much to be desired in the way of a built-in table of contents, chapters that start on new pages, and improper indenting of first paragraphs. As before, these hiccups have no bearing on the review above. The book was good enough for me to stop processing these minor annoyances after the first few screens.
Stimulated Outlet Book Reviews
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|