Customer Reviews
Intended for teens, but relevant to all. 
2008-07-05
Our world would be better if every teen read this book. Pushes the reader to think about patriotism, the constitution and the purpose of government. Emphasizes that an individual can make a difference.
Speaks clearly to the abuses of authority we have lived with since 911. More over, the author truly groks the hacker ethos and captures it well.
Incidentally, I downloaded it for free from the author's web-site and read it on-line.
Creative Commons license.
the epitome of l'esprit de l'escalier 
2008-07-04
It's ironic that Marcus, the main character of this novel, is so painfully aware of his own l'esprit de l'escalier (literally, "stairway wit" -- the witty comeback you think of after it's too late to use it). "Little Brother" is one big example of Doctorow's own l'esprit de l'escalier. If only we lived in a world where the people who work for the Department of Homeland Security were transparently one-dimensional and evil, if only DHS were massively more invasive into every facet of our lives instead of just having useless airport security checks, and if only Doctorow were a hacker who was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time during a terrorist attack. If only all of those would come true, then Doctorow would save the day. By the time you reach the conclusion, wherein Marcus somehow ends up as a blogger on a site not entirely unlike Doctorow's own BoingBoing, the sense of l'esprit de l'escalier is so palpable that you could cut it with a knife. Unsurprising, since you've been wading through it for the past 350 pages.
I entered into this book as an entirely sympathetic audience. Several of the authors who offered up enthusiastic reviews are ones whose work I admire and whose recommendations are usually spot-on. I've donated to both the ACLU and the EFF; I even own packing tape with the Fourth Amendment printed on it that I use on my checked luggage when I fly. I believe that the so-called security that we see at the airport is nothing more than a waste of time, money, and energy for all involved. I like my civil liberties, and seeing them eroded sparks a letter-writing campaign to my representatives. Oh, yes, and I'm a geek. I cracked open this book fully expecting to love every single word on the page, expecting to identify with the characters and the story.
It took me until page 20 to realise that I hated it. The pages upon pages of useless exposition on everything from Mission-style burritos to a rather flawed discussion of network tunneling bog the book down. Worse, so does the propaganda that Marcus spews at every opportunity about liberty and freedom. I agree with pretty much all of the politics expressed herein, but reading it like this made me want to backhand Marcus and tell him to just move on already.
Even worse is the painfully simplistic storyline. For all that Marcus claims to be a hacker, he doesn't actually accomplish any hacks (and certainly not by coding). His single biggest hack is that he copies a particularly secure Linux distribution, burns CDs, and hands them out to people. If burning CDs makes one a hacker, then my mom just earned her 1337 merit badge. Burning CDs and blogging is apparently enough to bring down the DHS. Of course, the DHS here is portrayed as single-minded, one-dimensional, and singularly evil; and anyone who in the days after a terrorist attack is freaked out and thus supportive of additional security is also mindless and evil. So bringing down the DHS with an alternate Internet and poorly-written privacy rants on a blog isn't actually a big deal. My mom, hacker extraordinaire that she now apparently is, could've done it.
It's not that I disagree with any of the ideas put forth in this novel. For the most part, I strongly agree with them. It's that the package in which they are wrapped is poorly considered, poorly argued, and poorly written. The ideas herein are important and absolutely must be discussed, but the execution of those ideas is so heavyhanded as to make the book near-unreadable.
Timely, important and sure to encourage discussion 
2008-07-03
Hats off to Cory. This is a fascinating, thought-provoking book. Read it. Think about it (on all levels), share it with people you know and discuss it with them.
Although I disagree with 70-80% of this book's philosophy, sociology and technological suppositions, I think it is a wonderful and timely piece--well worth reading by pretty much everyone. The writing is suspenseful, accessible and thought provoking. There are some great historical anecdotes and an interesting look at how `movements' are started and maintained. I also think Cory did a commendable job in capturing adolescent thought processes, world-views and relationships. Although I have not read all of his work, this is by far the best I have read. I especially commend the way he portrays functional (if sometimes conflicted) parent child relationships and shows a loving, supportive family in a way most coming-of-age/teen rebellion books fail to do.
On the downside, many elements of the story are exaggerated and or poorly thought out. First, the social cost of creating anarchy in a modern city is greatly underplayed. The actions taken by the protagonist cause untold pain and suffering to tens of thousands of innocent people and are utterly reprehensible...the ends simply do not justify the means. Not a good role model. The role, motives, means and methods of police forces are greatly misrepresented as are the motives and critical thinking abilities of individuals who constitute police forces. And while less damaging, the abilities, talent and ultimate motivations of script-kiddies are exaggerated and greatly overplayed.
That said, Little Brother takes a hard, if somewhat exaggerated, look at current anti-terrorism laws and tactics, presenting a current societal dilemma in an engaging even engrossing novel. These topics are well worth thinking about, researching and discussing with people you respect and this book is a great introduction into the debate.
Because it is well done, timely and goes into depth on important social issues I give this a 5.
At The Top of His Game 2008-07-02
It's great to see Doctorow writing so well again after his last two somewhat disappointing novels. This is easily his best novel-length work since "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" and it deserves all the praise it's received from other reviewers. Little Brother is the possible, perhaps likely, near-term future for the USA and the West in general if the sheep don't look up and start realising the "War on Terror" is more a war on democracy and their civil rights than something that will make them safe from terrorists. It's about being seen to be doing something rather than actually doing much of anything useful about the problem. It's about lining the pockets of multinational IT, security tech and private army corporations with rivers of public money rather than protecting the populace. It's about stopping dissent and democracy via an endless phoney "war" that no one is allowed to question. It's about the danger of sacrificing one's freedoms for the false promise of security.
