ScriptGenerator

by Philippe Vasset, Jane Metter (Translator)

“A darkly entertaining and disturbingly prescient novel.”—A.L. Kennedy “A brilliant disembodied satire obviously written by Karl Marx hallucinating on absinthe.”—Deborah Levy In a mine in Liberia, a geologist discovers fragments of a software manual. ScriptGenerator©®™ is an innovation so powerful that creatives in all the major cities of the world will become redundant. Who are the people behind this software, and how can their diabolical strategy of cultural domination be thwarted? Philippe Vasset has written a first novel that announces simultaneously the death of literary creation and the birth of a brilliant author. Philippe Vasset lives in Paris. Before becoming a journalist, he was a corporate detective in the United States.

Genres: Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2005

Reviews

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to like this book. I have always been frustrated by people who say they "just don't get it" because there's always something to get. Still, I may have finally given up the English Major ghost. Part of me wants to go back and re-read for the extra depth I know is there, and part of me is just a lazy bum.

There are two narratives in this book--the business plan of the company ScriptGenerator and events surrounding the geologist. The business plan parts were the most straightforward, and not surprisingly, the most boring. The story surrounding the geologist is the most opaque, and if I were a better person I would go back to fully understand his meaning. I kept thinking that if this had been assigned in class, I would have gotten more out of it. I also wonder, since it is a translation, what kind of nuance I'm missing.

One of its saving graces is how short it is--and how large the script is. Again, there's meaning here, but I am too tired for avant garde.

[Reema · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this one....is pretty cool and interesting....the author has actually thought up of a script generator that is going to create stories...if it really gets invented it would change the way the publishing world is...even if you dont want to become an author...we gonna use to spin stories which we can read and even change endings and locations and characters if we dont like them in the story :)

Awesome thought and well written book too :)

[Alberto M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non un capolavoro, ma se capita sottomano vale la lettura. La parte di denuncia è un po' superficiale e scontata, e il gioco metaletterario non è al livello dei capolavori dell'Oulipo, ma l'idea è originale, l'ambientazione inconsueta e la piccola taglia del libro lascia alla fine un buon ricordo della lettura.