#5 Summer Reading 2013

"We live in an era of unprecedented access to information, and many political parties campaign on platforms of transparency and openness. And yet, at the same time, we are gradually shifting the policing of cyberspace to a dark world largely free from public accountability and independent oversight. In entrusting more and more information to third parties, we are signing away legal protections that should be guaranteed by those who have access to our data. Perversely, as liberal democratic countries we are lowering the standards around basic rights to privacy just as the centre of cyberspace gravity is shifting to less democratic parts of the world."

I find it intriguing and a bit disturbing when I connect the fictional story "Ready Player One" to the non-fictional documentation is "Black Code."

Ready Player One describes a world where the "internet" has basically become a virtual, alternate world that has been crafted by its creator. A giant game, where life is defined entirely by your game avatar. Black Code describes the present, disturbing, process where more and more control of our personal information is being controlled by those who control the internet.

The real worry, as described in Black Code, is that the controllers of the internet are becoming less and less "controllable." The private companies like Google, Facebook, Skype, Microsoft, and a worldwide gamut of ISPs, work in a variety of regimes where personal information is not protected. In some countries, the internet is under control of criminal forces, or dwells in the very gray area of government/corporate control. It is in those regimes that companies like Google are left to make decisions about how they maintain the privacy and personal information of their users. 

In many cases, personal information is freely shared with authorities, and the customers don't even get a notice about it. Sprint, for example, in the US, actually was so overwhelmed with requests for personal information from the FBI and police, that it coudn't keep up. So, in response it began charging for the "service" and now makes a pretty penny, to the tune of 8 million such requests!

#4 Summer Reading 2013

OKAY, now we're talking! This book was pure fun from start to finish. 

"In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape." (Amazon)

The book is full of references to Eighties culture from games, to movies and television to music. Any geek who lived through the age of early video game evolution, including home computer and gaming systems and also coin-operated arcade games, will "get" this book. No, they will joyfully roll in it like a pig rolls in the mud. 

But the cool thing about this book is the way it leaves details out. Too much information about life in the real world would be confusing. Rather than try to explain just how crappy and dangerous the real world is in the story setting, the author wisely takes us into the OASIS world, where people really find their value and self-worth.

It's actually a strong commentary on present-day social media junkies, who more and more stunt their actual real-world personality by becoming over-dependent on "friendships" and relationships that are defined by a computer screen. Just imagine the temptation to step into a virtual world where there are real people at the other end. It's like having a Facebook friend with super powers, and you come to know them on the terms they choose to reveal through their avatar. And - get this - the game allows you to ramp up your avatar's capabilities by completing various quests. Really, through the OASIS game in the story, a person's life is better in so many ways... (but not the most important ways!)

And, the book comes to a good ending, where the main character has to make some serious choices about real people in the real world. It leaves us sitting with the character at the end of a long quest, and looking to a future that is "ours" to shape. What a great story!

Think of Hunger Games. Think of The Truman Show. Think of The Matrix. Think of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. 

All of those stories take the character on an exciting quest for freedom, self-discovery, and heroism. They are all deeply rooted in values of human relationships, and the meaning of what it means to be fully human.

*****/*****

Ernest Cline

#3 Summer Reading 2013

Haunted by a reputation he earned by killing three men under questionable circumstances, Antonio Burns finds himself scorned by good cops and admired by bad ones. Unable to shake the tag of “QuickDraw,” Burns has stepped closer to the edge of society while still doing the job he’s paid to do and loving a woman who doesn’t understand him--and may not want him anymore. And with his charismatic but dangerously antisocial brother, Roberto, in trouble with the law, Burns has to manage his loyalties carefully: He is a cop. ’Berto is a fugitive. And they’d die for one another. When Burns is sent to protect Wyoming prosecutor Cali Morrow, a former ski racer being threatened by a stalker, it seems like an easy job. But Cali is the beautiful daughter of one of America’s hottest movie stars, and the stalker may well be a man working on Burns’s side of the law. Antonio has a hard time resisting the woman he’s supposed to be protecting...

I picked this one up at the used book store in Paris, Ontario during a family camping trip. Actually not a bad story, kind of reminded me of some episodes of "The Mentalist" in terms of the way different law enforcement agencies work together - or not. And like The Mentalist, one of the suspects may be found within the ranks of the law enforcers!

Pretty tame with very few sexual exploits, the book stays away from gratuitousness and focuses on the more plausible inner struggles of the main character Anton, and the weird relationship with his brother, which reminds me of Wolverine and his renegade brother from "X-Men."

Gets a little far-fetched at the end with the hero and his client surviving a fire storm while being shielded by the soon-to-be-baked body of a police officer, and also the fact that the hero survives an avalanche, walking away with mere bruises and continuing on with his day's work.

Yah, a bit far-fetched, but entertaining nonetheless.

***/*****

Clinton McKinzie, the author, in his natural habitat.

#2 Summer Reading 2013

It's the intrusion of the past that haunts her, as she struggles to escape disturbing family secrets, and the loss of Marlea, her best friend and sometime lover. As she reaches out to a new frienship, Percy faces a searing battle of the elements -- both emotional and physical -- that will redefine her whole life, her loves and losses. Cinematic in its style, erotic in tone, Burning Ground boldly explores desire, sexual identity and emotional risk, rising to a powerful ending, not easily forgotten.

All in all, a good read. I picked this up in a used book store in Paris, Ontario during our July camping trip to Pinehurst Lake. Some intriguing background insights into the life of a fire marshall, and how they do things, how they live, etc. Made me think of my daughter out planting trees in the wilds of Northern Alberta. 

***/*****

Pearl Luke was born in Peace River, Alberta, Canada. Her first novel, Burning Ground, about a young woman in love with her best friend, was published in 2000 by HarperCollins. It won the 2001 Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Best First Book (Caribbean and Canada Region), and was a finalist for the George Bugnet Award, the Chapters/Robertson Davies First Novel Award and the Libris Booksellers Award. Burning Ground was based in part on her experiences working summers on various fire towers while she wrote her Master's thesis.

#1 Summer Reading 2013

Seeking adventure, Chris and his parents move from New York to Key West, but the thrill soon fades as Dad's obsession with finding sunken treasure angers some of the longtime residents and threatens to split up the family.

I dug this out of the school collection while weeding. It was destined for the recycling bin. I determined to read it during our first campout at Pinehurst Lake this July. As I read each page, I tore it out and tossed it into the fire.

By the way, they found the treasure, and the boy gets the girl.

**/*****