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Wool
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Wool: Discuss Book 1: Wool
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Rob, Roberator
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Apr 30, 2013 03:27AM
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In the omnibus this is called Book 1: Holston. When the author started the series did he call this first novella just "Wool"?
Daryl wrote: "In the omnibus this is called Book 1: Holston. When the author started the series did he call this first novella just "Wool"?"Yup. I believe that's what my omnibus edition called it too. Would have to redownload it to check though.
Daryl wrote: "In the omnibus this is called Book 1: Holston. When the author started the series did he call this first novella just "Wool"?"Yeah, my library has a bound edition of the first novella, and the title is just Wool.
I thought it was solid, fast and had a good dark twist at the end.I was pretty skeptical while reading it too, so it's probably better than I thought it was.
I like how much content Howey can squeeze out of a moment without losing my attention.
That impressed me.
It was very good but left me with a, what the hell, moment at the end. Please tell me it explains at some point.
I thought it was clear.What was your "what the hell" moment?
We can post spoilers about the first book here.
Was I the only one thinking that if I got out and the air was clean and the world beautiful the first thing I would do would be trying to take the suit off?
Oh not what happened but why. Why the fake images and all that.
His wife was finding records of technology for creating fake images and the people who worked on the suits were a secretive cult-like group.The fake images were for the suits, to ensure the cleaners would do their job.
The cleaners would see the fake images and be tricked into thinking the world had healed.
Wanting everyone else to come out, they would clean the lenses.
Those inside the silo saw reality.
The outside world was a poisonous wasteland after all.
That's how I interpreted it.
The story had me from the first line and I found the protag's voice captivating.@8: I thought so too, but I can understand how the characters might think something along the lines of "those poor things" and turn to clean. Also, I think that the mittens initially made it difficult to remove.
Greg wrote: "Was I the only one thinking that if I got out and the air was clean and the world beautiful the first thing I would do would be trying to take the suit off?"I thought the same thing too. It is all well and good tricking the people doing the cleaning into thinking that by cleaning the sensors they will show the people inside the world is healed but if they decided to try and get the suit off first the whole thing would fail.
They made them so hard to remove so people couldn't go out, say 'Looks nice' and pop their helmet off but even if they just struggled to try it for a while they risk the suit failing before the cleaning has finished.
Christopher wrote: "It was very good but left me with a, what the hell, moment at the end. Please tell me it explains at some point."Keep reading.
I thought that was a nice twist. But if the air is that toxic, why do they not concentrate on simply building a better protected suit? It can't be very corrosive or the structure of the silo on the surface would have been corroded away over the years. Similarly the electronics and cabling from the camera feeds. Which kinda implies they are building deliberately leaky suits for the "cleaners" to wear? (simple hypoxia or CO2 poisoning don't have the symptoms described so it wasn't a case of just running out of air)
So the question I had at the end with the helmet. Is it a clear faceplate with an image then projected over it to "colour in" the world - like a "hud." Or is it a like an led screen you can't see through but with a hidden camera on the outside?
The helmet is opaque.Everything the wearer sees is generated by the program and a hidden camera.
Tim wrote: "But if the air is that toxic, why do they not concentrate on simply building a better protected suit?"I'll repeat my last post, keep reading.
Holston believed it was transparent until he took it off, then it was clearly (ahem) opaque.
Tim wrote: " Which kinda implies they are building deliberately leaky suits for the "cleaners" to wear?"I honestly wouldn't be surprised.
William wrote: "The helmet is opaque.Everything the wearer sees is generated by the program and a hidden camera."
That is how I read it here, but I have a problem reconciling this with later interactions with the helmet.
Tim wrote: "Holston believed it was transparent until he took it off, then it was clearly (ahem) opaque."Does nobody notice the faceplate when they are putting the helmet on? Or is it too dark or do they assume it's a one way tint?
Terrific book. I read it over a couple of days. Couldn't stop. I'll probably get hold of book 2 very soon.Much prefer this style of laser book, to the 'space opera'.
I'm not sure how the books are picked each month? But whomever suggested this one - thanks. :)
I read this whole thing a few months back and it was the first book that really hooked me. I couldn't believe they'd kill off the guy who you thought was going to be the book protagonist. As to many questions others have about how and why things happened outside, just keep reading. It will be explained.
David Sven wrote: "Tim wrote: "Holston believed it was transparent until he took it off, then it was clearly (ahem) opaque."Does nobody notice the faceplate when they are putting the helmet on? Or is it too dark or..."
The helmet is described as "silver masked" ("He couldn’t see Allison’s face through her silver-masked helmet,...") so I took it to look like a one-way mirror. I'd imagine that the camera would already be active so it might appear transparent as it was being fitted to the wearer.
