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Little Brother (German Edition)
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Review
'An entertaining thriller and a thoughtful polemic on Internet-era civil rights ... a terrific read.'
--New York Times
--New York Times
Review
'It's also a cracking read.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Counter-Culture Blockbuster,
By
This review is from: Little Brother (Paperback)
I picked up 'Little Brother' on the back of one or two interesting reviews, and it's fair to say it didn't disappoint. Both exciting and provocative, I expect it to become one of the most talked about novels of 2008.
With a title like 'Little Brother', Cory Doctorow's novel is bound to draw comparison with 1984, although the two are only superficially similar. To me choice of title feels as though it was made in the hope of catching some reflected glory from Orwell's masterpiece, which is shame; though not destined for 1984's greatness amongst the literary canon, I think 'Little Brother' may, in future, be seen as a seminal piece of counter-cultural fiction. But what do I know? I'm over 25, which Doctorow goes some to lengths to point out, means that it's best not to listen to me. Little Brother, is very much a novel for the young and although I enjoyed it, I'm sure I missed some of the nuances of an IT savvy lifestyle and the general state of oppression that most teenagers (feel they) live under. I found 'Little Brother' very reminiscent of Scott Westerfeld's novels, which I have also enjoyed and at the end of the novel, Doctorow acknowledges Westerfeld's influence. Little Brother breaks down into two major themes; the use of technology and the abuse of power. The sections that detail using an Xbox to create an underground internet and outline the various cryptographic measures taken by the characters, reek of authenticty and form a solid framework upon which the novel is built. For me though, the strength of the novel lies in its assessment of the abuse of our basic human rights through anti-terror legislation. The near-future, pictured by Doctorow is entirely plausible and therefore all the more terrifying. His arguments are a little one-sided; not all anti-terror measures are about controlling the population (but perhaps I think that because I'm over 25) and certain sections of the novel feel contrived; shoe-horned in to allow the author to make a certain political point. The teenage whinging of the protagonist is also sometimes a little hard to bear and occasionally gives the book a somewhat juvenile tone (again this may be an age thing). Nevertheless, 'Little Brother' is an excellent and deeply affecting read. A wide ranging polemic on the abuse of power and people's contentment to let it happen, as long it doesn't affect them, or helps them feel safer at a minority's expense. Anybody who thinks identity cards are a good thing, or that you have nothing to worry about if you've done nothing wrong should read 'Little Brother'; it will open your eyes. The final pages brought a tear to my eye and left me wondering, just how much I am manipulated by the government and a reactionary media. Little Brother is the most important novel I have read in months, and I urge you to do the same.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Information Bombardment,
By
This review is from: Little Brother (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
I wouldn't quite go as far as Neil Gaiman, but I would certainly recommend Little Brother to anyone interested in civil liberties, dystopia fiction or hacking. In writing this novel Cory Doctorow deservedly joins the company of a long line of dystopic writers like Jack London, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. His intertextual link with Orwell warrants particular mention; Little Brother doesn't just allude to Nineteen Eighty Four, it seems to consciously set out to expand on it. And although Nineteen Eighty Four is a superior novel, Doctorow has definitely succeeded in contemporising the central point.
Doctorow sets out to bombard his readers with information in a way vaguely reminiscent of Manuel Puig's footnotes in Kiss of the Spider Woman - this is a polemic with a narrative with a hundred articles on youth culture, political history, the beats, human rights, counter-terrorism and so on and so forth all in one book. It is openly didactic and angrily political and if you agree with its social commentary (as I do) it is quite an experience. Little Brother is also an instruction manual on how to think about security - from mundane security to draconian security to security against draconian security; Doctorow aims to show how security can work for you and against you and how security without privacy is ineffective and harmful. In addition Little Brother is a homage to hackers (like Andrew "bunnie" Huang), defenders of freedom (like Emma Goldman) and writers (like George Orwell). The novels style is fast, meandering, idiomatic (in a middle class geeky way) and realist. Doctorow is not above using thriller devices like chapter cliff-hangers and foreshadowing nor will he be gentle. He is, however, honest, even about being polemical and didactic, which I guess is what stops this book from becoming sheer propaganda. Doctorow uses cultural references well to ground his novel and maintains the strong atmosphere of his San Francisco setting replete with anarchist bookstores, coffee shops and iconoclasts. This book does have limitations. To maintain the flow of information Doctorow had to weaken the narrative by inserting endless descriptions. Because of this you sometimes feel like you are reading an interesting collection of political essays rather than a novel. The villains are caricatures, which is admittedly hard to avoid. And lastly, Little Brother can become annoyingly sentimental in a way Orwell would never even contemplate allowing. However, these problems don't significantly detract from the works value and the real deciding factor when it comes to enjoying this book is going to be, as with all instrumental novels, do you agree with its argument?
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrifyingly real and thought-provoking: a certain unease will stay with you long after you turn the last page.,
By ELH Browning "Esther-Lou" (Kingston Bagpuize, Oxon) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 500 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Little Brother (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
This is a smashing book, techno-rich and strikingly both contemporary (with Sept 11th overtones) and futuristic. Teenagers in San Francisco are trying to hold on to their civil liberties and fight a big brother state that is worrying unduly about foreign extremists, while the very real threat of US Guantanamo-bay treatment looms all too close to All-American students. With high-level hacking (all a bit beyond me, I must confess) and first love, fear and heroics, choices and chilling risk, this is an exciting and pacy adventure. It's also a very thought provoking read about the trade-off between state-security/authority and personal freedom/privacy, the potential of the internet and security technologies etc. that will appeal to a computer-literate generation of teens. [There's even unnerving "Afterwords" and Bibliography giving would-be hackers advice that'll keep them off the streets.] Little Brother will have wider appeal than just teens: I was intrigued by it and hooked from very early on, enjoying it so much that I have ordered a copy to be sent to my own Little Brother (aged 29). It is without question a gripping 21st century tale for adults too.
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