Book Review | Walkaway by Cory Doctorow

[@kreiger]

I don't think it's fair to say language shortens and condenses all the time, otherwise we'd all be speaking in monosyllables. Language does change over time and sometimes words and sounds get assimilated so that the are shorter, but there are a multitude of other linguistic properties that occur to language over time.

[@ConnorOBrien]

+kreiger Yeah you're right that other things happen too. Pronunciation changes and new words are made as well as some other things. I believe that the things that pushed me out of the story wouldn't naturally happen especially if this story takes place only around 60-70 years in the future. But if those things won't be a bother to you, you should check this out! Even if they would bother you, it's a pretty interesting concept!

[@kreiger]

You're right, language wouldn't change too much in only 60-70 years, save for the generational additions and deletions of words. It wouldn't even change much in 100 years, like in The 100 (despite how much I love the show) where one population's version of English has morphed into a separate language. For example, to see how English last changed, we'd have to go back to Shakespeare's time when people spoke Early Modern English, which was in the 1600s. While still mostly understandable, the form and characteristics of the language then are obvious and that was 416 years ago. To go to when English is almost unrecognizable, you have to go back to 1066 when people spoke Middle English, 950 years ago! I have a degree in linguistics so I thought I'd expand on your point, lol.

[@georgehope5477]

This one didn't make it past my 50 page rule.

[@ConnorOBrien]

Darn! On to the next one!

[@twebible]

I just saw the book trailer for Walkaway and it's blurbed by Edward Snowden. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that but I'm intrigued.

[@ConnorOBrien]

hmm that is interesting lol

[@jimfantino]

I really like your reviews. The coffium reference sets up a moment where the zota character (Natalie?) gets a real coffee near the end when she is captured. It seems from that passage that coffium is a poor imitation of the original. Like Postum (old reference) but with stimulants. I have a book finished (minus small tweaks) that has a lot of things in common with Walkaway, which I happily discovered AFTER I wrote it. Do you ever review stuff that is on social sites like Wattpad?

[@majorian6201]

I don't know which is worse, my hate for this book or the one for my teacher who forces us to read it. The worldbuilding is horrible, seriously how can such vast amount of lands full of ressources be abandoned like that? How can a society based only on trust not only thrive but also be able to coordinate itself to build a space shuttle? The characters are mostly boring, the worse is Nathalie, with the way she was presented I almost feels like she deserved to be brainwashed by her father. The only thing my copy deserve when I finish my english class is fire.

[@DasBuecherregal]

I didn't liked that book much.... I didn't liked that there was so much technology which was pretty easy accessable even for the walkaways...

[@SilviaKay]

At first I loved the sound of this but now, after watching the whole video, I am no longer so sure. Maybe if I can find it really cheap? xD But so far I have found your review videos incredibly well-made, especially the way you organize your thoughts under different "headings" such as pro's, con's etc. You seem to be reading books no one else reads (at least not the people I watch) and they all sound like my cup of tea. Keep up the good work! :)

[@finickityreader5274]

You studied linguistics? Would it be cheeky to ask for a recommendations video on that subject? I know it wouldn't be as generally popular but I find the subject really interesting. :-)

[@ConnorOBrien]

I didn't get a degree in linguistics. It was just a big part of a fair number of my courses.

[@finickityreader5274]

Hey, that's cool. I'm studying history but I just love reading. :-)

[@MinKattMossy]

This review complicates my feelings... I've been considering buying it, but I haven't been entirely sure. Now that I know there are queer characters I'm a lot more excited, but then you weren't that crazy about it so who knows... 🤔🤔

[@ConnorOBrien]

MinKattMossy If you're interested, I would totally say to check it out. My cons were mostly personal ones that I don't think would affect other people as much. Besides, I read an arc, so some of the things I mentioned like the time hops could be labeled in the final version. If you do check it out, let me know what you think about it!!

[@masterjamie1999]

You got Walkaway and a retweet from Doctorow. I could not be more jealous of you.

[@effteepeedistro5388]

This book is so good.