- Paperback: 505 pages
- Publisher: Harvest Books (3 Oct 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 015603137X
- ISBN-13: 978-0156031370
- Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 16.7 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 723,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
PopCo
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Product Description
Review
'An anticorporate fable with enough code-breaking tips, puzzles and graphs, charts, postscripts and appendixes to satisfy Lewis Carroll.' New York Times
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Time Out
'Clever, likeable, frothy, zeitgeist-chasing - fans of Doug Coupland should find much to enjoy here.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
Chapter One Paddington Station feels like it should be shut. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Chapter One Paddington Station feels like it should be shut. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The code-breaking information was fascinating and the beginning of the book gripped me almost instantly. Scarlett Thomas writes in a way that I feel she is expressing things I've thought about, but never contemplated writing.
Ultimately though I found long stretches of the book where I felt I was being condescended to and preached at: Despite having been a strict vegetarian (on-off vegan) and immersed in that kind of literature for two decades I felt the pieces about the negative impacts of factory farming and the milk industry were too heavy handed and almost propaganda-like. There are some similar stretches about beauty, identity and fashion which were also patronising.
Unlike some of the other reviewers who were wowed by the ending, I left the book wondering if I had missed a chapter. To me, the ending felt rushed and a little forced (Thomas even seems to hint at this with her protagonist writing a book which she is unsure how to finish), almost like stories I used to write at school for English homework, thinking "I'm bored of this now, how can I get to my planned end piece?"
Despite my comments above (and below) I do recommend this read, although I preferred "The end of Mr Y". I might be a little more wary of her other books, I'm not fond of being preached to and I think thomas needs to be careful of preaching to the converted.
--Please don't read this part of the review if you haven't read the book in its entirety--
Whilst reading this book, I couldn't help harbouring a sense of doom wondering what sinister reason there could be that the NoCo members were coincidentally the same people that PopCo chooses as its elite marketing crack team. Thinking that 'they are the smartest' wasn't a reasonable explanation I was convinced the board had laid a trap or that there was something deeper going on. It x just the way the story went and I felt that it was maybe a tad implausible, which was a shame because the rest of the novel was much more credible.
Ultimately though I found long stretches of the book where I felt I was being condescended to and preached at: Despite having been a strict vegetarian (on-off vegan) and immersed in that kind of literature for two decades I felt the pieces about the negative impacts of factory farming and the milk industry were too heavy handed and almost propaganda-like. There are some similar stretches about beauty, identity and fashion which were also patronising.
Unlike some of the other reviewers who were wowed by the ending, I left the book wondering if I had missed a chapter. To me, the ending felt rushed and a little forced (Thomas even seems to hint at this with her protagonist writing a book which she is unsure how to finish), almost like stories I used to write at school for English homework, thinking "I'm bored of this now, how can I get to my planned end piece?"
Despite my comments above (and below) I do recommend this read, although I preferred "The end of Mr Y". I might be a little more wary of her other books, I'm not fond of being preached to and I think thomas needs to be careful of preaching to the converted.
--Please don't read this part of the review if you haven't read the book in its entirety--
Whilst reading this book, I couldn't help harbouring a sense of doom wondering what sinister reason there could be that the NoCo members were coincidentally the same people that PopCo chooses as its elite marketing crack team. Thinking that 'they are the smartest' wasn't a reasonable explanation I was convinced the board had laid a trap or that there was something deeper going on. It x just the way the story went and I felt that it was maybe a tad implausible, which was a shame because the rest of the novel was much more credible.
43 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For the first 300 pages or so, this had become my favourite book. Reviews tend to involve a lot of hyperbole, but when I say this was temporarily my favourite book, that's the simple truth.
Let me start from the beginning. While it's wholly irrelevant, aesthetically the book is gorgeous. The page edges are dyed a rich, dark, royal blue and cracking it open feels almost decadent; certainly luxurious. The first few pages are a little disconcerting, inasmuch as, small font, narrow margins, no dialogue... it's a wall of text, and it makes it appear inaccessible. But as soon as you start reading, you've got through that and you're happily sitting on Alice Butler's shoulder while she tells her story.
