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Six Clicks Away
As miraculous as our wired world may be, everything connected to everything else eventually shows its downside. A rumor, a virus, a financial crisis – these days, they all cascade throughout the world in record time. SIX CLICKS AWAY tells the story of a single ripple through a tangled web, and how one person can affect us all.
223 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 27, 2010
3 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Bonnie Rozanski
10 books6 followersBonnie is an author and prize-winning playwright currently living in New Jersey. Born in Queens, New York, she has lived in Hong Kong, Canada, and all over the US. With degrees in Psychology and Artificial Intelligence, always fascinated by the human mind, Bonnie writes on matters touching on consciousness and the human condition.
BANANA KISS, Bonnie's debut novel, told from the point of view of a young schizophrenic girl, came out to excellent reviews in 2005. To the many who ask whether the author is writing from experience, Bonnie says, "Not at all. BANANA KISS is based entirely on the application of imagination to months of research on schizophrenia and quantum theory." "On the other hand," she adds after a pause, "I did hear Robin's voice."
Her second novel, BORDERLINE, was a YA finalist at the 2007 Foreword Book of the Year, as well as a silver medalist at that year's Independent Publisher Books awards. Bonnie has several other equally wonderful manuscripts in the wings, awaiting the perspicacious publisher who recognizes their brilliance.
BANANA KISS, Bonnie's debut novel, told from the point of view of a young schizophrenic girl, came out to excellent reviews in 2005. To the many who ask whether the author is writing from experience, Bonnie says, "Not at all. BANANA KISS is based entirely on the application of imagination to months of research on schizophrenia and quantum theory." "On the other hand," she adds after a pause, "I did hear Robin's voice."
Her second novel, BORDERLINE, was a YA finalist at the 2007 Foreword Book of the Year, as well as a silver medalist at that year's Independent Publisher Books awards. Bonnie has several other equally wonderful manuscripts in the wings, awaiting the perspicacious publisher who recognizes their brilliance.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 25, 2011
A fictional parallel to Facebook called MyFace links the geographically diverse lives in Bonnie Rozanski’s Six Clicks Away. The action begins at Xavier College in New Jersey with the lovely and superficial Rachel who is obsessed with accumulating as many MyFace friends as possible. She reluctantly teams up with Jeremy—an arrogant but bright nerd she can’t stand—for a Sociology class assignment inspired by Stanley Milgram’s Six Degrees of Separation theory. Thick-skinned Jeremy adores Rachel and puts up with her verbal abuse. He provides the technical expertise needed to meet her two goals: her personal one of acquiring the most friends in the world, and her academic one of discovering how many connections it takes to connect to one in particular, the Dalai Lama.
A simple chain letter approach proves to work well. In fact, too well as it becomes difficult for Rachel to manually keep up with all the responses. So Jeremy automates the inviting and accepting of friends on Rachel’s account by hacking into MyFace. Then he finds a way to make the accounts Rachel’s invitations reach automatically accept and spread the electronic word. Now Rachel can simply watch the numbers increase as her project ensnares the other characters whose lives make up this story.
The first of these is Julia, a writer from Toronto overwhelmed by the frustrations of dealing with the business side of her vocation. Rachel’s quest connects her to Kevin, a man she had a fling with a long time ago. A downsized Microsoft manager struggling financially, Kevin is dealing with a collection agency. Fortunately for him, the agent he’s dealing with, Antara Jamakhandi from Bangalore. Fortunately for him, Antara’s easy to fend off. She has too much sympathy for her clients, particularly Kevin. They become MyFace friends. And at the risk of losing her precious job, she decides to help Kevin. Through MyFace again, she reaches her cousin, Raj, in New York City, who is a whiz at rearranging mortgages, as well as being a renowned Bollywood producer.
Each chapter is narrated in close third-person by each of the above characters and several others; the story collects characters as one might collect friends on a social network site. Unfortunately the personal dramas of the characters—and the author has a knack for creating subtly engaging ones—get bogged down by background exposition rather than elevated by action. Considering the superficiality of social networking sites, that may have been unavoidable, even intentional.
One irritant is the inadvertent centering of text at the end of chapters, especially on page 72. It’s possible the problem was with the pdf file I was given; nevertheless I considered stopping reading more than once because of it. I also didn’t care for the left justification of the text.
