Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

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Ready Player One

Summary: A classic young adult quest novel based in 2044, but built on 1980s culture.  A fun book for both adults that lived the 1980s and teens that were years from being born.

My Sister-in-Law introduced me to this book.  Published last August it was several lists of the best of 2011, but I had not heard of it until her recommendation.

Wade is living in 2044.  The US has degenerated into lawlessness.  The world economy is in ruins because of huge shortages in oil, energy, water and food.

The world is falling apart, but there is one consolation, Oasis.  The Oasis is an immersive online world.  Most people now live more in the Oasis than in the real world.  Students go to school in the Oasis, adults work in the Oasis, everyone escapes reality in the Oasis.

The creator of the Oasis is James Halliday.  Five years before the start of the book, Halliday died and left his enormous fortune and the entire company to whomever solves his puzzle.  Wade (his avatar is named Parzival in the Oasis) and many others have made it their goal to solve the puzzle.  It is their lottery, their work, their only hope.

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The Fall of Interpretation: Philosophical Foundations for a Creational Hermeneutic by James KA Smith

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1404896221_0.pngSummary: Maybe our need for interpretation and our finiteness as humans is a feature of our creation, not a consequence of the fall.

The more I read James KA Smith, the more I appreciate his perspective.

The Fall of Interpretation was Smith’s first book.  It was an adaptation of his Ph.D. dissertation that he lightly edited and re-released in 2012.  Last fall, it was briefly on sale, and I picked it up because it was written by Smith, without really knowing what it was about.

Like normal for Smith, this is a book that has way more philosophy than I understand.  But also, like normal, I can follow the argument without always understanding some of the minor details.

Smith’s argument is “To be human is to interpret, to encounter the world and entities within the world” and “something of an encounter conditioned by the situationally of human finitude”.  He is suggesting that our finitude is not something to be overcome, but something to be embraced as a feature of our creation.  (Yes, the language can be a bit overly academic, but it is understandable.)

The problem is that,

“At root (and roots, of course, are usually buried, unseen and hidden) the linking of interpretation to fallenness may be understood as the product of a dominant Western interpretive tradition, a broadly neoplatonic understanding of creation and Fall, an understanding that is itself an interpretation. I believe that this tradition, which has significantly influenced aspects of the Christian tradition, remains plagued by an incipient Neoplatonism (or gnosticism) that continues to construe creational finitude and human be-ing as “essentially” fallen and therefore ties hermeneutics to such a corrupted condition.”

What was important about this book for me was his discussion of the finiteness of humanity.

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MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker

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Summary: Basis of the movie and beloved TV show, and well mined by them both for ideas.

Every night my senior year of college MASH was on at 10 PM and was watched by whoever happened to be around.  Long before that I had seen most of the episodes, but it is a testament to its quality that college kids were devoted fans to a show that started the year before most of us were born.

Last week the novel was the Audible deal of the day so I picked it up.  And mostly I enjoyed it.

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The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

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Summary: A farce in the style of PG Wodehouse (or vice versa) poking fun at the triviality of Victorian society.

I know that Wilde has the reputation of being funny, but the only other work of his that I have read was the Portrait of Dorian Gray.  And while I appreciated the book, I did not think it was great and it certainly is not a comedy.

The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy.  It is also a play and it has been a while since I have read a play with stage directions and character dialogue.  And I am not sure I have ever listened to an audiobook of a play, which is what I did here.

Two friends both are leading double lives, in part because they can.  Algernon is meeting with his friend who is known as Earnest.  Earnest wants to propose to Algernon’s cousin, but Algernon discovers that Earnest’s cigarette case has the inscription “From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack.”  So Earnest admits that he is actually named Jack (or John) but uses the name Earnest when he comes to London to get away from his country house.

Algernon admits a similar deception when he wants to get away from London, he pretends to visit a sick friend named Bunbury.

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Life’s Biggest Questions: What the Bible Says about the Things That Matter Most by Erik Thoennes

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I am reposting this 2011 review because Life’s Biggest Questions is part of the July $3.99 or Less Kindle sale. It is $1.99 through the end of July 2014 Takeaway: Basic Introduction to Systematic Theology does not need to be hard to read. This book has been sitting on my self waiting for me to … Read more

Heirs and Graces by Rhys Bowen (Her Royal Spyness #6)

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Summary: Georgie is tasked by the Queen to help with the transition of lost distant relative to his new role as heir to a Duke. (Of course someone ends up dead.)

Over the last six months I have read all six of the Her Royal Spyness books that have been written.  The series is a fun, cozy mystery series that frequently pays homage to great British mystery writers.  The first book was a clear homage to Dorothy Sayers.  Sherlock Holmes has been mentioned throughout the books.  And the last two book have had hints of Agitha Cristie.

That is not to say the plots are stolen, they are not.  But that slight feeling exists that Rhys Bowen is trying to honor those that have gone before her by dropping in little scene hints or clues.  If I were more versed on classic British mysteries, I am sure there are more that I would get.

In Heirs and Graces, the book opens with Georgie’s latest venture, secretary to her mother as her mother attempts to write a memoir.  But as should be predicted, her mother either can’t talk about many of the interesting events of her life or wants to go shopping and not do the hard work on writing.  So Georgie is left yet again without a means of supporting herself, or a place to live.

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A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle (Austin Family #4)

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Summary: Death, Life, Meaning and other light topics.

Nothing reminds me more of the importance of not wasting time on bad books like reading a really good book. I cannot tell you why I have not read everything that Madeleine L’Engle has written by now. I have had the time, but I haven’t done it. I need to rectify the situation.

A couple years ago I blogged through the Time Quintet and then a couple of stand alone early novels. I picked up the first of the Austin Family books and was not excited about it. So it took me a while to read another.

I skipped to A Ring of Endless Light because I picked it up on kindle a while ago while it was on sale. But I actually ended up listening to it on audiobook from the library.

The Austin family series is focused on a family of 4 kids and their parents. There is nothing apparently special about the family except that they seem to be a pretty healthy, well-loved family.

All of A Ring of Endless Light is set on Seven Bay Island. This is the home of their Grandfather. Every summer they usually spend time with their wise retired pastor/missionary/scholar grandfather. This summer they are spending the whole summer because their grandfather is dying.

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Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (Read Again)

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I am reposting my review of Neverwhere because it is the Kindle Daily Deal and on sale for $2.99.
Neverwhere by Neil GaimanTakeaway: Is comfortable better?

After I reviewed Neil Gaiman’s latest novel (The Ocean at the End of the Lane), I started having friends ask for recommendations of other Gaiman books.  So I decided I should go back and re-read some of those books that I keep recommending.

My traditional advice with Gaiman is that is you like the adult fairy tales, then you start with Stardust, then read Neverwhere or The Ocean at the End of the Lane.  Then read his creepy kids book Coraline.

But if you like Gaiman’s alternative takes of mythology, then read American Gods, Good Omens and Anansi Boys.

Neverwhere is the story of a man (Richard) that has a comfortable, but plain life in London. When he stumbles on Door (a young woman that is bleeding on the sidewalk in front of him). He is introduced to the world of London Below.  And suddenly his life in London Above is not quite the same.

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