I am disappointed that this was a best-seller, confused that it was recommended to me, but most importantly, annoyed that I read/skimmed through 375 pages of a book that was not for me!
I've been sick over the past few weeks. It's been a rough one 😅 But thankfully right before falling ill, I managed to find some books that I was really looking forward to reading!
One of them was Ready Player One. You may be familiar with the title; it was a best-selling novel and went on to become a movie in 2018.
And uhhhhh I'mma be honest with you good people: I did not enjoy it 😅 I did not enjoy it at all, unfortunately...
(If you enjoyed this book, or the movie for that matter, you may want to step away now 😬 This isn't going to be pretty...)
Do you ever read a book and know it's going to be difficult to read by the first page? (Not even an exaggeration in this case -- I knew Cline was not going to be the author for me by the first page, third paragraph 😩).
By the time I reached the second page, I had a pretty good feeling! I knew Cline was trying to live vicariously through the character, James Halliday. Which is always a bad idea, especially when one does not represent said character in the slightest.
(Not my assumption either; I will provide proof for this later on lol)
In other words, Cline not only imposed himself into his own novel, but he then tried making himself the eccentric Halliday (which Cline, isn't lol).
(Literally on the back of the novel lol he wasn't even trying to be subtle)
And because Cline tried imposing himself into the novel, it came out, in my opinion, "very cringe"...
Some people may try to claim that Cline's constant references to the 80s are an appeal to the reader's nostalgia. I disagree. The impression I received is a midlife crisis. A man reaches his 40s and cannot come to terms with the fact he will never live out the "best years of his life" again, so he needs to create a fantasy world and place himself in it.
Ironic, considering the entire message of Ready Player One is to live in reality, to appreciate the present. Perhaps Cline could take his own advice?
But, Cline is also a hardcore democrat. It is not wrong of me to make this statement -- he desperately went out of his way to make it a point in the novel, and I am going to call him out for it lol. And I say that, in the sense that he went out of his way to include his politics in a book that did not have or need any.
So the first thing we can take away, is that Cline makes it difficult to practice what he preaches.
But, how do I know that the author is a democrat? Ha ha ha, well...
Climate change... Cline seriously went with the premise that the world "uses up all of the fossil fuels," temperatures rise, war over limited resources...
"The ongoing energy crisis. Catastrophic climate change. Widespread famine, poverty, and disease. Half a dozen wars."
Global warming is a very popular belief with many people. I partook in it for a number of years (2002-2020). I have since changed my mind. I figure if my local meteorologists can't even predict upcoming weather accurately, I should probably take any other predictions with a grain of salt!
Despite the fact religion was never relevant in the book, Cline felt the need to not only reference it, but also incorporate the "God is a lie" rhetoric. There is a common theme where atheism/nihilism/"life is meaningless" has to be explained, as a constant reminder to others that they should feel the same. Or, at the very least, that they should never attempt to rise above, in this regard.
In fact, Cline's inability to soften his hatred for religion is how I figured out that he is Halliday lol.
Uhhhhh diversity, I guess? lol. The amount of times the main character became sooooo hung up on including people's gender was a bit excessive. Becoming too invested in, "Is this the person's real voice/face?"
"People can choose their gender in the OASIS, so are they actually the gender they say they are?! 😱 Are they a boy?! or a girl? 🤔" Uh, is it even relevant? 😅 (Aside from the main character's love interest, no, it wasn't...).
When he finds out his best friend has been a woman the entire time as opposed to a man, and she describes herself as "black," the protagonist seriously says, "Well, III would have used the term 'African American,'" like, again --
Also, sexuality isn't relevant at all, but please go into detail about how So&So is a lesbian, and her entire coming out story, why, ugggggh...
Aside from that, the entire dialogue left much to be desired. It is always extremely embarrassing when a grown adult attempts to be edgy. Especially when it's coming from someone who doesn't know the meaning of the word, who spent his adolescence eating chips and playing Dungeons & Dragons.
"'Are you cocks arguing about Star Wars again? That shit is so played out, yo.'"
Oh yes Cline, I'm sure you felt really cool flipping everyone off and calling them dickheads ... in your head lmfao. Bet it felt really cool typing the word "Glock" despite the fact you are completely against them and wouldn't so much as look at them, let alone reference them. 🙄
In fact, the entire plot left something to be desired.
Finding 3 hidden keys inside of virtual reality in order to win a contest, yaaay, okay... Oh, what's that? the protagonist has nobody and nothing? A nerd? a nerd who falls in love with the only woman in the entire novel?... What's that, the protagonist wins, with limited challenges, struggles, or sacrifice? well, of course he does. We've only heard this story a thousand times before, ugggh...
Here are some more of my cliff notes along the read, just to emphasize how much I despised this novel 😂 (I stopped being invested by page 22 and just skimmed from there).
(Of course, we couldn't have an apocalyptic society without including the word "fascist" lol again, say it without saying it, amirite?...)
(Proof that Cline is Halliday. His narcissism is so prevalent, he included religion just so he could point out he's an atheist.. And my head spins! 🥴)