Still, the story has promise and how it exposes the impact of social networking, collection agencies, the mortgage crisis, tossing fish at Pike’s Place Market, among other things, is often poignant. I just wish more had been done to tighten the prose and give it a higher degree of sophistication to match. For example:
She asked how the writing had been going, and Julia told her it was good. Then Rose asked about that old boyfriend she had contacted. Somehow, that woman seemed to be able to get into her mind. Was she that transparent? In any case, one thing led to another, and Julia ended up showing her the whole back-and-forth exchange she had saved on her own wall.
Rose didn’t say anything, just looking at her in the way she did: kindly and wise. And, of course, that made it worse, and Julia ended up blubbering on her shoulder about how she had never loved anyone else and she never would love anyone else, and what an idiot she had been to let him go, what a stupid young idiot.
For me, such a passage would read better if dramatized, if it is important, or cut, if not. It just seems glossed over and distant, especially when compared to other parts of the book.
Such as the Raj story, which is by far the most compelling and dramatically developed. A scene with his daughter stands out. She is about to perform in her school’s Bollywood-style production. Her director had requested the well-known Raj to give the introduction, ideally along with a famous Bollywood actor, Hrithik Rashan. But that’s changed now that Raj is on house arrest for mortgage fraud.
“I am coming tonight, you know.”
“I don’t want you there.”
“Nevertheless, I am coming, whether you want me there or not, and I am giving the introduction to your show.”
“You are uninvited,” she said, wrenching herself free from his grasp. “Mr. Rangarajan doesn’t want you to give the introduction. All he ever wanted anyway was Hrithik Rashan.”
It hurt him that she said those things, but he wasn’t going to let it stop him.
“Nevertheless,” he replied. “I wouldn’t miss your starring role.”
“What is the matter with you?” Tanvi shouted, her face a mask of misery.
“You’re still living in your dream world, where you’re rich and respected and your family is perfect in every way. Well, not everyone can be what you want them to be. I’m no good. I can’t sing. Mr. Rangarajan said so before everyone. He said he never would have chosen me, if it weren’t for your connections.”
That statement, even though he had suspected it, hurt him more than everything she had said before. He wondered, maybe for the first time, what Tanvi herself had been going through these few weeks. Kids in high school can be so cruel.
“I’d like to beat his head in for that statement. He’s just getting back at me. You are very talented, Tanvi. A beautiful dancer and actress.”
She shook her head, one tear slowly trickling down her face.
“But will you let me come?” he pressed, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She didn’t shrug it off.
“I want to come, Tanvi,” he said, squeezing her shoulder.
She sighed, nodding toward the cuff on his leg. “But what about that?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ve made arrangements. It’s not as if I’m leaving the country.”
”Okay, come.” She turned to go, then turned back. “But Mr. Rangarajan won’t let you give the introduction. Please don’t make a scene, Papa.”
It was the first time in three weeks that she had called him Papa. He wanted only to enfold her into his arms and tell her everything would be all right, but he no longer had that in his power. Instead he caressed her cheek. “No one will even know that I am there,” he said.
The plotting had no discernible pattern or consistency. The Rachel-Jeremy story has prominence at first but then falls to the background for long stretches. As does the Julia-Kevin-Antara thread while Raj’s story—the strongest of the bunch—takes over. We do return to Rachel-Jeremy for the rewards and consequences of their Facebook manipulations. But the ending involving Julia seemed a rushed add-on, relying on too many coincidences in too brief a period. There were several inconsistencies in the story too. Such as when computer-illiterate Rachel compares Kevin’s altering Facebook code to changing Linux. Or when at one point Kevin reads a wall note from Julia, yet earlier, in her chapter, he had responded and cut her off.
In the end, I couldn’t escape the sense that Six Clicks Away is an amalgamation of several distinct story ideas at various stages of development reshaped to fit the social networking theme. Then again, if this is intended to be a metaphor for Facebook, a literalized pastiche of the social networking experience, its looseness and casualness might have merit
A simple chain letter approach proves to work well. In fact, too well as it becomes difficult for Rachel to manually keep up with all the responses. So Jeremy automates the inviting and accepting of friends on Rachel’s account by hacking into MyFace. Then he finds a way to make the accounts Rachel’s invitations reach automatically accept and spread the electronic word. Now Rachel can simply watch the numbers increase as her project ensnares the other characters whose lives make up this story.
