Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Books Smart and Annoying, With Cory Doctorow
Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 3:15 PM
This interview with Little Brother author Cory Doctorow is much more interesting than the average author interview. It has some really smart, cogent insights by Doctorow:
The job of a science fiction writer, historically, has been to understand how technology and social factors interact
and
"If you don't read the Anarchist's Cookbook when you are 16 you have no soul," he says. "If you are still reading it when you are 36 you have no brain."
But there are also some concepts that Doctorow should've kept in his head:
"My hope is that Little Brother is a verb and not a noun, that it's a thing you do, not just a book you read."
But still, it's a fascinating interview, including Doctorow's feelings about Whuffle and the use of the internet as it pertains to collective action. You should go read it.
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2
@1 No he's not.
I find his comment about the interaction between tech and society funny given that he seems to be utterly incapable of writing an actual character. He's quite good with his mannequins, but that shouldn't count.
I find his comment about the interaction between tech and society funny given that he seems to be utterly incapable of writing an actual character. He's quite good with his mannequins, but that shouldn't count.
4
Why should he have kept that in his head? It's annoying that he wants kids to read his book and feel like they should care about technology and do something instead of just passively read it and throw it aside?
That's where thinking about the future and influencing the future converge.
5
It's killing me where he lifted that, "if you never _____ you have no soul, if you still _____, you have no brain" quote from. Anyone? It was about socialism, I think, but who said that?
6
If you're not a liberal when you're 25, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by the time you're 35, you have no brain.
Usually misattributed to Churchill
* According to research by Mark T. Shirey, citing Nice Guys Finish Seventh: False Phrases, Spurious Sayings, and Familiar Misquotations by Ralph Keyes, 1992, this quote was first uttered by mid-nineteenth century historian and statesman François Guizot when he observed, Not to be a republican at 20 is proof of want of heart; to be one at 30 is proof of want of head. This quote has been attributed variously to George Bernard Shaw, Benjamin Disraeli, Otto von Bismarck, and others.
Usually misattributed to Churchill
* According to research by Mark T. Shirey, citing Nice Guys Finish Seventh: False Phrases, Spurious Sayings, and Familiar Misquotations by Ralph Keyes, 1992, this quote was first uttered by mid-nineteenth century historian and statesman François Guizot when he observed, Not to be a republican at 20 is proof of want of heart; to be one at 30 is proof of want of head. This quote has been attributed variously to George Bernard Shaw, Benjamin Disraeli, Otto von Bismarck, and others.
7
Oh, and I agree about his characters. Actually, I found them real enough, just incredibly immature, offensive, and dumb. I couldn't imagine that I was actually supposed to sympathize with them in any way.
8
"If you don't read the Anarchist's Cookbook when you are 16 you have no soul," he says. "If you are still reading it when you are 36 you have no brain."
...and if you're still trying to impress people with the fact that you've read THE ANARCHIST COOKBOOK when you're 36, then you're Cory Doctorow.
...and if you're still trying to impress people with the fact that you've read THE ANARCHIST COOKBOOK when you're 36, then you're Cory Doctorow.
9
I have feared downloading the Anarchist Cookbook because I don't want to attract attention from the FBI. Oh shit, they probably are reading these posts.
12
I don't want to be one of those annoying Internet people who posts about how he hates people in the comments, but I do want to get this out there:
I hate Cory Doctorow.
I hate Cory Doctorow.
14
Here's something I wrote about Cory Doctorow elsewhere, and I think it applies here also:
"I hate Cory Doctorow. Not because I hate his writing, although I probably do, I’ve never actually read it. Not because he is an arrogant little shit, although he probably is, I wouldn’t know. Not even because he has an annoying voice or a punchable face, although he probably has both of these, not like I know.
No, the reason I hate Cory Doctorow is simply because of his name. Anyone called “Cory Doctorow” must be an insufferable little shit. I don’t even need to know anything about the guy to know this."
"I hate Cory Doctorow. Not because I hate his writing, although I probably do, I’ve never actually read it. Not because he is an arrogant little shit, although he probably is, I wouldn’t know. Not even because he has an annoying voice or a punchable face, although he probably has both of these, not like I know.
No, the reason I hate Cory Doctorow is simply because of his name. Anyone called “Cory Doctorow” must be an insufferable little shit. I don’t even need to know anything about the guy to know this."
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