Duane wrote: "The helmet is described as "silver masked" ("He couldn’t see Allison’s face through her silver-masked helmet,...") so I took it to look like a one-way mirror. I'd imagine that the camera would already be active so it might appear transparent as it was being fitted to the wearer."Yes, that would make sense - It's just that later interactions with the helmet don't appear consistent
(view spoiler)
I really enjoyed the care that Howey took describing these two characters and their relationship and letting that reveal the setting. The smallness of the silo, the law of what can not be voiced as it might set off a revolt, the strangeness of the punishment, the remnants in the computer memory. All of it told through the poignant story of Holston and Allison. Just really enjoyable story telling. When an author gives me characters with enough life I'm more willing to overlook the inconsistencies that others are bringing up with the cleaning suit and the viewscreen. If he had focused on describing the Silo and it's society in detail like a gazetteer, rather then showing it, I might be more bothered. I think the questions that were left in my mind are really encouraging me to keep reading.
I think a cleaner who has an urge to go outside is more susceptible to the false images.They will think "I was right!" and want to share their discovery with their friends and family on the inside in the only way they know how.
William, that makes a lot of sense.I was totally captivated by the first chapter. I thought the first chapter sort of explained the book's tagline: "If the lies don't kill you, the truth will". The truth definitely killed Holston!
I read the whole lot, back to back. That would be all 5 parts in the omnibus edition. I would recommend this as they do flow together nicely.Great recommendation!!! It's been sometime since I've been unable to stop myself from putting a book down.
I have just started 'Shift' now :-)
Also, while he was putting the helmet on, would he not notice the view was inconsistent - if it was coming from a camera, it would not reflect his line of sight. And wouldn't he notice that his eyes were focussed on the inside of the helmet rather than the effective infinity of the outside world? What if he was long sighted?
Funny how we immediately expect that the image being broadcast inside the silo isn't real, and our expectation is used to deceive us. Yet the whole time we're wondering why the cleaners clean, and the reason is that the helmet is a lie. Subtly told. Nice bit of writing.
The camera, I would expect, is on the outside of the helmet, disguised to look like the outside part of the face-plate. The program that overlays the wastes outside with lush green and boulders where dead bodies are would be sophisticated enough not to change the view of the inside of the silo.I get this from the how his view goes black toward the end, as if the batteries powering the camera & internal view screen had died.
I think I may have misunderstood the ending. Holston, to me, seems perfectly fine with leaving the others in the silo believing that the wasteland image was real even though he discovered it wasn't. It wasn't clear to me that he felt that by "cleaning" the lenses that the real beautiful landscape would be revealed to those inside. So my question is, why disnt he try to communicate that through the lens? Or go back the way he came to get back in and let people know somehow? I'm sure he had some friends in there who he would have liked to "set free" from the silo right? I don't know. His actions seemed kind of selfish to me, just doing the cleaning and then walking off into the sunset. But again, I may be misunderstanding it.
Loved the first chapter. I almost couldn't believe the twist myself. I was sure when he saw the green it was real and that the suit would kill him. But then he got it off and the helmet was the lie. I was impressed with the writing too.
I really enjoyed this first part. Especially the twist at the end. I believed that the screens in the silo were a lie and that he was going to go off into the world, find his wife and they would be the protagonists that discovered the secret. Then he died! I hope there will me many more twists to come. Until then, I was liking it but thought it was a bit straight forward.To the person that mentioned something about how useless the suits were but some how the silo survived. The way I've been reading it so far suggests that they don't have the knowledge or technology of the people who built the silo. I feel like the society inside has lost a lot of knowledge over the years.
Matt wrote: "I think I may have misunderstood the ending. Holston, to me, seems perfectly fine with leaving the others in the silo believing that the wasteland image was real even though he discovered it wasn't..."I think the reason is that the people in the silo would never believe it. They wouldn't be able to accept that they have been lied to for all of that time. Each "cleaner" does the job out of a kind of pity for those left behind.
That was my take from it.
I also really enjoyed this first book and was completely fooled, like Holston, into thinking the lie was the view from the silo, not from his helmet. It makes sense after I thought about it, though. Perhaps most of the people sent out to clean felt grateful for being "set free" so why not do one last favor for the society that gave them this new life?Holston's story is heartbreaking. At the same time, the society is very cruel to trick the cleaners and provide them with what they know are faulty suits, essentially killing them soon after they step outside.
The characters felt so real to me.Take one of us and put that helmet on our head and sure we would notice that we were looking through a camera. Many of us have experienced virtual reality helmets and some have seen HUD technology first hand. But in the silo, nobody has seen any technology like this, it is hidden from them...they grow up with the view screens and a few CRT type monitor screens on their limited computers. The helmet view would not be suspect because none had ever seen a digitally altered view of the world.