This is a passionate YA novel about freedom and the right to live your life as you wish that everyone should read, even those over 25.
Addictive! 2008-06-28
As with most teens on summer vacation, pleasure reading for me wasn't exactly priority numero uno. From digging through the piles of "recommended reading" from friends and family to "not-so-optional" reading from school, there wasn't much time for perusing the shelves for new releases and "me" books. Luckily for me, I managed to squeeze in "Little Brother" before Breaking Dawn came out and the summer-assignment-procrastination guilt started to kick in.
Let me tell you, it was worth my while.
Reminiscent of Scott Westerfeld's "Uglies" or "Midnighters" series, this book hooks you from page one and doesn't let you down. The copious technophile references and fast-paced banter of the main characters will make you forget about the friend requests piling up on your Facebook, and the plentiful action will tide you over until you can make it to the theater to see Hancock. It caters to today's ADD generation by speeding along and not bogging one down with bothersome morals or literary allusions. Another plus, it's tell-all descriptive without being stretched-out boring, which will satisfy Harry Potter fans (with a tech-head streak) and (the ever-elusive) book-ophobic teen guys.
Suggestion: before buying make sure you like the style. It's distinctively sci-fi and reads like a tech-blog, and if that's not your thing, don't bother. If you know you're into the genre, definitely go for it. You'll love every page.
Echoing the many praises... 2008-07-18
I will just echo what so many others have said. This is an excellent book for the "older young adult" (mid teens perhaps?) who is looking for a good read. It's a coming of age story, set in the near future (perhaps even current day) with a message that is important. Blind obedience to government is not a good thing, among other lessons.
As a parent, I would be more than comfortable to give it to my children when they are old enough (13 or 14 and up).
birthday gift for my son 2008-07-17
i ordered this book for my son for his birthday it was so good he read it in one day.
Better than Anything "1984" Strived to Be 2008-07-15
Pretty darn amazing if I do say so myself! Unlike it's "Big Brother", pardon the pun, Little Brother is written in a thoroughly interesting and provocative way that challenges the way anyone thinks. It tells of a frightening future, one the country may in fact be heading towards, and a geeky rebellion that proves that kids have the power, too. Marcus, aka m1k3y, is no ordinary teenager, as he has the guts to not only stand up for what he believes in, but to take action no ordinary kid has would. He is what everyone should strive to be, unafraid to believe and act. It all starts and ends because of a simple game, but by the end, there's no game left, and it's all for real, as this 17 year old hacker takes on the Department of Homeland Security itself.
I suppose my one real complaint is that we never got a clear resolution on the Darryl/Van/Marcus triangle, but, you know, the book's bigger than that :) Marcus's dad was irritating, and I was highly glad to see that he did change at the end of the book (which does give me some hope for the future).
The parallels to the world we live in today are so...non-subtle, but at the same time, hidden. Scary and amazing at the same time.
I can only hope that if the time should ever come, we realize that we have the power to act, no matter how young we may be. Don't Trust Anyone Over 25, and bite bite bite bite bite!
Short version: Read BoingBoing instead... 
2008-07-07
Little Brother fits in perfectly with the rest of Doctorow's body of work: intriguing plots marred by two-dimensional characters who don't actually interact with one another so much as they preach at each other. This tendency isn't quite the narrative buzzkill as it is elsewhere, but it doesn't make the book any more fun to read.
His characters are leaden caricatures without a hint of subtlety. The government henchfolk are Evil with a capital-E, the supporters of the new regime are mindless drones who seem to forget each frustration and lesson as soon as they've happened, and our hero's friends are all good but apparently weak willed. Meanwhile, Marcus, while no paragon of virtue, is simply too good to be true. In fact so many of his beliefs and interests are ported from Doctorow's posts at BoingBoing that I began to feel that Marcus was even less of a character and more of a surrogate for Doctorow's wish fulfillment: an anti-establishment "hacker" who speaks 1337, has a host of neat au courant interests, loves cutting edge bands, believes in the boilerplate of the EFF and the ACLU and gets the girl too!
Not that he doesn't have doubts and fears, but at no point did I ever think that he'd change his ways. No sooner does he worry that he might be going to far but something comes up to prove him right. Over and over again: Will our hero persevere? Of course! Why worry? Especially after the fourth crisis of faith.
Is it an informative read? Yeah. There's a lot of talk about civil liberties and networks and internet privacy that's worth reading. Is it a fun read? Not even close. Between the seemingly constant preaching and the completely unsatisfying conclusion, I finished the book simply to say I was done with it. And I am: I'm done with this book and, unless someone convinces me otherwise, I am done with Doctorow's work.
Dissapointing 2008-07-05
I believe that Doctorow has an excellent foundation in his premise. However, I must agree with several other reviews in that his characters (both good and evil) are one-dimensional and completely unrealistic. I like his ideas and respect what seems to be his beliefs, however I feel that a potentially good story has been sacrificed at the expense of the author attempting to push his political opinions on the world at large. The entire work is convoluted with dialogue about the authors opinions.