The first half of Popco is like being in a room with rich, dark green or blue walls; dark painted floorboards; fabrics everwhere, lots of lovely strange trinkets on shelves and tacked to walls; old postcards and photos; jewellery hung from beaded lamps and the fugue of slightly stale, sweet dope in the air... too many things to look at and explore and your senses go into overdrive. Thomas draws you into that room *completely* and you find yourself chewing the inside of your cheek from the shock of reading something so full of texture and imagination.
We follow Alice Butler - toy designer and code-cracker - to Dartmoor; then we follow the story to Bletchley Park, then all the way back to British pirates in the 18th century; forward to chocobos in Final Fantasy VII and virtual worlds; back to the 1980s and a small house full of pure mathematics and the The Voynich Manuscript, then forward again to the present day to an evil toy company conglomerate... back and forth we swing through time and Thomas never misses a beat.
It is a fiercely, frighteningly clever book. She goes into great detail regarding paradoxes, incomprehensible maths, probabilities, codes and how to break them. It's actually rather astonishing. The entirety of chapter 9, for example, is spent discussing codes, specifically the Vigenére code, and how to use it and on page 87 is an actual Vigenére Square. She pours detail and flavour into absolutely everything she writes about and it's incredible... until three quarters of the way through the book, at which point it becomes unbearable, and crosses over into preaching.
Veganism and homeopathy are the lifestyles she's pushing, and she pushes them *hard*. At first, it's alright - it's just one of many, many topics she covers. But then she keeps on, and on, and on. More pages about homeopathy (which, incidentally, is bunkum) and more preaching about the evils of eating meat, and dairy products.
I don't think I've ever been quite so frustrated with a book, as every drop of magic she'd infused the book with went away with the pontificating. It took about 40 pages of it for my adoration to turn into something far more disappointed and cynical and the last 80 pages or so became a chore to read. Given the majesty of the first 3/4, it's incomprehensible that it became so dreadful.
And yet, the bits that were wonderful were so glorious, the book as a whole still gets a high 4 stars. The words on those first few hundred pages are so beautiful I want to eat them. That's not something you come across very often and it should be cherished. But I desperately wish she'd kept the over-evangelism to herself. Large parts of the tail-end of the book are used to skewer marketing - and it's justified. But when she's simultaneously marketing her own lifestyle choices and borderline haranguing people into complying, it's also hypocritical. And it's a shame.
Let me start from the beginning. While it's wholly irrelevant, aesthetically the book is gorgeous. The page edges are dyed a rich, dark, royal blue and cracking it open feels almost decadent; certainly luxurious. The first few pages are a little disconcerting, inasmuch as, small font, narrow margins, no dialogue... it's a wall of text, and it makes it appear inaccessible. But as soon as you start reading, you've got through that and you're happily sitting on Alice Butler's shoulder while she tells her story.
The first half of Popco is like being in a room with rich, dark green or blue walls; dark painted floorboards; fabrics everwhere, lots of lovely strange trinkets on shelves and tacked to walls; old postcards and photos; jewellery hung from beaded lamps and the fugue of slightly stale, sweet dope in the air... too many things to look at and explore and your senses go into overdrive. Thomas draws you into that room *completely* and you find yourself chewing the inside of your cheek from the shock of reading something so full of texture and imagination.
We follow Alice Butler - toy designer and code-cracker - to Dartmoor; then we follow the story to Bletchley Park, then all the way back to British pirates in the 18th century; forward to chocobos in Final Fantasy VII and virtual worlds; back to the 1980s and a small house full of pure mathematics and the The Voynich Manuscript, then forward again to the present day to an evil toy company conglomerate... back and forth we swing through time and Thomas never misses a beat.
