The Most Glorious Hack
09-07-2003, 15:21
Figured I'd write a review about Jennifer Government, especially since things seem rather quiet now, so I can spare the time. I plan to write one of Syrup as well, but I don't have it handy, and it makes sense to do Jennifer Government first, as it is the basis for the game.
Briefly, Jennifer Government is a classic tale of a dystopia, and like many before it, some would find it to be a grand place, but most would be absolutely horrified by what they saw. The world of Jennifer Government is a world (mostly) where corporations rule the day. The term that Max Barry uses to describe it is "Capitalizm", which nicely explains the "Capitalizt" UN ranking, for those who are curious.
In this world where peoples' surnames are that of their employer, we follow the lives of Violet, Hack Nike, Buy Mitsui, John Nike, Billy NRA, and, of course, Jennifer Government, as well as several others.
The tale starts off with a pair of John Nike's signing Hack Nike to a contract in which he is to assassinate people buying the latest product, Nike Mercurys. As Hack tries desperately to figure out what he should or shouldn't do, the world rapidly spins out of control, as Max weaves his story into the tales of other characters, before bringing everything together in a perfectly satisfying manner at the book's climax.
Max does an excellent job of bringing in characters and situations that seem wholly disconnected, only to slowly reveal their importance. Unlike some books, there are no "worthless" story lines. Heaven knows there isn't room for those; the book moves at an incredibly rapid pace, barely stopping to take a breath. Perhaps Max's history in marketing is influential in this.
Alas, every review must come to a point where people list their complaints, and I must do so as well. As I mentioned above, the pace of the book is breathless. I feel it might have been better (or at least lasted longer) if Max had taken his time with the story, perhaps allowing for a bit more character development, or better fleshing out of the scenes. A couple could be mildly confusing unless one paid close attention. The BK vs Micky D's scene comes to mind. I may read quickly, but I expected the book to last more than a few hours. Where it not for my quirky schedual, I could have easily polished it off on a Sunday afternoon. While being a "real page turner" is often a compliment, there are times when you wish you could savor the novel more, but simply run out of book.
This leads me to my other big complaint, namely predictability. Granted, not every book needs a twist ending, I felt that some of the relationships and interactions almost fell to cliche, despite their unorthodox settings. Kate instantly leaps to mind. While her introduction was mildly unexpected (but not wholly), very little interaction with her surprized me. Of course, some aspects weren't supposed to be surprizing (either that, or Max's skill with foreshadowing needs some serious work), but it seems that some actions and events were too easy to predict.
However, these two points are by no means a condemnation of the book. I thuroughly enjoyed the book, and have recommended it to friends and family. In fact, my reason for writting this review is my hope that other people might pick it up and read it.
In short, Jennifer Government is a very engaging and enjoyable book to read. It also has a quality that many other novels don't have: it is exceptionally memorable. Even after reading it only once, it resides in my memory far more firmly than other novels that I have read several times.
Jennifer Government is Max's sophomore novel, and shows that if NationStates doesn't devour his soul, and he actually has time to write again, he will likely become a "big name" in the book industry. He has a razor-sharp, unflinching sense of humor, and is more than willing to show the dark underbelly of the world of marketing, as well as capitalism in general.
I eagerly look forward to future works by him.
Briefly, Jennifer Government is a classic tale of a dystopia, and like many before it, some would find it to be a grand place, but most would be absolutely horrified by what they saw. The world of Jennifer Government is a world (mostly) where corporations rule the day. The term that Max Barry uses to describe it is "Capitalizm", which nicely explains the "Capitalizt" UN ranking, for those who are curious.
In this world where peoples' surnames are that of their employer, we follow the lives of Violet, Hack Nike, Buy Mitsui, John Nike, Billy NRA, and, of course, Jennifer Government, as well as several others.
The tale starts off with a pair of John Nike's signing Hack Nike to a contract in which he is to assassinate people buying the latest product, Nike Mercurys. As Hack tries desperately to figure out what he should or shouldn't do, the world rapidly spins out of control, as Max weaves his story into the tales of other characters, before bringing everything together in a perfectly satisfying manner at the book's climax.
Max does an excellent job of bringing in characters and situations that seem wholly disconnected, only to slowly reveal their importance. Unlike some books, there are no "worthless" story lines. Heaven knows there isn't room for those; the book moves at an incredibly rapid pace, barely stopping to take a breath. Perhaps Max's history in marketing is influential in this.
Alas, every review must come to a point where people list their complaints, and I must do so as well. As I mentioned above, the pace of the book is breathless. I feel it might have been better (or at least lasted longer) if Max had taken his time with the story, perhaps allowing for a bit more character development, or better fleshing out of the scenes. A couple could be mildly confusing unless one paid close attention. The BK vs Micky D's scene comes to mind. I may read quickly, but I expected the book to last more than a few hours. Where it not for my quirky schedual, I could have easily polished it off on a Sunday afternoon. While being a "real page turner" is often a compliment, there are times when you wish you could savor the novel more, but simply run out of book.
This leads me to my other big complaint, namely predictability. Granted, not every book needs a twist ending, I felt that some of the relationships and interactions almost fell to cliche, despite their unorthodox settings. Kate instantly leaps to mind. While her introduction was mildly unexpected (but not wholly), very little interaction with her surprized me. Of course, some aspects weren't supposed to be surprizing (either that, or Max's skill with foreshadowing needs some serious work), but it seems that some actions and events were too easy to predict.
However, these two points are by no means a condemnation of the book. I thuroughly enjoyed the book, and have recommended it to friends and family. In fact, my reason for writting this review is my hope that other people might pick it up and read it.
In short, Jennifer Government is a very engaging and enjoyable book to read. It also has a quality that many other novels don't have: it is exceptionally memorable. Even after reading it only once, it resides in my memory far more firmly than other novels that I have read several times.
Jennifer Government is Max's sophomore novel, and shows that if NationStates doesn't devour his soul, and he actually has time to write again, he will likely become a "big name" in the book industry. He has a razor-sharp, unflinching sense of humor, and is more than willing to show the dark underbelly of the world of marketing, as well as capitalism in general.
I eagerly look forward to future works by him.