The first of these is Julia, a writer from Toronto overwhelmed by the frustrations of dealing with the business side of her vocation. Rachel’s quest connects her to Kevin, a man she had a fling with a long time ago. A downsized Microsoft manager struggling financially, Kevin is dealing with a collection agency. Fortunately for him, the agent he’s dealing with, Antara Jamakhandi from Bangalore. Fortunately for him, Antara’s easy to fend off. She has too much sympathy for her clients, particularly Kevin. They become MyFace friends. And at the risk of losing her precious job, she decides to help Kevin. Through MyFace again, she reaches her cousin, Raj, in New York City, who is a whiz at rearranging mortgages, as well as being a renowned Bollywood producer.
Each chapter is narrated in close third-person by each of the above characters and several others; the story collects characters as one might collect friends on a social network site. Unfortunately the personal dramas of the characters—and the author has a knack for creating subtly engaging ones—get bogged down by background exposition rather than elevated by action. Considering the superficiality of social networking sites, that may have been unavoidable, even intentional.
One irritant is the inadvertent centering of text at the end of chapters, especially on page 72. It’s possible the problem was with the pdf file I was given; nevertheless I considered stopping reading more than once because of it. I also didn’t care for the left justification of the text.
Still, the story has promise and how it exposes the impact of social networking, collection agencies, the mortgage crisis, tossing fish at Pike’s Place Market, among other things, is often poignant. I just wish more had been done to tighten the prose and give it a higher degree of sophistication to match. For example:
She asked how the writing had been going, and Julia told her it was good. Then Rose asked about that old boyfriend she had contacted. Somehow, that woman seemed to be able to get into her mind. Was she that transparent? In any case, one thing led to another, and Julia ended up showing her the whole back-and-forth exchange she had saved on her own wall.
Rose didn’t say anything, just looking at her in the way she did: kindly and wise. And, of course, that made it worse, and Julia ended up blubbering on her shoulder about how she had never loved anyone else and she never would love anyone else, and what an idiot she had been to let him go, what a stupid young idiot.
For me, such a passage would read better if dramatized, if it is important, or cut, if not. It just seems glossed over and distant, especially when compared to other parts of the book.
Such as the Raj story, which is by far the most compelling and dramatically developed. A scene with his daughter stands out. She is about to perform in her school’s Bollywood-style production. Her director had requested the well-known Raj to give the introduction, ideally along with a famous Bollywood actor, Hrithik Rashan. But that’s changed now that Raj is on house arrest for mortgage fraud.
“I am coming tonight, you know.”
“I don’t want you there.”
“Nevertheless, I am coming, whether you want me there or not, and I am giving the introduction to your show.”
“You are uninvited,” she said, wrenching herself free from his grasp. “Mr. Rangarajan doesn’t want you to give the introduction. All he ever wanted anyway was Hrithik Rashan.”
It hurt him that she said those things, but he wasn’t going to let it stop him.
“Nevertheless,” he replied. “I wouldn’t miss your starring role.”
“What is the matter with you?” Tanvi shouted, her face a mask of misery.
“You’re still living in your dream world, where you’re rich and respected and your family is perfect in every way. Well, not everyone can be what you want them to be. I’m no good. I can’t sing. Mr. Rangarajan said so before everyone. He said he never would have chosen me, if it weren’t for your connections.”
That statement, even though he had suspected it, hurt him more than everything she had said before. He wondered, maybe for the first time, what Tanvi herself had been going through these few weeks. Kids in high school can be so cruel.
“I’d like to beat his head in for that statement. He’s just getting back at me. You are very talented, Tanvi. A beautiful dancer and actress.”
She shook her head, one tear slowly trickling down her face.
“But will you let me come?” he pressed, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She didn’t shrug it off.
“I want to come, Tanvi,” he said, squeezing her shoulder.
She sighed, nodding toward the cuff on his leg. “But what about that?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ve made arrangements. It’s not as if I’m leaving the country.”
”Okay, come.” She turned to go, then turned back. “But Mr. Rangarajan won’t let you give the introduction. Please don’t make a scene, Papa.”
