Z/Web

Author: Neal Stephenson

This is a weird novel. It’s an intriguing idea — Stephenson calls it an “eco-thriller.” It’s a novel about an evironmentalist and his radical attempts to stop corporate pollution. The first part of the book is delightfully odd while you’re trying to figure out who’s who and what’s happening. But once you understand things, there’s no real story until much later in the book. That’s when you learn that a corporation has created pollution-eating bugs, but of course their pollution-creating bugs have been accidentally released into Boston harbor as well. But that storyline is suddenly resolved and it’s back to standard environmentalist tactics to stop the bad guys. That’s when the novel goes down hill. It’s much too long (though only 300 pages) and the last 50 pages or so really drag. I had to force myself to finish it, not a good sign. My advice? Read the first half which is great and forget the rest.

Disappointing, lackluster film. I loved the concept — a fictional look at Hitler’s life before his rise to power, while he was a struggling artist — but unfortunately the film doesn’t get much beyond the idea. It’s slow moving (i.e. boring) and Hitler’s odd rantings aren’t particularly interesting. It’s a nice try, but it fails.