NationStates Jolt Archive

No it's not!


"Kirkus Reviews" said this. It's on the cover of the book.



I loved the book, but it isn't catch-22 by way of the Matrix.

I agree. There is a distinct Catch-22 feel to it, but no Matrix whatsoever. But I believe that it a good thing. The entire Matrix concept is overplayed.

There are some matrixy moments... think of the whole

[SPOILER TO FOLLOW]

Mall scene. Both of them. Particularly the second one.

Ya but fight sceans are not what the Matrix is about. THe Matrix is about not knowing if you live in a dream world or not. And it's not catch-22 either (if anyone's seen the movie it's about someone in the army who wants to be dismised for being crazy but if he's crazy he would want to keep fighting).

It's more like "1984" by way of "Wall Street" and "Terminator"

No it's not!


"Kirkus Reviews" said this. It's on the cover of the book.



I loved the book, but it isn't catch-22 by way of the Matrix.

To the extent that the Matrix carries themes about throwing off materialism/consumerism, JG is Catch-22 by way of the Matrix.

I'd probably put it closest to Neal Stephenson (particularly Snow Crash), but maybe that's just me.

I'd probably put it closest to Neal Stephenson (particularly Snow Crash), but maybe that's just me.

Fair assessment, but it's far leaner than Snow Crash. In fact, most of Snow Crash bored me except, oddly enough, the time spent in the "library" and the linguistic discussions.

Between that novel, and Cryptonomicon, I'd have to say the Neal needs to streamline a little. Seems he wanders a bit much, and goes a little overboard describing minutae.

Jennifer Government, on the other hand, could have used a bit more wandering. :wink:

Oy. Easy on Neal there. I thought Snow Crash was a brilliant pioneering of consumerist dystopianism.

"The Matrix" seemed most centrally to be about the existential choice: whether to be aware of the irrationality of the universe or not. Very much like Nausea by J-P Sartre except with cool FX.

Catch-22 is a bit closer, but still... you know, I think I'd put JG closer to Animal Farm because John Nike reminded me so much of the pig Napoleon. And because Buy Mitsui reminded me a lot of Boxer, though obviously not as slow.

Yeah, Animal Farm, Snow Crash because it's also about a consumerist dystopia, aaaaaand... House of Stairs by William Sleator. Because it's about just how many things you can get a person to do through deprivation.

Guh. I hope this fad of comparing everything to everything else wears off soon, so I can go back to talking about a book's merits without having to claim it's the next [something]. :roll:

House of Stairs was a great read. I think I read that back when I was 10 years old... given the content, I was surprised I found it in the school library. I wonder what I would think of it if I read it now, years later.

Snow Crash doesn't remind me of Jennifer Government, because JG doesn't have cyberspace (am I forgetting something?) and doesn't have a lot of Babylonian Hamurabi soothsayer stuff. Those elements are big mainstays in Snow Crash.

I don't recall consumerism being central to the Snow Crash storyline, either... other then people buying Avatars to cruise in cyberspace. A swipe at the fallibility of technology... but, I don't remember consumer themes in Snow Crash.

I will say the first 2/3 of JG is laugh-out-loud funny, and well constructed to keep you turning the pages. After that point, hatred of John Nike keeps you turning to see where he's going to end up.

Snow Crash doesn't remind me of Jennifer Government, because JG doesn't have cyberspace (am I forgetting something?) and doesn't have a lot of Babylonian Hamurabi soothsayer stuff. Those elements are big mainstays in Snow Crash.

I don't recall consumerism being central to the Snow Crash storyline, either... other then people buying Avatars to cruise in cyberspace. A swipe at the fallibility of technology... but, I don't remember consumer themes in Snow Crash.


The view of a future world dominated by corporate entities which have subverted and, in many instances, completely replaced the role of government.

I'm not saying the plotlines are similar, but I think there's a shared sense of humour, and a lot of the satire seems to be aimed at the same targets.

It's a few years since I read Snow Crash though, so I might be comparing them unfairly.

Irrespective of what JG is "similar" to, it remains a very good book in its own right.

Oh, I don't think the plots are similar at all. Snow Crash is about the possibility of a data virus transmissible to humans (with hints that the Babylonians had figured out how to do it pretty much as soon as humans had written language).

But the idea of government-qua-franchise is in both books, as well as the enfranchisement of just about everything, including churches in SC and schools in JG. Hiro Protagonist was a Mafia pizza boy at the start of SC, and when he became unemployed, he went through the same stigmatizing that Violet faces in JG. JG deals more directly with the workings and consequences of that system; SC just assumes the system exists, and it provides a weird backdrop for the rest of the events.

But the idea of government-qua-franchise is in both books, as well as the enfranchisement of just about everything, including churches in SC and schools in JG. Hiro Protagonist was a Mafia pizza boy at the start of SC, and when he became unemployed, he went through the same stigmatizing that Violet faces in JG. JG deals more directly with the workings and consequences of that system; SC just assumes the system exists, and it provides a weird backdrop for the rest of the events.

Interesting point. However, it seemed that in SC the system was somehow more corrupt than in JG. Perhaps it was the proliferation of organized crime and the hyperinflation that made it seem that way.

Actually, the existance of hyperinflation is a clear sign of dramatic differences between SC and JG. In the world of JG, the ruling corporations, and the Capitalizt mindset wouldn't allow for hyperinflation. It's bad for business.

However, the hyperinflation was probably the most amusing running joke in SC...