It was the first time in three weeks that she had called him Papa. He wanted only to enfold her into his arms and tell her everything would be all right, but he no longer had that in his power. Instead he caressed her cheek. “No one will even know that I am there,” he said.
The plotting had no discernible pattern or consistency. The Rachel-Jeremy story has prominence at first but then falls to the background for long stretches. As does the Julia-Kevin-Antara thread while Raj’s story—the strongest of the bunch—takes over. We do return to Rachel-Jeremy for the rewards and consequences of their Facebook manipulations. But the ending involving Julia seemed a rushed add-on, relying on too many coincidences in too brief a period. There were several inconsistencies in the story too. Such as when computer-illiterate Rachel compares Kevin’s altering Facebook code to changing Linux. Or when at one point Kevin reads a wall note from Julia, yet earlier, in her chapter, he had responded and cut her off.
In the end, I couldn’t escape the sense that Six Clicks Away is an amalgamation of several distinct story ideas at various stages of development reshaped to fit the social networking theme. Then again, if this is intended to be a metaphor for Facebook, a literalized pastiche of the social networking experience, its looseness and casualness might have merit
May 1, 2025
Fun
I have fun with stories like this, random people connecting or coming together though weird or even mundane ways. This was a fun read, not my favorite as not all the characters or payoffs work for me but worth a read.
I have fun with stories like this, random people connecting or coming together though weird or even mundane ways. This was a fun read, not my favorite as not all the characters or payoffs work for me but worth a read.
February 10, 2014
I began reading this book thinking the concept of studying six degrees of separation through social networking was simple enough. I looked forward to seeing what would happen, with the technology we have now and the speed at which it would work. I was looking to have a twist in the story but... I thought that it would be a straight forward read but it turned out to be daunting, very boring and annoying.
The story was over written with too many situations the author felt had to be explained in detail by either going back in memory sequences or by showing a different point of view from another character. An example is with the character Raj. You first see him having lunch with an actor named Matthew Boone. Well you go through several chapters with Raj and his family or Rachel and Jeremy and Antara and Marcus then all of a sudden you are back to that lunch table and now the point of view is from Matthew. Just way to much. By the way the chapters are not numbered just listed by location so it is hard for me to go back and say how many chapters occur between the two scenes.
It is hard to explain what annoyed me about this book without giving spoiler details and I do not wish to do that. So I will try to bullet point a few things without trying to give to much away.
•There was a love interest that made no since because the characters had no chemistry and the time frame at which this sudden love interest happen was too off.
•There is a business connection that is ridiculous and would never happen. No one would ever friend someone on their social network who is a bill collector, especially someone from another country.
•Another character looking up a past love from when she was a teenager. That in itself is not the problem but after finding out he is married with two children she pursues him trying to rekindle past feelings.
•When has anyone, from another country, working as a bill collector tried to help you improve your finances by contacting someone to help you remortgage your home.
•The time frame at which most of the situations happen is just to fast.
•This one I have to give a small spoiler. A local police officer who says he is from the cyber crime unit comes to Rachel's apartment. First off he never gives his name he just tells her he wants to talk to her down at the station with her laptop but she is not being arrested. Rachel goes with him without question and takes her laptop. He doesn't tell her his name until they are there at the station in a small room and then when he asks to see her computer she gladly shows him. Who does that?
The connections in this book: (these are the main characters, there are other minor characters)
Jeremy and Rachel - classmates who start the project
Rachel and Julia - Julia graduated from the school Rachel goes to - the connection is minor and brief
Julia and Marcus - former teen sweethearts
Marcus and Antara - debtor and bill collector
Antara and Raj - cousins
Raj and Matthew - producer and actor
Matthew and Julia - actor and writer
I do not recommend this book. Too long, too drawn out, too over written.
Until the next book
The story was over written with too many situations the author felt had to be explained in detail by either going back in memory sequences or by showing a different point of view from another character. An example is with the character Raj. You first see him having lunch with an actor named Matthew Boone. Well you go through several chapters with Raj and his family or Rachel and Jeremy and Antara and Marcus then all of a sudden you are back to that lunch table and now the point of view is from Matthew. Just way to much. By the way the chapters are not numbered just listed by location so it is hard for me to go back and say how many chapters occur between the two scenes.
