“Whenever I saw the sun, I reminded myself that I was looking at a star. One of over a hundred billion in our galaxy. A galaxy that was just one of billions of other galaxies in the observable universe. This helped me keep things in perspective.”
― Earnest Cline, Ready Player One
In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.
But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win—and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.
1. Book Club Done Right. This book was our first book club choice of the new year, and it fits perfectly with one of my new years not-so-resolutions. Over the past couple of years, I’ve noticed that book club has turned into dinner club… which is cool, except for when I really just want to read good books and talk about them. Sooooo one of my resolutions this year was to take book club back to what I intended it to be — a place to read books that were outside my comfort zone and discuss the book with friends.
2. So.. this is definitely outside my comfort zone. I don’t do sci-fi. Period. I don’t pick it up. So when Madeleine recommended this book, I groaned a bit, remembered why I wanted to be in book club in the first place, and resolved to give this book a shot. And I’m so glad I did. It really put me in a place that stretched my imagination, challenged my viewpoints, and made me look up things via Google. A lot.
3. 80s fans rejoice! I think. I mean… I had never heard of 85% of the pop culture references mentioned in this novel, but it was certainly 80s-centric, smashed into a world I couldn’t even imagine. Also, if you are a gamer and into old school gaming, this one is FOR YOU. No, seriously, I’m pretty sure it was written specifically for you, nerd.
4. Ok, but was it good? Well… it was. Then it wasn’t. Then it was again. I fell asleep in the middle of the book, when the 17 year old main character starts to act like a 17 year old who won the lottery. I couldn’t stand him. But he catches his head and figures out what is important. The novel was a bit predictable (oh, who would have guessed that that mysterious game that you were just “drawn” to could actually save your life? wow. you must be a psychic?), but I’m ok with that in this context because the realm of the world was so different than anything I had read.
While this book was nerdy and definitely not in my normal repertoire, it had a captivating plot and kept me coming back for more.
“People who live in glass houses should shut the fuck up.”
“That was when I realized, as terrifying and painful as reality can be, it’s also the only place where you can find true happiness. Because reality is real.”
“No one in the world gets what they want and that is beautiful.”
“You’re probably wondering what’s going to happen to you. That’s easy. The same thing is going to happen to you that has happened to every other human being who has ever lived. You’re going to die. We all die. That’s just how it is.”
“The once-great country into which I’d been born now resembled its former self in name only. It didn’t matter who was in charge. Those people were rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic and everyone knew it.”
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