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Title: Killing Time by Caleb Carr ISBN: 0-446-61095-X Publisher: Warner Books Pub. Date: January, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.04 (218 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Information is not knowledge
Comment: One of the characters in this novels says "information is not knowledge." This is probably the best line in the book. You can really look at Killing Time in two ways; as a thoughtful essay on the dangers of the information age, or as a mostly unsatisfying action/sci-fi novel. Caleb Carr would have done better expounding on his ideas about history, culture and the internet in a nonfiction book rather than try to stuff them all into this short, poorly plotted novel. Set about fifty years in the future, Killing Time is mainly about an extremely timely and important issue --the ease with which large numbers of people can be deceived by information age technology. In the future as foreseen by Carr, plagues, wars and environmental crisis have ravaged the world even as technology continues to flourish. A group of the world's most brilliant scientists establish their own community-without-borders and play a series of high tech pranks on the world (the basic plot is vaguely reminscent of a much better novel, Atlas Shrugged). When a psychiatrist named Gideon Wolfe makes some disconcerting discoveries about a vast cover-up regarding a presidential assasination, he is drawn into the group's plans. Naturally, one of them is a beautiful but deadly woman named Larissa who Wolfe falls in love with. The story follows the group's misadventures as they embark upon a morally ambiguous campaign against the universally corrupt governments of the world. The main problem with the book, alas, is the writing. I haven't read any of Carr's other novels, but from his reputation I expected more than this; it reads like a low budget movie script. The reader is not adequately introduced to the world of the future; the frenetic action starts too quickly and continues for most of the book. This does not help in what is primarily meant to be a philosophical inquiry into some fundamental questions about society. Another thing that gets in the way is Carr's gratuitous sermonizing on a variety of topics (this reminds me a little of Dean Koonz, though he is better at plotting his novels). There are constant snide remarks about the tastelessness of modern life and the shortcomings of various cultures, nations and religions and so forth. Even if you agree with him, this does not add anything to the novel. As for the message, it is, oddly enough, simultaneously heavy-handed and ambiguous. Carr is seemingly a harsh critic of technology, the internet and the so-called information age. Yet, when it comes down to it, he also believes that science and technology may hold the solution to our problems. The ending certainly suggests this. Ambiguity is not necessarily a bad thing; in fact, it can be a sign that someone has thought out a position thoroughly. Such a nuanced position, however, does not go well with a simplistic, action-dominated plot. Overall, I'd like to see a better book written on the same subject.
Rating: 3
Summary: An oldfashioned future
Comment: Caleb Carr is a wonderfull writer. I loved both 'Alienist' and 'The Angel of Darkness'.
This book ... well, it was different. It's Carrs look into the future, written in the style of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.
The marriage of a century old style with modern ideas is an interesting one. The drawback is that Carr uses the same plot devices as the old masters. And for people who have read enough it's the same as giving away the plot.The idea of information as a weapon is not novel, but it is well argued here. Definetly, with the development of technology such use of history is possible.
If this short novel was a part of an anthology - I would have nothing to say against it. But I won't say that you have to buy the anthology just to read it.
It's a pleasant enough read, it's just can't be priced the same as 'Alienist'. Take it out of the libriary, but don't buy it.
Rating: 5
Summary: Enjoyable....
Comment: I listened to the audio version of this novel (narrated extremely well by the author), and I must say that after a slow beginning I found this novel to be quite exciting. Doctor Gideon Wolfe is a criminal Psychologist, specializing in you guessed it, Criminal Psychology AND conspiracy theories. When his best friend winds up dead because of mysterious photos discovered on an encrypted disc given to him by a client, Gideon finds himself sucked into a bizarre world of 'information sabotage,' ran by a reclusive genius Malcolm and his beautiful sister.
At first I found the beginning WAY too fantastic, especially the 'jailbreak' scene, but I quickly found myself sucked into Carr's world of information sabotage, and enjoyed this audio book immensely. I loved the character of Leon who kept saying EVERYTHING had "Immense Sexuality." Too funny.
Things I didn't like: the author used "Killing Time" to soap-box a bit about social and moral issues. Messages such as: Internet = Evil and 'information is NOT knowledge' made me want to grind my teeth after the third or fourth time I heard it. Also the narration where the author gives us a 'forsight' into future story events was bothersome. The novel is littered with phrases like: "If I had known then what I know now, I would never...." I HATE it when authors tell us in advance something bad will happen. I like to find this out for myself, thank you.
Otherwise, loved this tape! Loved the character Leon and Malcolm, and really really hope there is a sequel featuring these characters.
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Title: The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr ISBN: 0345427637 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: July, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Alienist by Caleb Carr ISBN: 0553572997 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 July, 1995 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Devil Soldier: The American Soldier of Fortune Who Became a God in China by Caleb Carr ISBN: 0679761284 Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks Pub. Date: April, 1995 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Lessons of Terror: A History of Warfare Against Civilians: Why It Has Always Failed and Why It Will Fail Again by Caleb Carr, Caleb Carr ISBN: 0375508430 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 29 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Lessons of Terror: A History of Warfare Against Civilians by Caleb Carr ISBN: 0375760741 Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks Pub. Date: 11 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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