English language
Published July 7, 2022 by Knopf Incorporated, Alfred A..
In this exhilarating novel by the best-selling author of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry two friends—often in love, but never lovers—come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.
This is the first book I've ever read that I think I am actually too old to appreciate. I'm not a gamer and lack the familiarity with that world that might help me better grasp the literary Easter eggs. I'm sure I missed a few. It's a lovely tale, well-written, with characters I cared about.
At it's best moments, this book does a really great job of being both about games and evoking the if-then logic of games and game decision points. It also has interesting stuff about game engines (how they shape and constrain creation) and collaboration (the Jobs+Woz dynamic of a salesperson and a designer). It also feels like it was written for late Gen-X or early Millenials - references to Donkey Kong, Oregon Trail, Everquest, etc.
I think I would've liked it more if it were shorter...I liked the first half much better than the second, and some of that is because the latter half ends up pulling in mass shootings and 9-11 in a way that didn't feel like it connected with the core of the novel.
I should add that I listened to this, and I do think reading it would provide even more of that if-then logic. It's hard …
At it's best moments, this book does a really great job of being both about games and evoking the if-then logic of games and game decision points. It also has interesting stuff about game engines (how they shape and constrain creation) and collaboration (the Jobs+Woz dynamic of a salesperson and a designer). It also feels like it was written for late Gen-X or early Millenials - references to Donkey Kong, Oregon Trail, Everquest, etc.
I think I would've liked it more if it were shorter...I liked the first half much better than the second, and some of that is because the latter half ends up pulling in mass shootings and 9-11 in a way that didn't feel like it connected with the core of the novel.
I should add that I listened to this, and I do think reading it would provide even more of that if-then logic. It's hard to pay close attention to structure (the book does some interesting stuff with chapter titles and branching logics at one point that doesn't translate as well in an audiobook).
Hands down one of the best books I’ve read in a long time
Some bits felt too clever by half, but the characters' emotional journeys were perfectly flawed and carried the slow parts. The game designs were good too and sounded like a lot of fun. I barely put it down till I was done.
A book about video games that is never really about video games. A book on people. relationships and how those change through life's stages. Felt like an old soul explaining it all, and had me feeling all those points in my life and remembering from the wonderful descriptions in the books, not of just the doing but the feelings in doing all the mundane and sometimes amazing in living life.
This book made me feel things I wasn't prepared to feel. I thought it was an absolutely beautiful story, even if it was filled with heartbreak.
Beautiful!!! Love a book that makes you cry.