It is hard to explain what annoyed me about this book without giving spoiler details and I do not wish to do that. So I will try to bullet point a few things without trying to give to much away.
•There was a love interest that made no since because the characters had no chemistry and the time frame at which this sudden love interest happen was too off.
•There is a business connection that is ridiculous and would never happen. No one would ever friend someone on their social network who is a bill collector, especially someone from another country.
•Another character looking up a past love from when she was a teenager. That in itself is not the problem but after finding out he is married with two children she pursues him trying to rekindle past feelings.
•When has anyone, from another country, working as a bill collector tried to help you improve your finances by contacting someone to help you remortgage your home.
•The time frame at which most of the situations happen is just to fast.
•This one I have to give a small spoiler. A local police officer who says he is from the cyber crime unit comes to Rachel's apartment. First off he never gives his name he just tells her he wants to talk to her down at the station with her laptop but she is not being arrested. Rachel goes with him without question and takes her laptop. He doesn't tell her his name until they are there at the station in a small room and then when he asks to see her computer she gladly shows him. Who does that?
The connections in this book: (these are the main characters, there are other minor characters)
Jeremy and Rachel - classmates who start the project
Rachel and Julia - Julia graduated from the school Rachel goes to - the connection is minor and brief
Julia and Marcus - former teen sweethearts
Marcus and Antara - debtor and bill collector
Antara and Raj - cousins
Raj and Matthew - producer and actor
Matthew and Julia - actor and writer
I do not recommend this book. Too long, too drawn out, too over written.
Until the next book
November 17, 2010
It all started with a sociology lecture on the six degrees of separation, an assignment to recreate the process, and Rachel's desire to connect with the Dalai Lama. The next thing she knew, Rachel had somehow hooked up with Jeremy, the geekiest guy in class, for an experiment that would change the look of "MyFace," and connect people in the most serendipitous ways. Old friendships are rekindled and new contacts are formed. The internet is truly the world-wide web, bringing people together from all reaches of the earth.
The premise of this story is really appealing; take the good old "six degrees of separation" and apply it to our modern, technological world. Using "MyFace" (an online social network that sounds very familiar to all of us with computer access), the author shows just how tiny our world really is. One small plan put into action can have a ripple effect, and the characters in this story prove this with their developing relationships. Each character introduced ties in with one or more other characters in an engaging way. Like the internet worm Jeremy creates, the story twists and winds through the lives of six very distinct people.
The story started with several pages filled with texting between friends, which really supported the feel of a modern, technological story. This technique wasn't carried through the storyline, however, which made it feel like a loose end. Although I thought the original connections between people were well done to good effect, I felt it began to drag a little towards the middle. It seemed we spent a lot of time with a character or two here and there, and didn't get back to other characters for a while. As a result, I felt it needed just a touch more tightening up. For this type of story, I would have liked to see the characters and their storylines more closely intertwined; relationships inextricably pulled closer together until it was difficult to remember they were ever strangers. At the very least, a culminating event that somehow involved everyone (such as the ending of the movie "Love Actually") would have offered a satisfying closure. Without that final connection, the ending felt a little unfinished. Although the author clearly tried to tie up the various storylines, the lack of synchronicity made it seem like some of the stories were left hanging, just waiting to be addressed again. I was surprised when there wasn't another page after the last page.
All in all, a really fun and appealing story that kept my interest and made me want to read until the end. An clever concept, and a quick read.
3.5 /5 stars at MotherLode blog
The premise of this story is really appealing; take the good old "six degrees of separation" and apply it to our modern, technological world. Using "MyFace" (an online social network that sounds very familiar to all of us with computer access), the author shows just how tiny our world really is. One small plan put into action can have a ripple effect, and the characters in this story prove this with their developing relationships. Each character introduced ties in with one or more other characters in an engaging way. Like the internet worm Jeremy creates, the story twists and winds through the lives of six very distinct people.
