Key Details Title: Ready player One Writer: Ernest Cline Year of Publication: 2011www.goodreads.com/book/show/9969571-ready-player-one Goodreads - Link I confess that I only heard about this book after having seen the 2018 film version of it which i thought was extremely enjoyable and was infused with that pure Spielberg magic that we come to know and love. Hence I was quite excited to pick up Ernest Cline's book which is part ode to 80's Pop culture Nostalgia and part a description of a very real future where most people spend their waking moments removed from the goings on in the real world and in a virtual world. While I overall think the movie is superior in terms of its narrative structure, storyline and character development, I do believe that the novel takes a more radical stance with regard to the exploration of some scifi themes which makes it worth picking up and reading. The world of Ready Player One The world that the teenage protagonist Wade Watts Inhabits is a dreary/dystopian world marked by mass unemployment, poverty and environmental degradation where the only respite is the OASIS; an online immersive virtual world created by James Halliday. In this world Wade Watts goes as Parzival and like the knight of Arthurian legend goes on a quest created by the recently diseased Halliday which involves finding clues and solving a number of challenges in order to gain control of his company and hence the OASIS. Naturally, he is not the only one keen on winning this prize and is soon joined by a host of other players and IOI; a mega corporation bend on world domination through control of the OASIS. The world building aspect is one of the strongest aspects of the novel and is one of the best I have seen when it comes to Scifi novels. The world that Ernest Cline paints of the virtual world is a very vivid and immersive world which keeps you hooked on it. The novel is littered with references to 80's pop culture references with a particular emphasis on Arcade Video games. In the novel you would find references to games like 'joust' as well as movies like Monty Python's King Arthur & the Holy Grail which was the final challenge of Halliday's quest. Entire blogs have been dedicated to cataloging the various references in both the book and movie. However, at times the descriptions and 80's pop culture references feels like an info dump and it calls into question as to what sort of audience the novel is actually catering to (if you are actually into 80's pop culture you wouldn't need this much exposition). At the same time the authors intent seems to have been to pack in as many references as possible without any consideration given to continuity or how the different games and puzzles fit into the wider narrative as was done brilliantly in the case of the Movie. For example, as pointed out by Movieslinger Reviews the movie incorporated Stanley Kubrick's Shining which was a film adoption that the author Stephen King hated, much like Halliday who grew to loathe his creation. When it comes to describing the real world, the descriptions are much more grim and sparce which underlies the fact that citizens are disinterested with the problems of the real world and choose to instead take the Blue pill of ignorance by spending time in the OASIS where life seems more exciting and purposeful. While the real world of the novel is more dystopian than what is depicted in the film adaption, In some aspects though the real world of the novel seems less believable. For example, the Bus that Wade travels in is Armor plated and has armed guards. It also needs to charge several times along the trip. But as long as the bus provides an uninterrupted high speed link to access the OASIS everyone seems to be happy (They don't really explain what the power source is coming from for all of this energy consumption!) The Writing Style If the world building is the books strongest suit, I feel that the narrative style is its main weak point. The book is written from a first person perspective and hence the action is from Parzival's perspective where he spends most of his waking moments alone researching and solving the puzzles required to complete Halliday's challenge. While this kind of behaviour is true in most video games which tend to be a solitary pursuit, when it comes to a virtual world like the OASIS, a central tenant of such a world and the main appeal should be the ability to cooperate. While this is because of the chosen narrative style, I felt that it didn't fit as well with the type of world that was being portrayed and I feel this is one of the books biggest weaknesses. As a result of this constraint, Parzival is portrayed as this almost Superhuman individual who at times is a Sherlock Holmes having a deep knowledge of the lore that is required to solve Halliday's puzzle, a master tactician at the final battle, an in the real world is even a master hacker to boot which allowed him to hack in to one of the largest corporation in the world despite their being no such indication early on that he possesses such a skill! I find It particularly strange that Wade believes that there is no way the IOI corporation and its army of players known as the sixer's could have solved any of the puzzles without cheating despite so many resources being devoted to it. In contrast, I felt like the movie captured the sense of cooperation much better where the characters had to work together and where each character was able to bring their specific expertise to overcome the challenge posed by the rival groups. Another weakness of the novel style is that by seeing things only from the Portagonists point of view we only view the world from one teenage boys perspective. This is in contrast to what most video games offers which is to experience things from different characters perspectives. For Example, as part of the 'Film sync' parts of Halliday's Challenges where characters need to replay characters in a film, Art3mis is able to only take the