When I first began reading this I wondered if I would really class this as Scifi, and not more of a political thriller. It is a collaboration of Neal Stephenson with his uncle George Jewsbury (under the pseudonym Frederick George), and it was originally published under the collaborative pseudonymn Stephen Bury in 1994. The book has also been compared to the 'Manchurian Candidate.'
A well-liked Governor in mid-western America, William Cozzano, recovering from a stroke, is offered treatment using a revolutionary brain implant through which his thought processes can be influenced. When he decides to run for President, he decides to try a little extra help. The biochip in his head, is wired to a computerized polling system, and tracking the mood of the electorate. However, he is unaware that he and his family are being manipulated by an organisation trying to bring about political change.
The brain implant idea is rather scifi, though not that far-fetched, and to begin with it reads a little like a Michael Crichton novel, especially 'Terminal', with the heavy dose of medical descriptions. Although many people can't wait to have one of these implants for real, I've always felt uncomfortable with the idea. As Woody Allen said "No one messes with my brain, it's my second favourite organ." Of course, this being scifi, my fears are all proved right in this book. But that isn't the real story.
The real story here is about the power of TV and media; a kind of modern day George Orwell's '1984'. In this book both the public and the candidate are orchestrated by sumpremo media manipulator Cy Ogle. There is a little history of how JFK beat Nixon in the 1960 election because he looked better on TV. And brought up to the present day, with Cozzano, "you can forget issues, forget policy, he's more than the perfect candidate, he's a special effect."
We've become use to the dirty campaigns and mudslinging before elections; to the propaganda and blatant lies fed to us to promote the Iraq War; to George W Bush getting help during his election campaign from a radio 'wire' up his back; and to politicians being influenced more by their corporate backers and campaign donors than by their electorate; but after watching Michael Moore's 'Farenheit 9/11' I suddenly realised exactly how prophetic this book really is. It was written 10 years ago, yet already much of the media manipulation and political puppetry is commonplace today.
As I've come to expect in a Stephenson book, there's an large cast of strong, interesting characters, who are never cardboard cut-outs, but are probably just too many to keep a track of.
One problem with the book is that it does have a number of typographical errors, which annoy me since it ought to have been proofread. And there are some rather wordy descriptions that could have won some kind of prize for the most unusual simile.
A well-liked Governor in mid-western America, William Cozzano, recovering from a stroke, is offered treatment using a revolutionary brain implant through which his thought processes can be influenced. When he decides to run for President, he decides to try a little extra help. The biochip in his head, is wired to a computerized polling system, and tracking the mood of the electorate. However, he is unaware that he and his family are being manipulated by an organisation trying to bring about political change.
The brain implant idea is rather scifi, though not that far-fetched, and to begin with it reads a little like a Michael Crichton novel, especially 'Terminal', with the heavy dose of medical descriptions. Although many people can't wait to have one of these implants for real, I've always felt uncomfortable with the idea. As Woody Allen said "No one messes with my brain, it's my second favourite organ." Of course, this being scifi, my fears are all proved right in this book. But that isn't the real story.
The real story here is about the power of TV and media; a kind of modern day George Orwell's '1984'. In this book both the public and the candidate are orchestrated by sumpremo media manipulator Cy Ogle. There is a little history of how JFK beat Nixon in the 1960 election because he looked better on TV. And brought up to the present day, with Cozzano, "you can forget issues, forget policy, he's more than the perfect candidate, he's a special effect."
We've become use to the dirty campaigns and mudslinging before elections; to the propaganda and blatant lies fed to us to promote the Iraq War; to George W Bush getting help during his election campaign from a radio 'wire' up his back; and to politicians being influenced more by their corporate backers and campaign donors than by their electorate; but after watching Michael Moore's 'Farenheit 9/11' I suddenly realised exactly how prophetic this book really is. It was written 10 years ago, yet already much of the media manipulation and political puppetry is commonplace today.
As I've come to expect in a Stephenson book, there's an large cast of strong, interesting characters, who are never cardboard cut-outs, but are probably just too many to keep a track of.
One problem with the book is that it does have a number of typographical errors, which annoy me since it ought to have been proofread. And there are some rather wordy descriptions that could have won some kind of prize for the most unusual simile.
