The Bug

I read Ullman's recent book, A Life in Code, and thought it would be interesting to read her novels. I thought this book would be amusing, a programmer obsessed with a bug, but I actually found it anxiety inducing. My heart literally started racing when the programmer accidentally deleted his days worth of work, and my own memories of bugs, that seemed to become personal, was a little too real. While parts of the book tended to drag, and the tester, Berta's voice seemed indistinguishable from Ullman's own voice in a Life of Code, which was a bit distracting, I have a feeling that this book will stick with me.

Ellen Ullman’s book, The Bug, is a cool kind of tech-based realism that I hope to see more of in the future. The book centers around a software tester, a programmer, their lovers, and the glitch that destroys their lives. Set at a mid-80s database software start-up, there is nothing “slipstream” or “sci-fi” about the novel. Ullman’s characters are believable, needy people, and her plot is not extravagant or epic. Rather, everything is very normal and the story is peppered with generally accurate references to 1980s computer science and software development.

Having just taken a job developing database-centric software applications, the plot interested me. I appreciated Ullman’s representation of the culture of programmers show more in the 1980s, although I have little to no frame of reference for that. Regardless of how accurate her portrayal is, the characters and world feels right. Ullman manages to make the world of programming meaningful without entering the realm of overblown poetics. There is no lifesaving “hack” or dramatic MacGuyver-ing of computer hardware.

This is a good title, well worth the read. show less

Probably closer to a 4, but I'll cut Ullman some slack as this is billed as a first novel and the subject matter is so unique in my experience that I couldn't help but be delighted. Ullman accurately captures the thrill of victory/agony of defeat of programming, and the little joys and crushing despairs of living in the world. I wish there were more books like this, which, really, is what a 5-star book should be.

A very pleasant, if mildly depressing, romp through the life of a humanities major as she works in software quality assurance.

How computer programming can drive one mad! Well plotted, good characters. Many technical terms and ones and zeros, but you can get the drift.

Suspenseful tale of a software project going down in flames, a programmer desperately hunting a bug while his personal life unravels. I couldn't put it down - read it in one day.

An so-so story but in Bug is a sequence which describes the procedures and problems of computer programming in a stong forthright way for the programming complete outsider.