"Ready Player One" Ch 0-1, RP1 (No Spoilers beyond Chapter 1)

[Chris]

Wow, and I thought I'd be put off by the 80s references because I'm a 90s kid. Yes, there's a distinct gamer feel to this, but it's something between the wet dream of every MMORPG player and the The Diamond Age by Stephenson.

Wade's mom has a job that absolutely reminded me of a sub-plot from Diamond Age, which I won't go into further because I'm sure some people haven't read it yet. Then again, I doubt the idea of virtual whores originated with him.

I think the TILMATBATP (Thing I like most about the book at this point) is the way Cline introduces Wade. Even though it makes sense in retrospect (these things always do) I didn't imagine the main character as a kid who slept next to a dryer in a stack of mobile homes in Oklahoma. Perhaps because most of the RL situations of such characters aren't that jacked. Then again, it sets up the whole "win a 240 billion dollar inheritance" concept as a more interesting contrast.

Cline's imagery is wonderful if his character descriptions are a bit lacking. I have a much better sense of what the stacks look like and exactly how I visualize his hiding place than I do of his mom, dad, or cµnt...excuse me, aunt (okay, so I at least think she's a wonderfully awful person, even if that's the only dimension she has at this point).

The setup for the contest clicked slightly less with me than did the introduction to Wade. It felt almost like a mashup of Snow Crash and Infinite Jest (I haven't finished the latter so please avoid references to it). Cline takes a bit too much pleasure in laying out just how damned important the video was, and for some reason it rings a bit hollow.

I guess it's only because if I'm going to read the book I'm going to buy into the premise, so you really don't need to sell me so hard on why the entire planet for four years started watching Family Ties. That said, he moves on and Chapter One doesn't have any of the dead weight of Ch0.

So what were your thoughts of what I'd consider the introductory chapters of RP1?

(I stopped here, btw, because of the natural break with the introduction of the title and what I assume will be Wade's first narrated trip into OASIS.)

[[deleted user]]

I enjoyed the little bit of the real world we see here and would love to learn/see more of that. The whys and hows and whatfors and all that.

I have to agree with you on the imagery. I had no trouble imagining the world at all, but generic_standin_trailer_trash + bitchy_selfish_woman_02 was all I got for the aunt. Even less for mom and only slightly more for Wade himself.

[Chris]

I had no trouble imagining the world at all, but generic_standin_trailer_trash + bitchy_selfish_woman_02 was all I got for the aunt.

Well put.