Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom [Paperback]

I almost wrote "unfamiliar setting" there, but I caught myself before I could commit it to Amazon archives ... because upon reflection, the most striking thing about Doctorow's future is how even in its established difference, it stays familiar. One reason I tend to avoid modern tales of the future (ha!) is that there is often a jarring cognitive disconnect that distracts me and colors my perception of what's going on. But not DAOITMK. On every page it remains very true, for all its distance from present reality (which is not such a great distance as you might initially suspect).

Anyway, it was good stuff. In fact, it was such good stuff that I immediately dove into Doctorow's second book <i>Eastern Standard Tribe.</i> I'm only about halfway through, but I'm digging it so far and may well come back to review it when I'm finished.

The truth of the matter is, I'm a bright enough guy, but I'm hardly a genius. Especially when it comes to people. Probably comes from Beating The Crowd, never seeing individuals, just the mass - the enemy of expedience."

This is Cory Doctorow's first novel and the first book I read on my Pocket PC (my favorite form of reading books now). Cory offered electronic versions of this novel online for free to anyone who cared to download it. And for that I need to thank Cory. In the end, it was a great story that brought up quite a few interesting issues. This was a science fiction novel that actually could contribute to the phisophical lexicon of post-modern scholarship.

The story is that of Julius. A man who's well over 100 yrs old, appears to be in his thrities, has composed three symphonies, has four doctorates in varying fields of study, and (along with everyone else in existence) has a permanent link to the the 'net in there head.

If you're familiar with the genre of Cyberpunk, these kinds of notions aren't beyond you. And considering that Cory is writing a kind of post-Cyberpunk story (as it all takes place in DisneyWorld) it becomes a kind of amusing look at the philosophical issues involved with fixing any medical issue, from a hang-nail to brain damage, by committing suicide and having a backup of your mind dumped into a fully grown clone that looks exactly like your original body.

If you're unfamiliar with the genre, or have a hard time grasping concepts without having them expicitly detailed out for you, then you'll be disappointed. Cory, many times, doesn't bother to delve into the meaning of some of the more anachronistic concepts that he throws at you. (For instance, it took me about 7 chapters before I realized that a utilidor was a "Utility Corridor".)

Overall, this book was definitely worth the time. It read very quickly and the concepts and issues that were discussed were easily understood. If I were asked I would definitely recommend it.

Fir all that, Down and Out is a good bit of sci-fi. It brings up some interesting ideas as all good sci-fi should!

The premise of the book is that scarcity and death have both ended. The big concerns of the future are overcrowding and bordem. Under these circumstances where courtesy and interesting ideas would become of paramount importance, the world (or most of it) has transformed into a reputation economy.

The idea of a reputation economy, which we argueably have to some extent today (think credit ratings, time served in jail, where you went to school) is taken to the extreme. You purchase goods, services and experiences not based on how much money you earn but how much Whuffie you have. And you gain Whuffie by being a decent person and by doing cool things that others like. The more Whuffie, the better your life is -- the best restaurants, places to stay, cars, etc. That premise by itself made the book interesting. Imagine living in a world where your behavior is mediated by what people think of it. You can't get rich by swindling others. You have to do it by doing things that people like -- the more people the better.

The other fascinating premised of the book, and certainly one that isn't new, is that no one dies. People backup up their brains regularly and if their bodies dies, they're just restored from backup. I found myself thinking about the ultimate question here. If you're restored from backup are you the same person? Certainly, you think you are. But, is it the same consciousness or did one person die and another one get created?

As I said -- its a fun read and deeper than it looks. Cory Doctrow will have you thinking about the meaning of life and of your life if you let him.