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Ready Player One


On 07/01/2016 at 01:38 AM by KnightDriver

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I don't consider myself overly nostalgic for the time of my growing up but there are still lots of memories of those times in my head that are unavoidable. It always seems like pop culture effects one most strongly in the high school years. My high school years were firmly in the 80s, 81-86 to be exact. So when a book comes along that is chock full of 80s pop culture references, and I mean stuffed to the gills with them, I can't help but be pulled in even without a strong sense of nostalgia. 

Ready Player One takes place in 2042 and the youth who star in this book are obsessed with 80s pop culture and all things geeky. Why? Because, in the VR, MMORPG world of The Oasis that they play in, its creator, James Halliday, has laid before them a challenge to find his easter egg, the winner getting his vast fortune, and the clues are all hidden in the things he was obsessed about: 80s pop culture and his nerdy persuits.. 

I found myself feeling much like James Halliday minus the intense obession with the past. His formative influences are my formative influences. I was familiar with just about every reference made in this book. That doesn't happen too often in my reading. And I also feel much like these youths, who's lives are desperate and lonely, and who find solace existing almost universally in a virtual world via head sets, haptic gloves and chairs that are just like what seems to be coming in force this holiday season. I don't exist solely in front of my TV playing games, but it is my main pursuit at the moment, and I am definetly a bit desperate and lonely. 

I'm somewhat scared of the dystopian future this book predicts because it is very believable: a world in decline and most of society escaping the harsh realities through an online virtual world. That's really not far off the truth even today. At least, I somewhat feel like that. 

In summation, whether or not you are into encylopedic 80s film/TV/video game references, this book is a lot of fun to read and even got me pretty choked up near the end. At first it seemed pretty superficial but a few chapters in things get very serious and then it gets really engaging. It's a heroic fight against a clear evil force and there are relationships, and revenge, and intrigue to glue you to the page, or speakers as in my case 'cause I listened to the audio read by Will Wheaton, who does a great job of it btw. 

Any gamer as got to check this book out. I really dug it. 


 

Comments

Cary Woodham

07/01/2016 at 01:48 PM

I was just a kid in the 80s, but I remember a lot about it.  It was great being a kid back then.  I don't think I'd want to be an adult in the 80s, though.

KnightDriver

07/05/2016 at 01:47 AM

I was a kid in the 70s but the pop culture thing really hit me more in the 80s during my teens. 

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/01/2016 at 05:30 PM

I've heard about this and I think Spielberg is doing the movie. 

I feel though we are already living in a dystopian future. 

KnightDriver

07/05/2016 at 01:45 AM

I saw that on wiki. Movie in 2018. I don't know how they are going to handle all those licensing issues. There's a ton of them. 

The world the book describes is not far off the state of today. 

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/05/2016 at 01:51 AM

how will they handle the licensing?  money, my friend. cold hard cash.  They probably won't include the same amount, but I'm sure there will be still a lot of nostalgia.  

KnightDriver

07/05/2016 at 01:54 AM

It's gonna cost them. 

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/05/2016 at 02:05 AM

i guess that's what's cool about books.  If you just mention something, you are fine.  However, and I have been warned about this by various writers, that it's insanely hard to get the rights to song lyrics to publish in books.  Like, only the big boys can do it. 

KnightDriver

07/05/2016 at 02:08 AM

There seemed to be no mention of Nintendo or Sega in the book. I wonder why since it seems you can say anything in a book. Maybe he was already thinking ahead to the movie?

Matt Snee Staff Writer

07/05/2016 at 02:20 AM

what games did he talk about? maybe he wasn't a gamer.  

KnightDriver

07/05/2016 at 02:22 AM

He emphasizes the generation just before Nintendo, so that may be it. I'm somewhat afraid to mention the games because they are sort of spoilers to the story. 

VisuaLIES

07/03/2016 at 12:54 AM

I was a kid in the 80s.  Grand Theft Auto: Vice City will always be my favorite for this reason (not that I like the series all that much, but the setting/music in that game were brilliant).

KnightDriver

07/04/2016 at 01:57 AM

I like Vice City a lot too for similar reasons. I got the box set of CDs from that game. I realize now that there was a lot of stuff I never listened to from the 80s. They covered a lot of styles with that soundtrack. 

Alex-C25

07/05/2016 at 02:02 PM

I read a sample of Ready Player One on my Kindle once and I was very much glud on only the first two chapters I read. Hope to get the Kindle version soon enough.

KnightDriver

07/15/2016 at 02:26 AM

I was skeptical after the first chapter or so but it got so much better as it went on. 

goaztecs

07/06/2016 at 12:21 PM

Sounds like an interesting read, and while reading the description of the main character, it kind of reminded me of Sandra Bullock's character in Demolition Man, where she was obsessed with the 90s. 

KnightDriver

07/14/2016 at 01:45 AM

Ah the 90s. I'm going to obsess about that decade in October. It's part of my year long plan. 

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