The story started with several pages filled with texting between friends, which really supported the feel of a modern, technological story. This technique wasn't carried through the storyline, however, which made it feel like a loose end. Although I thought the original connections between people were well done to good effect, I felt it began to drag a little towards the middle. It seemed we spent a lot of time with a character or two here and there, and didn't get back to other characters for a while. As a result, I felt it needed just a touch more tightening up. For this type of story, I would have liked to see the characters and their storylines more closely intertwined; relationships inextricably pulled closer together until it was difficult to remember they were ever strangers. At the very least, a culminating event that somehow involved everyone (such as the ending of the movie "Love Actually") would have offered a satisfying closure. Without that final connection, the ending felt a little unfinished. Although the author clearly tried to tie up the various storylines, the lack of synchronicity made it seem like some of the stories were left hanging, just waiting to be addressed again. I was surprised when there wasn't another page after the last page.
All in all, a really fun and appealing story that kept my interest and made me want to read until the end. An clever concept, and a quick read.
3.5 /5 stars at MotherLode blog
November 17, 2011
WHAT I THOUGHT
Ah, technology these days is what I thought.
I suppose this story is quite fitting for this day and age. The fact that you can connect with someone on the other side of the world almost instantly is quite amazing really. If you were to be transported back in time when the phone wasn’t even invented yet and told about today’s technology you would think the storyteller was just that, a story teller, and mad to boot.
Myface.com is used to connect people all over the world but it brings with it some negative experiences and leaves some of the characters questioning who they really are. Six Clicks Away follows a few different people from across the world through their daily lives and shows how Myface.com affects them.
For one character in particular there is a certain greediness in regard to wanting more and more friends. It’s not about friends in real life who you would catch up with, share a coffee and perhaps gossip a little. No. It’s all about that number counter getting bigger and bigger with what are essentially names of people, complete strangers, who add to the total. In the end is it really better to have quantity over quality though? I would say no.
Some characters find out things they perhaps shouldn’t or at least wouldn’t have if communication was to be face-to-face or even by telephone. Connections are made, the past shows its face and the future appears foggy. Money is a problem, success is sought out and families are tested. It is quite the group of people and quite the handful of personal situations. A slice of life one might say. How technology plays a part depends on which character you’re referring to but I can say it does play a part and it’s not all pretty.
As an aside, technology does seem to take over life sometimes and it’s important to remain grounded and in the real world. Most important, remain true to yourself. I think I could discuss today’s technology for quite some time, good points and bad points, but best get back to Bonnie Rozanski’s story.
All in all I thought it was a good read but felt the ending was a bit rushed.
Many thanks to Bonnie Rozanski for providing me with an e-copy of Six Clicks Away – thanks, Bonnie!
Ah, technology these days is what I thought.
I suppose this story is quite fitting for this day and age. The fact that you can connect with someone on the other side of the world almost instantly is quite amazing really. If you were to be transported back in time when the phone wasn’t even invented yet and told about today’s technology you would think the storyteller was just that, a story teller, and mad to boot.
Myface.com is used to connect people all over the world but it brings with it some negative experiences and leaves some of the characters questioning who they really are. Six Clicks Away follows a few different people from across the world through their daily lives and shows how Myface.com affects them.
For one character in particular there is a certain greediness in regard to wanting more and more friends. It’s not about friends in real life who you would catch up with, share a coffee and perhaps gossip a little. No. It’s all about that number counter getting bigger and bigger with what are essentially names of people, complete strangers, who add to the total. In the end is it really better to have quantity over quality though? I would say no.
Some characters find out things they perhaps shouldn’t or at least wouldn’t have if communication was to be face-to-face or even by telephone. Connections are made, the past shows its face and the future appears foggy. Money is a problem, success is sought out and families are tested. It is quite the group of people and quite the handful of personal situations. A slice of life one might say. How technology plays a part depends on which character you’re referring to but I can say it does play a part and it’s not all pretty.
As an aside, technology does seem to take over life sometimes and it’s important to remain grounded and in the real world. Most important, remain true to yourself. I think I could discuss today’s technology for quite some time, good points and bad points, but best get back to Bonnie Rozanski’s story.
All in all I thought it was a good read but felt the ending was a bit rushed.
Many thanks to Bonnie Rozanski for providing me with an e-copy of Six Clicks Away – thanks, Bonnie!
December 11, 2010
I find the concept that any two people in the world can be linked in 6 or less steps fascinating. This idea, first established in the 1920's, is even more likely today with the effect of social media.
