(no subject)

[skygiants]

Okay, first let's establish my shallowness credentials here: I've been meaning to try out Cory Doctorow for a long time now after learning of his reputation as The Great Anti-Copyright Jedi, Champion of Creative Commons And Internet For All, and I picked Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town to start with because it has the prettiest picture on the front. Who said there was anything wrong with judging books by their cover?

Having read it, I think I like Cory Doctorow's writing! That said, Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town is a weird, WEIRD book. Let us start with the protagonist's family - his father is a mountain, his mother is a washing machine, and his brothers are respectively a psychic, a set of Russian nesting dolls, a small island, and a psychotic zombie child. How all this is possible is never exactly explained, but it is described in enough detail and with enough realism to make me buy it anyways, which is fairly impressive! The three main plotlines involve the protagonist's involvement with, respectively, his brothers, his colleged-age neighbors - each harboring various weirdnesses of their own - and a middle-aged punk dumpster diver's scheme to cover Toronto with free internet.

(It's Cory Doctorow. Of course there is a plotline about free internet.)

So: I'm reading the book, the writing is compelling, the story is extremely weird and interesting, but from the second chapter on I have a problem with the protagonist. In this second chapter, Our Middle-Aged Hero goes over to introduce himself to the college-aged kids next door. At 8 AM. This is bad enough! BUT THEN:

College-Age Girl #1: mmfzzwhatsitwhoisit?
Our Hero: Hi! I'm your new neighbor! I brought coffee for all of you! I'm going to invite myself into your house now! Call everyone out of bed!
College-Age Girl #1: . . . *wanders fuzzily off to call everyone out of bed*
Our Hero: Hmmmm, she is super-hot but way too trusting. Perhaps I should steal one of her CDs to teach her a lesson! Nah, we are not yet at that stage in our relationship. HI KIDS, I BROUGHT COFFEE FOR EVERYONE. :D!
Becca: STRANGER DANGER! STRANGER DANGER! DON'T DRINK THE COFFEE!
(They drink the coffee.)
Our Hero: So, one of you guys kept me up late at night with a guitar last night. SO, I have decided to install soundproof fixings in your wall! And I have all these materials here! And I'm going to call the landlord right away and take care of making modifications to your home! Because I think that will be best for all of us!
College-Age Kids: . . . . what.
Becca: Oh my god, he's that guy. The creepy and offputting guy who intrudes on your personal space and never realizes that what he's doing is creepy and offputting! NO, Cory Doctorow, this is NOT acceptable behavior!

And this was coloring my perception of the book for a while, until about midway through the book when another character made a comment and I realized . . . Cory Doctorow knows his protagonist is creepy and offputting. He's writing a book about weirdness and difference; he's doing this deliberately to make a point. Except, after finishing the book, I haven't got any idea what that point is. Because at the end the protagonist and his new girlfriend, who has equal amounts of difficulty fitting into society because of her own supernaturalness, go off and live on his brother the island. Even though they both really want to be a part of human society, as expressed constantly throughout the book and . . . okay? This is the solution? I do not think that is a good solution!

If anyone else has read, I would appreciate thoughts on this, because I find myself somewhat perplexed.

Comments

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

My thoughts on Someone Comes to Town were as follows: "[Doctorow]'s shooting for modern fantasy with Internet age trimmings (that's where the preachy bits are), and ends up with a patchwork of scenes and characterizations that doesn't trip my Eight Deadly Words meter but the needle flickers close." (http://scifantasy.livejournal.com/160127.html)

And yes, Adam/Alan/whatever A name he chooses to go by today is creepy. I think that early on I thought he was a baddie--a friend to whom I described him said "...he's the Mayor."

But then, I have Doctorow issues.

[skygiants]

Oh good a review! *dives for*

. . . . yeah, I didn't think of that comparison right away, but you're right; he is the Mayor, at least on the surface. It's that same 'HELLO THERE PAL' while coming on way too strong vibe. Early on, I think I wasn't sure whether he was a bad guy or whether Cory Doctorow really didn't realize exactly how creepy he was writing him - so I was kind of impressed when he had Natalie (who is probably the most sympathetic character in the book?) act the way anybody would when forced into acquaintanceship with someone that creepy. Which is to say, be awkward and avoid.