There is a conspiracy there of the suit makers and the people who "know the truth" and why they do what they do is for later books to explain.
Mod
I *love* the subtletly of having the buildings in the distance whole and even some buildings that weren't there. It's only afterwards you realise this must be an older recording of what it used to look like. But at the moment when it's described, it had me confused. If the buildings were still whole someone must be maintaining them... Well, now I know.
Far more of a bother to me than the visor was why he cleaned the lens. More, why everyone cleaned the lens. If I was one of the people put outside for murder, or some other crime, which is implied as a punishment, why would I clean? I didn't want to go outside.
And even if I'm a person like Holston or his wife, once I realized what was true-- I'm not sure I'd clean. I'm pretty certain they don't think cleaning the lens will show people the true picture suddenly. They think the image is being manipulated. Holston's internal reasoning that he was just imitating others *might* hold for him, although it seems out of character. However, I can't believe everyone put out for cleaning would think along the same lines.
This first book reads like a great short story with a twist ending. I'm curious to see if it binds itself to the rest of the book or ends up just feeling like a prologue.
In the end though, I love this. Post-apocalyptic silos with a mystery. I'm in!
Angela wrote: "Holston's story is heartbreaking. At the same time, the society is very cruel to trick the cleaners and provide them with what they know are faulty suits, essentially killing them soon after they step outside. ..."I thought the whole idea was an execution? Everyone knows that when you are sent out there you die.
Tastykimchi wrote: I thought the whole idea was an execution? Everyone knows that when you are sent out there you die.True, it is a death sentence. But I just think it is cruel to make the condemned person believe things are better outside. Why give them hope of a life in a better world, when they will die horribly, anyway?
True, it is a death sentence. But I just think it is cruel to make the condemned person believe things are better outside. Why give them hope of a life in a better world, when they will die horribly, anyway?"Well, i can see why they do it and not be cruel. It could be that the sight gives them comfort in their last moments. Would it be better to show them hopelessness and death?
There is no good way to send someone on a death trip. I don't know why they don't just shove them outside or shoot them. Perhaps that is yet to be revealed.
Tom wrote: "If I was one of the people put outside for murder, or some other crime, which is implied as a punishment, why would I clean?"People weren't sent to clean often.
Holston and his wife were the last two, three years apart.
Both of them were sent to do the cleaning because they expressed a desire to go outside.
Mod
People weren't sent to clean often.
Holston and his wife w..."
Sure but they weren't the only ones described.
Sure but they weren't the only ones described."I feel this goes down to mental conditioning. There are things that don't make sense to those who live outside of the situation.
Sometimes I wonder why Samurai would commit seppuku at the whim of their liege lord, or why polynesian island cults developed waiting for planes to return with their salvation.
The characters talk about the strict mental conditioning that they receive as children in the silo. These people who are sent out may just clean the visor because that is what you do when you leave the silo. It's amazing what a little conditioning can do the mind.
Cleaning the visor may be a pavlovian response.
Tom wrote: "Far more of a bother to me than the visor was why he cleaned the lens. More, why everyone cleaned the lens. If I was one of the people put outside for murder, or some other crime, which is implied as a punishment, why would I clean? I didn't want to go outside."This is a reason I came up with when I read the book earlier this year.
The reason the Cleaners clean the lenses is because they think they've won, that everyone inside is stupid. They want to clean the lenses so that the people inside don't need to come out. That is their way of getting back at the people inside. Remember the fuzzier the view the more likely someone else will be sent out. And the Cleaners don't want to share this "Paradise" with those who just sent them out.
I didn't get that from Holston at all, Kim.Edit - I feel like I keep arguing on behalf of the author.
I didn't think the reasoning in the story was rock solid, I just thought it was good enough.
The logic is that no matter if you lean toward benevolent or malevolent toward the people inside, you will clean the lens either out of joy or spite, then go over the hill to embrace this beautiful new world.
William wrote: "I didn't get that from Holston at all, Kim."No not with Holston, just the Cleaners in general. Like Tom said, the ones who were put out for crimes.
I can't remember it well but I'd say Holston would have been more of a sense of duty.
Mod
I feel this goes down to mental conditioning. There are things that don't make sense to those who live outside of the situation.
Sometimes I wonder..."
Yes, that is exactly what Howey seems to be saying. I just found it little hard to buy, personally. If it works for y'all, don't let me stop you. Personally I find it a little hard to believe that the variant personalities would all respond especially the same way especially when the selection bias is people on the fringe od acceptable behavior already.
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