In Six Clicks Away, Rozanski follows the connections between her characters with an exploration of the tenous links that most people forge everyday. The links Rozanski makes are logical and it made me think about just how connected, and how small, the world has become in the age of instant communication.
I feel that Rozanski did a credible job at developing such a large cast of characters. Rachel, Jeremy, Kevin, Julia, Raj and Antara are well developed though they feature varying amounts in the story. I don't feel Matthew was intergrated into the story as well, though his connection was the last to form, I felt like he needed to have been mentioned, even if only in passing, earlier in the book to truly fit.
Each of the characters have an interesting story independent of the links that connect them and I liked the subplots each character introduced to the story. Though there is a lot going on, the story never felt crowded and I think Rozanski showed real skill in balancing the characters and plot.
Six Clicks Away is a modern parable of the role of relationships in the technological age. The interesting premise and solid writing makes it a quick and entertaining read.
In Six Clicks Away, Rozanski follows the connections between her characters with an exploration of the tenous links that most people forge everyday. The links Rozanski makes are logical and it made me think about just how connected, and how small, the world has become in the age of instant communication.
I feel that Rozanski did a credible job at developing such a large cast of characters. Rachel, Jeremy, Kevin, Julia, Raj and Antara are well developed though they feature varying amounts in the story. I don't feel Matthew was intergrated into the story as well, though his connection was the last to form, I felt like he needed to have been mentioned, even if only in passing, earlier in the book to truly fit.
Each of the characters have an interesting story independent of the links that connect them and I liked the subplots each character introduced to the story. Though there is a lot going on, the story never felt crowded and I think Rozanski showed real skill in balancing the characters and plot.
Six Clicks Away is a modern parable of the role of relationships in the technological age. The interesting premise and solid writing makes it a quick and entertaining read.
January 7, 2011
Taking a modern spin on the theory of six degrees of separation - the theory that any two strangers can be linked through six different friends of friends - Bonnie Rozanski's novel Six Clicks Away starts with a New Jersey college student who sets out to become online friends with the Dalai Lama. What starts as a sociology project quickly spirals outward to become a look at the interconnectedness of people around the world.
The story begins with sorority girl Rachel and her geeky classmate Jeremy but as their network expands, the reader meets many endearing characters such as Julia an author in Canada; Kevin an engineer turned fish vendor in Seattle; Antara, a collections agent in India; and multiple others. The lives of these individuals seem to have nothing in common but over the course of the novel their stories impact and affect each other in creative and interesting ways.
I enjoyed the tales that Rozanski wove together in this book. She presents an interesting look at the world of social networking, and "MyFace" - her fictional blend of facebook and MySpace - proves to be a literary mirror that will leave readers considering their own online presence and digital lives. Overall, this is a unique and modern story that raises ideas about how small the large world has become and will make any reader stop and think about from whom they might be Six Clicks Away.
The story begins with sorority girl Rachel and her geeky classmate Jeremy but as their network expands, the reader meets many endearing characters such as Julia an author in Canada; Kevin an engineer turned fish vendor in Seattle; Antara, a collections agent in India; and multiple others. The lives of these individuals seem to have nothing in common but over the course of the novel their stories impact and affect each other in creative and interesting ways.
I enjoyed the tales that Rozanski wove together in this book. She presents an interesting look at the world of social networking, and "MyFace" - her fictional blend of facebook and MySpace - proves to be a literary mirror that will leave readers considering their own online presence and digital lives. Overall, this is a unique and modern story that raises ideas about how small the large world has become and will make any reader stop and think about from whom they might be Six Clicks Away.
February 21, 2013
The multiple locations and the interconnected story lines were interesting enough for me to finish the book. It is unfortunate that the one story line that connects the others had the flattest characters and weakest writing. A disappointing number of bizarre typos appeared in the Kindle edition - and not easily overlooked ones, either. For example the Four Seasons Hotel was something like HHHhHHhotel. Seriously?
January 30, 2014
At first I thought this book would be boring. I loved it after getting to the 30% point. I was ready to give it 4 stars, but there was no eñding to the story. Seriously. I went to turn the page and there was nothing. Extremely disappointed.
February 3, 2011
Didn't think it was as good as six degrees of separation. Had a hard time getting through it. Boredom set in after awhile and once that happens I lose interest fast.
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