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What Members Thought
Dystopias are tough. To live in—that’s a given. But also to write in such a way that seems different enough from the present to make an impact, but enough of a logical extension of current circumstances as to feel eerily plausible. Nineteen Eighty-Four was written more than sixty years ago, but—aside from the title, anyway—it still feels like it could be a future lurking just around the corner. A little more warrantless wiretapping, a bit of spyware, a few extra security cameras, the Homeland Se
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3.5 stars.
I enjoyed this--I like dystopian fiction set in a near-future world that looks a lot like our contemporary world. I was pretty impressed with Shteyngart's prescience in (view spoiler), and his descriptions of how people are glued to their smartphone type devices (which reveal every last bit of personal info to all and sundry) was quite on-target and amusing. Where the story fell apart for me a little ...more
I enjoyed this--I like dystopian fiction set in a near-future world that looks a lot like our contemporary world. I was pretty impressed with Shteyngart's prescience in (view spoiler), and his descriptions of how people are glued to their smartphone type devices (which reveal every last bit of personal info to all and sundry) was quite on-target and amusing. Where the story fell apart for me a little ...more
Jan 15, 2011
Mandy
marked it as started-not-finished
I only made it to Chapter 10 of 22 and probably wouldn't have made it that far if I was actually reading it instead of listening to the audio. I kept hoping it would take a turn for the better, but I have little tolerance for fiction chalk full of unlikeable characters. Pair said characters with a tired attempt at everybody's favorite "very near future dystopia" and you have 25-30% of whats being published these days, including this latest Super Sad stab at literary fiction. I just kept flashing
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There were things I didn't like about this book as I read it but it's a book I keep coming back to, recommending to friends, bringing up in casual conversation. It obviously worked its way into my brain and settled in. Which is no small feat for my sieve-like brain.
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Meh. This did nothing but annoy me most of the time. There were bright spots, but all in all I was disappointed
Eh. This book didn't really do it for me, although for a bit at the end I was sucked in to what was happening. I often find books that are about the near future with a lot of nearly recognizable techno-babble to be clever, but nothing more. I thought this book need more story and more relate-able characters.
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Frightengly prescient. Gorgeous and sad writing. It's rare that a book gets better as it moves towards the end. I was actually astonished at times. This is a tale for today.
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Having a hard time getting into this. Narrator is so grating, even as satire it's a drag.
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May 07, 2010
Bethany
marked it as to-read
Aug 07, 2010
katie
marked it as to-read
Dec 18, 2010
erin
marked it as to-read
Jan 06, 2011
Erin
marked it as to-read
May 13, 2011
Ellen
marked it as to-read
Jul 31, 2011
Lisa
marked it as to-read
Jun 06, 2012
Gary
marked it as to-read
Apr 08, 2015
Kate
marked it as to-read
Mar 04, 2016
Karina
marked it as to-read
