Tuesday, August 21, 2012

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu

Title: How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
Author: Charles Yu
Publication information: Pantheon (2010)

I was hooked in by the line in the blurb on the inside cover; "In one minute Charles Yu is going to murder himself. Again". This novel is about Charles Yu, the protagonist in this book, and the events that take place in his life.

I found the plot of this novel very slow. Although it was enjoyable overall, I found that the main story didn't really start until at least half way through. I enjoyed the references to other science fiction narratives such as Star Wars and the amount of background information that was provided by the protagonist.

The main character was very likeable and at points I almost felt sympathetic towards him. I loved his interactions with his computer, TAMMY, and also Phil. I think that these characters really helped to develop Charles' personality, and make the reader find him more approachable.

The writing was really interesting and I found it complicated at points, but understandable despite the technical language used.

Overall, I would give this novel 4 out of 5 stars as I really grew to like the characters and on the whole I enjoyed the plot.

1 comment:

  1. I'm not a big sci-fi reader but the title of the book is intriguing. Great review!

    Btw, I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger award! :)
    Check out my post here:
    http://pidginpeasbooknook.blogspot.com/2012/08/versatile-blogger-award.html

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