I don't know. But I've got to admire Doctorow's writing from this book, because even with the overall weirdness and the lack of cohesion and often unsympathetic characters, he kept me very interested and made me want to keep reading. Which deserves props!

I am also now curious about your general Doctorow issues?

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Well, I'll elaborate tomorrow (we're still on, right? *grin*), but in short, I think Cory's a decent copyfighter, and maybe even a good writer...but not both at the same time.

But he can't keep that divided. I'm reminded of his take on Asimov, as part of his series "to reveal the totalitarian underpinnings of classic SF," he took "I, Robot" and went nowhere good, mostly about how UNATS Robotics was stunting creativity by not allowing free copying of personalities and robots and and and...

You get the idea.

*shrug* I've read a fair amount of his stuff--Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Eastern Standard Tribe, Someone Comes to Town, and a few of his short stories (most recently "When the Things that Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away")...and I just don't like it.

(I certainly won't be touching Little Brother with a ten-foot pole.)

[skygiants]

(Indeed. :D) Which is fair! And I'm new enough to his stuff that I don't mind much when he gets on a hobbyhorse; I might feel diffrently if I'd read as much as you have.

. . . really? That's kind of hilarious. I may have to go hunt that down, just out of curiosity.

(Whereas I probably will end up reading Little Brother, because of his books, it's the one I've heard the most positive buzz about - and I'm also curious to see what he's like in his usual more usual vein of writing when he's not styling himself after Charles de Lint.)

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Let me know what you think, by all means.

[kiarasayre.livejournal.com]

I have never read this book nor anything by Corey Doctorow...but I can't get over how completely and utterly fantastic your icon is. That's one of my favorite moments of the entire series, no joke.

[skygiants]

MINE TOO. :D :D :D Thank you! I made it the other day and now I have to resist the temptation to use it all the time. >.>

I've been meaning to do another Tutu icon post one of these days . . . maybe I will this weekend!

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

I support this plan.

[skygiants]

It's not like you have ulterior motives or anything. :P

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

Ulterior motives? What? I have no idea what you're talking about.

[genarti]

No one on your friendslist would ever have those.

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

I have never successfully finished a Cory Doctorow book. I think -- but I don't know, because my memories of Doctorow books are so vague that I have no idea which books I'm thinking of or how far I got into them! -- I got bogged down in Free the Internet Evangelism and was too bored by said evangelism and uninterested by the actual characters and plot to care about finishing the Cory Doctorow books.

[skygiants]

That's fair! I actually wanted to read him because I tend to be fairly interested by Free the Internet evangelism, myself - I took a New Media class a few years back which, while not 100% successful as a class, did a lot to get me engaged with the issues. And thus I don't mind so much when he goes off on it in his books, but I can definitely see how it would be offputting.

[villainny.livejournal.com]

Let us start with the protagonist's family - his father is a mountain, his mother is a washing machine, and his brothers are respectively a psychic, a set of Russian nesting dolls, a small island, and a psychotic zombie child

THIS SOUNDS LIKE MY KIND OF BOOK.

*resolves to buy*

[skygiants]

*cracks up*

My favorite is the brother who is a small island! Sadly he does not get much screentime or characterization compared to the others, but the concept itself fills me with joy.

[villainny.livejournal.com]

It sounds like the kind of book that will make me despair of my ability to be creative.

On the other hand, it makes me want to link you to this (http://community.livejournal.com/picfor1000/139648.html) because I am self involved like that, and say MAYBE SOMEDAY!

[skygiants]

Well, there is creativity, and there is . . . creativity with coherency . . . . and Cory Doctorow occasionally falls down a little bit on the latter, though that is a matter of opinion, so don't despair yet!

LINKS TO NNY WRITING ARE NEVER A BAD THING *dives for*

[blacksheep91.livejournal.com]

Icon is epic win. :D

Now please for the love of god, make one that says, "STRANGER DANGER! STRANGER DANGER! DON'T DRINK THE COFFEE!" 'tis too hilarious a quote XD

[skygiants]

*beams* Thank you!

*cracks up* PERHAPS! I am still working on the last one you requested, too. :D (If I do an icon post this weekend, as I probably will, it will be included!)

[furikku.livejournal.com]

Let us start with the protagonist's family - his father is a mountain, his mother is a washing machine, and his brothers are respectively a psychic, a set of Russian nesting dolls, a small island, and a psychotic zombie child.

