Rated YA-MA discussion
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Ready Player One
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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Group Read July 2013)
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I read this last year and while I enjoyed the overall story, to me it was just so 80s that it was a bit overwhelming. Though I was also happy for the Firefly addition.I'm a late 80s baby so I technically did not grow up then but with all the 80s nostalgia in our culture I understood most of the references. To me this entire book was a giant love letter to the 80s and how you feel about that does affect your enjoyment.
Granted I had fun speculating about making everyone as obsessed with my fandoms as I am if I were an insanely rich person who created a world with hidden easter eggs to my fortune and what kind of clues I would leave.
The one thing that really bugged me was near the beginning Watt listed all of Halliday's favorite authors. 20 authors. All male.
As mentioned above Warner Brothers has snatched up the film rights for the book. I'm curious how it would work since I cannot imagine how expensive it would be to include all the rights to all the references in the book and how much they would cut out. I think a miniseries would work better but still the rights are going to be insanely expensive.
The male author thing didn't really big me because in the 80's most of the genre authors outside of romance were male - with the occasional exception
It didn't bother me either, but I think it's because I find that most of the male readers I know prefer male authors.
@Wendy: Lol, this calls for a Dance of Joy! :)Yeah this will be a totally expensive movie to make... Which calls for a Spielberg. But also because the storyline sounds something of his early works. I'm surprised Dreamworks didn't get it.
Finished :)I loved the last action sequence! My brain is exploding with the awesomes. I do feel that (view spoiler)
But as a pop culture fan, yes this was a fun book :)
I'm struggling with the male POV I think. That and it's a "larger" book than normal, it feels like its taking FOREVER to read. I love it, but i hate it when i feel like i'm dragging....
It took me a while too, I kept cross checking with youtube and wikipedia. The details were tedious but at the same time necessary because half the time I don't know what game/song/reference he's talking about o.O
I'm totally fangirling over the "Buckaroo bonzai" movie reference I just read! One of my FAVORITE movies. I used to have it on VCR and had it memorized. Maybe i need to pick up a copy on DVD!
Ash Wednesday (Cupcake Ninja) wrote: "It took me a while too, I kept cross checking with youtube and wikipedia. The details were tedious but at the same time necessary because half the time I don't know what game/song/reference he's ta..."Awesome research skills Ash! I'm impressed!
I loved how the book made me recall things I'd forgotten about.
I agree Angie and Erika especially with Game of Thrones off for the summer. Did anyone get annoyed with Artemis does there always have to be a love interest? I think the book has plenty of action with out the stupid girl. Gah why do authors do this.
Welcome to the group Titus. It didn't bother me but I agree that it wasn't necessarily needed either.
Actually I was rather surprised about the first clue.. Why did it take them about 5 years to solve this?! I think it was way too easy :(But the scene in the tomb was hilarious lol
Well I finally finished this book on Sunday night. Haven't made it over here to post because my daughter had elbow surgery yesterday...I really enjoyed this book. I loved the 80's references, but I didn't LOVE the book itself. Although I am somewhat of a geeky nerd, i didn't like having all the technical computer stuff described to me in detail. I love action and I would have enjoyed the story more with more action and less tech. But I really loved all the 80's stuff.
I agree with whomever said it would take a boat load of money to get rights to all that stuff for a movie, so I'm interested to see how it all comes about.
Great tale. I really did hate the Sixers and loved Og, so that worked out good. Also, (view spoiler)
Good pick for July!
Titus214 wrote: "Thanks for the welcome Vixen I agree with you Becky. I thought the book was cool but had some issues with the execution. I wanted more action with the games the whole love interest was a waste. I k..."(view spoiler)
Post number 67 needs to be marked for spoilers (the comment about Aech is sort of a big one) or we might have to delete it. Sorry about that, but we try to keep our topics consistent and uniform, and since most of our topics are series, we try to make sure that people aren't stumbling upon something they haven't had a chance to read yet.
I've finished this for a while now and I just remembered to ask if "get the hell out of Dodge" was a thing in the 80s. Because that was used A LOT in this book.
Ash Wednesday (Cupcake Ninja) wrote: "I've finished this for a while now and I just remembered to ask if "get the hell out of Dodge" was a thing in the 80s. Because that was used A LOT in this book."Yes it was. I STILL say it constantly and my kids get sick of hearing it!
I'm gonna go ahead and delete post 67.Titus214, I can see what you're saying completely. Though, I also thought that it was just more about how (view spoiler).
Titus214 wrote: "I agree Angie and Erika especially with Game of Thrones off for the summer. Did anyone get annoyed with Artemis does there always have to be a love interest? I think the book has plenty of action w..."Oh wow...could you imagine if HBO would front the bill to pick this up? That would be amazing :)
What I liked about the love interest was that it mirrored Wade's experience with OASIS in general. For example, (view spoiler)
Wendy F wrote: "I'm gonna go ahead and delete post 67.Titus214, I can see what you're saying completely. Though, I also thought that it was just more about how [spoilers removed]."
I was kind of torn on this. The situation (view spoiler)
I read this book for another group read and really enjoyed it. I especially love that I get all the references and lived through the time it most often discusses. I guess it pays to be in your 40's if you are reading thi book. I also really loved the ending. It was and wasn't what I was expecting an really felt satisfying. I have had students of mine who are not strong readers but who worship the '80's and are true gamers read this book. And one of my autistic students memorized lines and recited them for about 6 months to everyone.
I think male gamers who don't see themselves as readers would love this book and it might even open up an entirely new world of books for some.
It looks like we missed our chance to sell this to HBO as a series: Ready Player One Writer Ernest Cline Sells Movie Rights For Next Novel Armada.Looks like he sold the movie rights to Ready Player One before the book was even published!
I didn't expect to like this book, so I was pleasantly surprised. Even though I wasn't really a gamer I did appreciate the references to some of the games and the movies.
I liked the book, but being a bit older and not an 80's gamer (unlike my younger brother) a few of the classic arcade game references were wasted on me. I did, however, get all of the movie and music references :-). Those were my jams!! :-) I did think the action dragged a bit at times, but overall it was a fun book. I did not see the (view spoiler)
I completely agree with your spoiler Kristie.Cinthia, I'm glad you liked it! Jasmin, I am failing to remember that scene for some reason. :(
Erika, I have been looking for movie info every time I remember to. I'd really love to see this on the big screen.
Lisa, that's awesome how the book resonated enough with a student to where he memorized lines!
I'm going to go ahead and move this over to the realistic fiction folder, where it will remain open for discussion.
Born in 79, so some references I got, some I didn't. What I didn't it made me want to see.