challenge from the Male actors point of view. However in fairness to the author, this could be a critique of the video game industry which tends to be male dominated and it has only been more recently that some steps are being taken to rectify this. On identity Parzival: "This is the OASIS, We exist as nothing but raw personality here." Art3mis: "I beg to differ. Everything about our Online personas is filtered through our avatars, which allows us to control how we look and sound to others. The OASIS lets you be whoever you want to be. That's why everyone's addicted to it. The underlying appeal of a virtual anonymous environment is the freedom it offers by allowing people to take on any persona that you wish to be. The freedom that is offered in online chat rooms and online games is taken to the next level in the OASIS where you can be whatever you want to be, human or otherwise. , although as Art3mis pointed out above in her exchange with Parzival that it all could just be an illusion. The novel also points out the downside of this personality centric culture that is promoted by the Virtual World which has seeped into the real world where as Wade describes it has meant that "only Movie stars, reality tv personalities or radical televangelists can get elected" which is scarily prescient in the current context. At the same time though, for someone like Wade who spends almost all of his waking moments in the OASIS feels more real and relatable in the virtual than in the real world. In the real world Wade drinks energy supplements to counteract the Vitamin deficiencies he faces by not being exposed to sunlight, and he uses a non toxic hair removing solution that completely removed hair and body hair including his eyebrows in order to enhance the feel of the virtual world which makes him look less human than his online persona Parzival. In short, Wade feels more real as his virtual avatar than himself. On relationships in a virtual world "You don't live in the real world Z. You're like me. You live inside the illusion." .. "You can't possibly no what real love is" - Art3mis Another interesting thought experiment that is brought up by the novel is whether intense emotional attachments are possible in a purely virtual world. While even in the present context where online platforms have connected people together which have turned into relationships in the real world, the novel seems to argue that such intense and lasting relationships can be formed in a purely virtual environment. One case in support of it is Parzival who for a good part of the novel is pining after Artemis to such a degree that he even forgets about Halliday's quest. At the very end of the novel Parzival is rewarded where he meets Art3mis in real life which supports the books claim, although we don't get to see if the same feeling is shared by Art3mis. But a more interesting relationship is that between Daito & Shoto who despite having never met in real life share such a strong bond with each other in the virtual world. In the case of the film, this argument brought up by the novel is less visible as the characters interact alot in both the real and the virtual world and hence the distinction between the two is less clearcut. Hence with regard to this aspect I believe that the novel takes a more radical and interesting viewpoint. On lonliness in an interconnected world "Capitalism would inch forward, without my actually having to interact face-to-face with another human being. Which was exactly how I preferred it, Thank you." - Wade on their not even being a need to go to the door for a Pizza delivery "It had become a Self Imposed Prison for Humanity" - Ogden Morrow on the OASIS when he split with Halliday The novel also highlights that despite this seemingly endless possibilities offered by a virtual world to collaborate and interact, it is still possible to end up alone as Parzival was after breaking up with his team. The world is also no different to the real world where spaces for interaction can become echo chambers of your own beliefs while rejecting those of others which is particularly easy in the OASIS where they can mute their emotions as well as mute someones responses, thus you. no longer a need to be bothered to hear what others have to say. A more meritocractic world? The OASIS was the best thing that had ever happened to both women and people of colour. - Aech relating her tale and why she created a Male Caucasian Avatar Apart from highlighting the potential of using Virtual Reality for education which is already being explored by Google Arts & culture Virtual Reality tours, another point that is brought forward in the novel is the potential for a more meritocratic society to develop where in the virtual world individuals can break free of prejudices imposed by society due to gender, race, religion etc. As illustrated by the story told by Aech about her mother who had used the online world to her advantage in order to overcome the sexism and racism that you have to deal with the real world, there is a sense that the virtual world can potentially be a more meritocratic place. But having said that, the world of OASIS can be subject to the same sort of prejudices as in the real world, where money is the determining factor which determines your ability to buy and play with the coolest gadgets on offer and which has contributed to the domination of the online world by IOI a global conglomerate. Conclusion Overall, while I did enjoy the film adaption more than the book, I feel that the world building aspect of the book and some of the themes that were explored was interesting and if you are a fan of 80's pop culture references and video gaming, it is worth checking out.
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AuthorAvid reader of Historical fiction, High fantasy novels, Comics & Graphic Novels. Passionate about teaching & the future of education in general. Categories
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