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Loading... Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (2012)by Robin Sloan
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Very Slow. Would not recommend. ( ![]() I found this novel intriguing and entrancing. I pushed right on through it. It called to my geek side, and with a bit of mystery thrown in. Oh yes, and books! Trying not to be a spoiler here, but stop reading if you feel I'm endangering the mystery for you. Think of the power of Google (and Google tools still under development), and IBM's Watson as examples of new ways of attacking a mystery, and you'll see some of that here. Think of applying that kind of power to gaining new understanding of ancient texts (or encoded texts). I hope you enjoy it. Here's a link to another review that reflects much of my reaction: http://www.ireadabookonce.com/2013/04/review-mr-penumbras-24-hour-bookstore.html I had to give it at least three stars just by virtue of it's bookstore setting and book-driven plot. Alas, I am not the target audience for this part-WisdomOfTheAges tale, part-GoogleValentine. In the end I was left with an Almost-But-Not-Quite feeling, and I absolutely hate that in a book! The author toys with some timeless themes and an intriguing twist on the Quest scenario, but the impact in the end is akin to turning over the big rock in the One Tin Soldier song. There is clearly an Important Message being imparted, but the delivery is so underwhelming that it feels like a cheat instead of a profound lesson. Going to recommend this book anyway, though. I think my friends Jim and Britt Deegan will enjoy the interplay of computer geekdom, art and literature; anyway it's worth reading at least part of this book just to try and imagine being in that bookstore. I'm giving this book 5 stars, not because it's so perfect, but just because it's so fun. Also, the audio book voice performance is sensational. The story follows the misadventures of down-on-his-luck, recently laid off tech-drone Clay, who finds a job to tide him over at an odd little bookstore in San Francisco. He doesn't understand any of the owner's weird rules for 'selling' books, nor the few odd customers that occasionally appear during his graveyard shift (and they are about the only customers). And how does the store even stay in business? Then things get mysterious and weirder and some sort of secret society is involved. Clay is thankful that he at least finally meets a girl and she's relatively sane, despite working for Google. What follows is an suspenseful adventure exploring the collision of the old knowledge of the printed word and the new digitized world and a search for balance between the two. If you like books and stories and mysteries, you should find this one utterly charming. A lot of fun, in the same way that Ready Player One was. A perfect read for a hot, hot summer that is making my brain melt.
Mr. Penumbra’s 24 hour Bookstore flourishes in the nebulous terrain between super-powered digital information and the text warriors of yore. It rocks in terms of crazy imaginative leaps and is so optimistic about the longevity of books in print that it makes bibliophiles like me positively clap with glee. It does have its share of shortcomings though, but more on that later. And if, in the end, the plot doesn’t entirely satisfy – the love story is a little weak, the 500-year old mystery rather too neatly solved – this novel’s ideas will linger long in the mind. “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore” is eminently enjoyable, full of warmth and intelligence. Sloan balances a strong plot with philosophical questions about technology and books and the power both contain. The prose maintains an engaging pace as Clay, Mr. Penumbra and the quirky constellation of people around them try to determine what matters more — the solution to a problem or how that solution is achieved. "In the end, though, the book works fine as an engrossing mystery — and as an intelligent meditation on technology’s trajectory and limits."https://www.librarything.com/work/12661675/book/132262683# I loved diving into the world that Sloan created, both the high-tech fantasyland of Google and the ancient analog society. It’s packed full of geeky allusions and wonderful characters, and is a celebration of books, whether they’re made of dead trees or digits. Belongs to SeriesMr. Penumbra (1) Is an expanded version ofAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
Fantasy.
Fiction.
Literature.
Thriller.
HTML: A gleeful and exhilarating tale of global conspiracy, complex code-breaking, high-tech data visualization, young love, rollicking adventure, and the secret to eternal life??mostly set in a hole-in-the-wall San Francisco bookstore No library descriptions found.
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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