I think I need to read this based only on the above.

[skygiants]

It is, I must say, a fabulous - and fabulously bizarre - setup!

[sandrylene.livejournal.com]

So I own and have read Little Brother, and was intending to ask Beth to lend it to you when she went down to NY last time. *failure*

But it sounds like Little Brother is a) a lot more accessible than this, b) possibly more enjoyable as a reading experience. I can't say he is not at all preachy about some things, but he does it within the context of the story, and I enjoyed his protagonists straight up, without going, "OH MY GOD, WHAT THE HELL!?" which is my first impression on this whacked out thing from your discussion here.

That said, I really want to read more of his stuff. I am somewhat pro-Doctorow prejudiced because I saw him speak at a convention alongside Randall Monroe. Both were quite eloquent and funny. It was a very "jump up in the air, scream 'YEAH'" kind of experience. Nonetheless, seems Doctorow's writings are the sort of thing that isn't *entirely* fluff, but are still an enjoyable read. Y'know, assuming his other stuff isn't radically different from Little Brother.

[skygiants]

Clearly I shall just have to steal it from you guys next time I am up, then! :D (OH NOES, BACK TO BOSTON, THE HORROR.)

Yeah, that is sort of the impression I got - I remember reading several reviews back when he was passing around copies for free in exchange for people blogging about it, and it did sound much more generally accessible. And I enjoyed his writing style, from this book! I wouldn't anti-recommend it by any means, just . . . recommend with reservations. Warning labels, if you will.

[girl-wonder.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, that book was next on my "too read" shelf. I read the Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, and tentatively liked it, although I spent the whole book wanting to slap the main character.

[skygiants]

- really? Man, I hope I did not spoil it for you! You should tell me what you think once you've read it - I really want to know what other people make of it.

(Perhaps spending lots of time wanting to slap the main character is a Cory Doctorow trademark . . .? Though from comments above it seems the protagonist of Little Brother is likeable!)

[the_croupier]

Ok, first off I should admit that I'm not at all objective about Cory. He was great to my friend and I when we started a writing website a couple of years ago, and even made time to allow me to do an interview with him about writing. So: Great guy in my book.

Having said that, I've found his stories can be sort of hit and miss. I agree with the comment above that his politics can sometimes get in the way of his writing (even though I tend to agree with most of his positions). Someone Comes to Town would not be the first thing I'd recommend from him, nor would Little Brother, which is by far his most political book and not the most subtle thing he's done.

I think his best writing to date are the short stories in his latest collection, Overclocked. But I also think one of the best ways to 'read' them is by listening to his podcast (it's on iTunes). He reads all his own stories in installments as he's waiting in airports or on the road. It comes off as a traveler's diary where the person also tells you a story. It's very informal but also fun.

Actually, the best story on that podcast isn't even read by him, though. It's one called 'Anda's Game' which is completely charming, and it's read by Alice Taylor of the website Wonderland, which everyone should read because, a) it's great, and, b) so is Alice. She has the perfect voice for that story, and she clearly has fun reading it.

After that one, I'd recommend, "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth" and "I, Row-Boat," both of which are also in Overclocked. Then I'd recommend Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, which is still probably his most representative work for many reasons.

[skygiants]

First off, I agree! :D His overall reputation is one of the reasons I wanted to start reading him (and not entirely because of xkcd.)

*takes notes* This is good to know! I wanted to try the novels first because I am more likely to bounce off short stories - it's easy for me to get involved with the plot of a novel, whereas short stories pretty much need to pack twice the punch and entertainment value in a quarter of the page-count to work for me. The iTunes podcast thing sounds very cool, though, and I've been considering investing some time in podcasts for the subway commute (now that I am oversleeping more often, and therefore having to catch the standing-room-only express train >.>) so maybe I will give those a try!

[the_croupier]

omg if YOU are thinking about podcasts, then you should also try these:

Escape Pod (science-fiction)
Podcastle (fantasy)
Starship Sofa (both!)

I went through a few of my favorite stories from these in this post.

[skygiants]

. . . THAT'S RIGHT THEY HAD THE KAGE BAKER PODCAST THERE. That is enough to recommend them to me! :D

[the_croupier]

STILL MY FAVORITE.

Starship did another Baker story with the same person reading it. Can't remember which story off-hand, but it was almost as good.

I should do an updated favorite podcast stories post soon.