Doug McCrae
Legend
I think the movie will be better than the book, because it will fix its minor flaws, though I doubt it can do anything about the major ones.
Minor flaw: The main puzzles are uninteresting and repetitive - succeed at an 80s arcade or adventure game, recite the dialogue to an 80s movie.
Major flaw 1: Why would teenagers in the 2040s develop the same level of passion for 80s pop culture as a 40-something in the 2010s? To make sense the book ought to either be about a teenager living in the 80s, with no science fictional element, or the protagonists should be mercenaries who are at best neutral towards the 80s, merely researching it for the huge cash payout. Ofc the latter approach wouldn't serve the writer's purpose.
Major flaw 2: The book doesn't understand creativity. It thinks the highest pinnacle of human endeavour is learning and repeating facts precisely. Every time Halliday, the OASIS's creator, is praised for his programming skill it's because he has recreated something, usually an artefact of geek or 80s culture in perfect detail. Several of the puzzles are in the same vein - learn and repeat some pointless 80s trivia. It's a very limited, nerdy, understanding of what talent is, of what is admirable.
Minor flaw: The main puzzles are uninteresting and repetitive - succeed at an 80s arcade or adventure game, recite the dialogue to an 80s movie.
Major flaw 1: Why would teenagers in the 2040s develop the same level of passion for 80s pop culture as a 40-something in the 2010s? To make sense the book ought to either be about a teenager living in the 80s, with no science fictional element, or the protagonists should be mercenaries who are at best neutral towards the 80s, merely researching it for the huge cash payout. Ofc the latter approach wouldn't serve the writer's purpose.
Major flaw 2: The book doesn't understand creativity. It thinks the highest pinnacle of human endeavour is learning and repeating facts precisely. Every time Halliday, the OASIS's creator, is praised for his programming skill it's because he has recreated something, usually an artefact of geek or 80s culture in perfect detail. Several of the puzzles are in the same vein - learn and repeat some pointless 80s trivia. It's a very limited, nerdy, understanding of what talent is, of what is admirable.