It is a fiercely, frighteningly clever book. She goes into great detail regarding paradoxes, incomprehensible maths, probabilities, codes and how to break them. It's actually rather astonishing. The entirety of chapter 9, for example, is spent discussing codes, specifically the Vigenére code, and how to use it and on page 87 is an actual Vigenére Square. She pours detail and flavour into absolutely everything she writes about and it's incredible... until three quarters of the way through the book, at which point it becomes unbearable, and crosses over into preaching.
Veganism and homeopathy are the lifestyles she's pushing, and she pushes them *hard*. At first, it's alright - it's just one of many, many topics she covers. But then she keeps on, and on, and on. More pages about homeopathy (which, incidentally, is bunkum) and more preaching about the evils of eating meat, and dairy products.
I don't think I've ever been quite so frustrated with a book, as every drop of magic she'd infused the book with went away with the pontificating. It took about 40 pages of it for my adoration to turn into something far more disappointed and cynical and the last 80 pages or so became a chore to read. Given the majesty of the first 3/4, it's incomprehensible that it became so dreadful.
And yet, the bits that were wonderful were so glorious, the book as a whole still gets a high 4 stars. The words on those first few hundred pages are so beautiful I want to eat them. That's not something you come across very often and it should be cherished. But I desperately wish she'd kept the over-evangelism to herself. Large parts of the tail-end of the book are used to skewer marketing - and it's justified. But when she's simultaneously marketing her own lifestyle choices and borderline haranguing people into complying, it's also hypocritical. And it's a shame.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this after reading "The End of Mr Y", by the same author, and am really surprised that this has had the better reviews. The book is fairly smart and the writing is good, but the whole thing leaves you wanting something... more. Toward the end of the book I felt like nothing major had really happened, which was especially disappointing as "The End of Mr Y" gets right into the story from the off. The code-breaking tips and puzzles are ok, though fairly rudementary/common knowledge, but also they aren't really involved in the story, just side-bits of information. Regardless, Scarlett Thomas is a great writer that keeps you interested. If you do like this one and haven't read "The End of Mr Y" then go and buy it now!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
love the combination of literature and mathematics
Love the combination of literature and mathematics, although there were one or two strange mathematical statements. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Aberter
A great beginning that entirely loses its way
Around Spring/Summer of last year I read The End Of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas and thought it was AMAZING, I genuinely loved it, the story and the philosophical questions it posed. Read more
Published 4 months ago by R. A. Davison
I really wanted to love this book, but....
I really wanted to love this book in the same way I did 'The End Of Mr Y' but I just couldn't.
The premise is interesting - an eccentric toy designer - Alice - and... Read more
The premise is interesting - an eccentric toy designer - Alice - and... Read more
Published 4 months ago by alimarcam
Entertaining Read
Ms Thomas is a very engaging author and I have enjoyed reading most of her books. This one too is a very entertaining read. It goes in two directions at a time. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Tilma
Dreadful waste of time
1st of I understand why this book was recomended to me. On the whole I am the kind of person who thinks that global companies are a threat to liberty. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Gerbil
Loadsa codes, not much action
PopCo presents intriguing insights into the world of code breaking, viewed from the perspective of Alice, an employee of a monolithic toy company, the eponymous PopCo. Read more
Published 12 months ago by ghosted
no code...
interesting premise and start to the book, genuinely affecting in the parts about the main character's childhood, BUT... Read more
Published 12 months ago by it
Brilliant, but at the same time it isn't.
In all honesty I really couldn't make up my mind with this book.
The first thing to say about it is that it is a beautifully written novel and Scarlett Thomas is clearly... Read more
The first thing to say about it is that it is a beautifully written novel and Scarlett Thomas is clearly... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Buttersbee
Why did I read this to the end?
I have wasted a half of the hours spent on this book. When I started reading it, I was interested in the idea of how a toy company works and how they approach marketing. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Tina P
Influential storyline, although too much maths!
really brilliant story line, and fantastic use of two time periods alongside eachother to reveal a gripping story of cryptanalysis and codebreaking. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Adam Barnes
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