Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) in Overdue Podcast

Mar 24, 2018 Jason rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own

Random 80's Dude: Whoa, Brody, whoa - WHAT-THE-FRAGGLE! You really enjoyed this book, it was absorbing and quick and fun! Why the mediocre rating?? I mean it's chop full of escapist, childhood memories - Oingo Boingo's "Dead Man's Party" & Monty Python & the Holy Grail, Kurt Vonnegut & Dark Crystal references - these are all things you LOVE! So what is your major malfunction, Numbnuts? I mean, THE GOONIES!!!

Yours truly, a humble reader: First of all, my name is not Brody, I am not an officer of Random 80's Dude: Whoa, Brody, whoa - WHAT-THE-FRAGGLE! You really enjoyed this book, it was absorbing and quick and fun! Why the mediocre rating?? I mean it's chop full of escapist, childhood memories - Oingo Boingo's "Dead Man's Party" & Monty Python & the Holy Grail, Kurt Vonnegut & Dark Crystal references - these are all things you LOVE! So what is your major malfunction, Numbnuts? I mean, THE GOONIES!!!

Yours truly, a humble reader: First of all, my name is not Brody, I am not an officer of the law, and while I appreciate a good Full Metal Jacket reference as much as the next guy, I do not appreciate the insinuation you seem to be making regarding my nether regions. Secondly, I think you meant chock-full, not chop full, unless perhaps something is full of chop suey, or maybe chopped liver? But I rather think I am probably reaching to try to explain your ignorance at this point. Now, to move on to the substance of your grievance: I agree that this is Grade-A escapist fun, but it's of the type that can get you only so far. It's like a day at the State Fair, it's enjoyable, silly, and you indulge guiltily for an evening, but that's it. Partake too much of the junk food, rickety rides and massive produce, and you would realize yourself sick, bored, and broke - it does not have enough depth for further exploration, only enough for one quick jaunt. Do not get me wrong, my affronted compadre, the jaunt was enjoyable indeed, but I am not going to think much on it now that I am done with it. The frame work that supported the pop-culture fun was flimsy, but served it's purpose; the language and style were rough and juvenile, but that all felt right in the context - I'm cool with that, I just can't make more if it than it really is, nor do I think others should. It is not meant to be anything more than a fun, nostalgic page-turner. I appreciated the read and I would certainly recommend it, hell, I am even pleasantly anticipating the movie that's about to hit theaters, this book seems perfectly set up for that sort of adaptation. I should also probably mention that I have never really been a gamer and am probably more a child of the 90's than the 80's, perhaps that explains my take more than anything else. It does play to my own geekiness, but I am not quite the perfect reader for this book, my geekiness is of a slightly different variety and I was probably born a few years too late, but it leaves me as someone that enjoys the ride and has an appreciation while not quite being caught up in a sense of super-fandom. It seems like Cline had a blast writing this book, but it's nostalgia with a fun, if not completely original, vehicle to carry it along.

Random 80's Dude: Well then, Mr. Child-of-the-90's-hypercritical-jackass, what's a chock?

Yours truly: Umm... I think it's derived from a Middle English term or something... sorry I mentioned it. ...more

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Mar 08, 2015 Hyzie rated it liked it · review of another edition

I wanted to like this more than I did.

The basic premise was fascinating, and I did love all the puzzles and the whole idea of the game. It felt like a cross between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Westing Game, but geekier than both.

The problem with it is that it is trying too hard to be relevant to old-school 80's geek culture. There were too many references, too many times where the character just happens to remember a strangely oblique reference to something that he had played y I wanted to like this more than I did.

The basic premise was fascinating, and I did love all the puzzles and the whole idea of the game. It felt like a cross between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Westing Game, but geekier than both.

The problem with it is that it is trying too hard to be relevant to old-school 80's geek culture. There were too many references, too many times where the character just happens to remember a strangely oblique reference to something that he had played years ago that honestly, even people living in the 80's had probably forgotten (and often for good reason). Yes, I understand that Wade devotes his life to the study of these things, but being able to retain the muscle memory to play all of these games (and 80's games, for those who have forgotten, were often very difficult to master) years after the last time he had played them, and to play them at such a level, stopped feeling lucky and started sliding into "...seriously?" territory pretty quickly. It started feeling less like he had studied and worked hard and more like he knew whatever the plot needed him to know, and that's always an uncomfortable feeling.

In addition to that, the whole romance aspect was just awkwardly handled. Wade starts off as

(view spoiler)

That just sort of smacks of wish fulfillment in an extreme way, and the objectification there feels awkwardly tacked on given the reality of a physical form doesn't really matter too much in the game.

In the end I liked it in spite of these problems. It was a quick read with an interesting premise and some clever puzzles, and it would probably be an even better read for someone born a few years earlier than I was who would actually recognize more of the references than I did. It's worth a read if the premise sounds interesting, though probably not all the acclaim it is getting. ...more

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Jun 14, 2016 Camille24 (camilleisreading) rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is an immersive and fun treasure hunt, told with abundant pop culture references.

Wade Watts lives in 2044, and his future is bleak yet believable. The income gap is wider than ever, with the poorest people (including Wade) living in miserable "Stacks" -- jerry-rigged scaffolding that holds up stacks of trailers, RVs, and campers. Wade's only escape is the Oasis, a videogame created by eccentric and reclusive billionaire/genius James Halliday. Users log in to the game with Virtual Reality g ...more

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