insomni's review
5.0
A great read if you are a techie and are even a little concerned about all the chaos regarding privacy currently going on. I've been in IT professionally for about 5 years now and I really appreciated the fact that a lot of the information in this book is aimed at teaching people more about the technology they use everyday in terms that they can understand. Information security is a huge part of this book and, after finishing it, I had the strong desire to go out and learn more about information security on my own. This was not only evident when it came to technology, but it was also used to help educate the reader on some basic history involving civil rights movements in the USA.
Aside from being educational, Little Brother's idea of the government abusing it's power and stripping everyone's basic privacy rights away to catch the "terrorists" sure doesn't feel fictional as new stories continue to break (NSA & Verizon anyone?). The not-so-distant future of 2015 is very believable and the various reactions from people and the stances they take when faced with the changes to their world is how I have personally seen people react to things done in the past few years.
The story itself is gripping, you feel for Marcus and all the stuff he's gone through. Cory Doctorow does a great job of helping you feel Marcus' anxiety, fear, and overall weight of what is going on. Not to mention the anger and frustration he feels when things don't go according to plan.
I couldn't put the book down and finished it over the course of this weekend. There were a few minor items that were missed on editing that kind of jarred me, but that's all from a technical writing point of view. These were very, very few and did not harm my reading experience.
Overall a great read. It might make you a little more paranoid about your privacy when it comes to electronics and anything with an internet connection, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. At the very least, you may learn a few things you didn't know about technology or the civil rights movement. Totally recommend this book if you have the slightest interest in government cover ups, tech talk, or even just seeing someone playing their cards better than an "evil" government entity.
Aside from being educational, Little Brother's idea of the government abusing it's power and stripping everyone's basic privacy rights away to catch the "terrorists" sure doesn't feel fictional as new stories continue to break (NSA & Verizon anyone?). The not-so-distant future of 2015 is very believable and the various reactions from people and the stances they take when faced with the changes to their world is how I have personally seen people react to things done in the past few years.
The story itself is gripping, you feel for Marcus and all the stuff he's gone through. Cory Doctorow does a great job of helping you feel Marcus' anxiety, fear, and overall weight of what is going on. Not to mention the anger and frustration he feels when things don't go according to plan.
I couldn't put the book down and finished it over the course of this weekend. There were a few minor items that were missed on editing that kind of jarred me, but that's all from a technical writing point of view. These were very, very few and did not harm my reading experience.
Overall a great read. It might make you a little more paranoid about your privacy when it comes to electronics and anything with an internet connection, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. At the very least, you may learn a few things you didn't know about technology or the civil rights movement. Totally recommend this book if you have the slightest interest in government cover ups, tech talk, or even just seeing someone playing their cards better than an "evil" government entity.
lily1304's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Kind of explain-y and the romance was bad BUT it holds up really well, I honestly didn't realize it'd been written in the mid-2000s. I wish I'd read this as a teenager - if I wasn't already familiar with Cory Doctorow's work (and Abbie Hoffman's!) it could've really opened my mind
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Grief, Kidnapping, and Forced institutionalization
diaryofthebookdragon's review
5.0
In [b:Little Brother|954674|Little Brother|Cory Doctorow|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312041581s/954674.jpg|939584] [a:Cory Doctorow|12581|Cory Doctorow|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1212526024p2/12581.jpg] paints a not-so-pleasant picture of a future. Where fear from terrorism has disfigured security systems in society.
But in the end who do they really control? Ordinary people or terrorists? When is sacrificing liberty to preserve life just too much?
These are just some of the questions that will cross your mind as you read this book.
I have not read the book that more inspired me to think in a couple of years. It forces you to look, really look world around you: cameras beside roads to catch people who ride too quickly, chips implanted into our personal IDs and drivers licences... And ask: are we already on the way?
The role of government is to secure for citizens the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In that order. It's like a filter. If the government wants to do something that makes us a little unhappy, or takes away some of our liberty, it's OK, providing they're doing it to save our lives.
But in the end who do they really control? Ordinary people or terrorists? When is sacrificing liberty to preserve life just too much?
These are just some of the questions that will cross your mind as you read this book.
I have not read the book that more inspired me to think in a couple of years. It forces you to look, really look world around you: cameras beside roads to catch people who ride too quickly, chips implanted into our personal IDs and drivers licences... And ask: are we already on the way?
tnanz's review
3.0
This is certainly a book I'd recommend to other people. I'm not sure exactly who, but they are out there. This book had the same moralizing heavy handedness as a Louisa May Alcott book, which I can really enjoy. But I think something about the moralizing in this book felt canned. The bad guys were too clearly bad, the good guys too good. There's more to fear from the wafflers of this world than the pure dogmatic people.
Perhaps if I had read this as a young adult I would have liked it better. Definitely possible.
There were several things I really enjoyed about the story though: I ultimately agree with its message that privacy is something worth defending, the plot was quick and interesting, and the author did a particularly good job of capturing the addictiveness of being known for being smart. That's admirable. The romantic story I didn't find interesting or realistic at all. There are a few plot holes and loose strings at the end of the book that you would think a coder, with the inevitable eye for detail, would have noticed and cleaned up.
Also, while I feel like Doctorow did an acceptable job explaining encryption, it wasn't great. His explanation of Bayesian analysis was much better. I gues that would be the target audience I would recommend this book to: young people who have a passing acquaintance with coding, but no substantial background. It would be a gripping and adequate primer to the subject.
Overall, I feel like it's a shame that the story telling aspects of this novel weren't better. The message is important and the plot fairly well done: making your characters more realistic and interesting wouldn't be terribly difficult. If this were Doctorow's first book, all would be forgiven, but as his fourth... I can't say that I'll be keeping an eye out for Doctorow at the bookstore.
Perhaps if I had read this as a young adult I would have liked it better. Definitely possible.
There were several things I really enjoyed about the story though: I ultimately agree with its message that privacy is something worth defending, the plot was quick and interesting, and the author did a particularly good job of capturing the addictiveness of being known for being smart. That's admirable. The romantic story I didn't find interesting or realistic at all. There are a few plot holes and loose strings at the end of the book that you would think a coder, with the inevitable eye for detail, would have noticed and cleaned up.
Also, while I feel like Doctorow did an acceptable job explaining encryption, it wasn't great. His explanation of Bayesian analysis was much better. I gues that would be the target audience I would recommend this book to: young people who have a passing acquaintance with coding, but no substantial background. It would be a gripping and adequate primer to the subject.
Overall, I feel like it's a shame that the story telling aspects of this novel weren't better. The message is important and the plot fairly well done: making your characters more realistic and interesting wouldn't be terribly difficult. If this were Doctorow's first book, all would be forgiven, but as his fourth... I can't say that I'll be keeping an eye out for Doctorow at the bookstore.
autoreleasefool's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
jedde29's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
lindsayheise's review
5.0
I cannot begin to describe how awesome this book is. Read it for a Critical Inquiry course last year and couldn't put it down! It's based in San Francisco, a city I have fallen in love with over the course of my lifetime, and I will never look at it the same after reading this.
SUCH a good story! The themes are truly relevant and intriguing. Recommended for anyone! :D
SUCH a good story! The themes are truly relevant and intriguing. Recommended for anyone! :D
schwelo's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5