Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow, 30 April 2006
this book really wasn't what I was expecting at all (especially from the cover) Smart, funny, well observed, great ending. I can't really praise it highly enough.
I learnt a lot about cryptanalysis and maths. Usually I'd say that any book that had too much of a maths element would put me into a coma, but this was great.
I really enjoyed the sections of the book that involved Alice when she was at school. It certainally brought back some painful memories for me! Brilliantly observed.
The passages about how we make judgements about people based on their DVD collections was also thought provoking!
Highly recommended, especially if you are going through a stage of duff books...this will get you back on track.
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26 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
PopCo, 7 Dec 2004
Before reading PopCo, I was getting frustrated with the lack of books suitable to my tastes. I had read all of Haruki Murakami's books and wanted something similarly intelligent and thought provoking. Scarlett Thomas restored my faith in the female writer with this book. This book is a great read for a female reader who is sick of chick-lit and doesn't know what to go for next. Despite the girlie cover of the latest edition, this book is intelligent and witty. It is not chick-lit, but an amazing, compelling novel that stopped me from doing anything until I had finished reading it. The story appeals to the young, leftish person wondering why they are doing what they are doing in life (and anyone older who considers themself trendy but morally conscious). The excellent thing about the book is the author's ability to create characters and intertwining storylines that leave you wanting more. Once you've read this book you will begin your quest to track down the writers others.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting and well written but heavy handed, 13 April 2009
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.
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