Reading the Chunksters discussion

“Are we allowed to run over people?” Private Wiley inquires,”

Well are we?

I think this is my favorite line so far. I just love the energy of this scene on the first page. It is very fun to read so far.

I liked this one:

"The software was never sold to anyone, and indeed could not have been; it was so legally encumbered by that point that it would have been like trying to sell someone a rusty Volkswagen that had been dismantled and its parts hidden in attack dog kennels all over the world."
Reminds me of Bleak House.

I'm almost finished with this section and I'm enjoying it, although I can imagine getting lost with names and biographies if we have more than the current three story threads.

It's refreshing for me to read an American perspective on World War II because I've read so much set in England and mainland Europe. I especially appreciated the clueless Glockenspiel player watching his world explode with a complete disconnect.

My other book right now, coincidentally for another challenge, is The Secret Life of Bletchley Park: The WWII Codebreaking Centre and the Men and Women Who Worked There. Looks like they'll be great companions. I've already "met" Alan Turing in both :)

Lorna wrote: "Here is a question- Have you ever been in a situation like Shafto (SP?) where you went to a new place totally new and tried something new? His visit to the Sushi bar - shows he is someone who is no..."

Yes, but I think it would be different doing this in uniform in wartime (even though the US and Japan weren't actually at war at the time) than as a tourist. Shaftoe going in there to eat is both brave and openminded, and a challenge to the Japanese.

I've certainly been in situations in other countries where I didn't understand the menu and ordered pretty much at random. A friend and I travelled in Eastern Europe when it was still communist. There were shortages of some foods, and we'd be handed these huge printed menus when in fact only three or four dishes were actually available. My friend had gluten issues, so we'd order two different things (not knowing what they were) and when they came, she'd pick the one that looked like it had less flour in it, and I'd have the other one. It led to some fun meals :)

Lorna wrote: "Here is a question- Have you ever been in a situation like Shafto (SP?) where you went to a new place totally new and tried something new? His visit to the Sushi bar - shows he is someone who is no..."

I have never personally been in a situation like Shafto was in here. Although, I am not sure that I ever would be in a situation like this because I think you have to act, talk, walk like Shafto in order to get into a situation like this.

For me, this kind of gives me an idea of what the character looks like without having to go into a detailed description. Shafto must look like a rooster. That would be an abbreviated way of describing him, and this creates a threat within this environment no matter how much he tries to blend in and demonstrate acceptance of whatever he is given.

So I feel as a woman in this same situation, I would be treated differently so as to not have the same experience. Especially in environments where gender roles are central to the culture like this location would be.

However, in that respect, being treated a certain way because of the way someone assumes you to be based on how you look is similar to having the same experience; and I have been in many situations where I felt that someone was treating me a certain way because of how they imagined to me based on external appearance.

So the long and short is that I feel like this scene means that Shaftoe must look like a life size GI Joe basically.

Rosemary wrote: "Lorna wrote: "Here is a question- Have you ever been in a situation like Shafto (SP?) where you went to a new place totally new and tried something new? His visit to the Sushi bar - shows he is som..."

That's a cool story. :)

I thought it was clever how Alan Turing was introduced as a classmate of one of the primary characters. It was believable and it creates an interesting background for the character before he goes on to demonstrate brilliance in his own right.

Lorna wrote: "when a pair of entrepreneurial hackers are trying to create a ''data haven'' in the Philippines -- a place where encrypted data (and an encrypted electronic currency) can be kept from the prying eyes of Big Brother"

Oh, is that what they are doing?! I had not figured that out at all. But maybe it becomes clearer later!

Slow start for me due to battling a headache all week, but I finally finished this section tonight. Once I got into the groove of the three threads and the characters, it became easier to read. So far I’m enjoying this book and there have been a lot of great lines and scenes that I should have been popping in here periodically to post. I’ll try to do that in the following threads.

One of my favorites is at the beginning of the Pearl Harbor attack and Lawrence thinks it’s a drill-

It is terrible to see—some training exercise gone miserably awry.[...] Perversely, they all seem to be headed for the berthed ships. It is incredibly dangerous—they might hit someone! Lawrence is outraged.

I also loved the whole hobbits and dwarf bit when Randy was at the dinner party, culminating with this line-

Jon was a Hobbit who’d actually been out of the Shire recently so he knew Randy was a dwarf. Now he was fucking up Randy’s life by calling upon Randy to jump up on the table, throw off his homespun cloak, and whip out his two-handed ax.

Linda wrote: "I also loved the whole hobbits and dwarf bit when Randy was at the dinner party, culminating with this line-

Jon was a Hobbit who’d actually been out of the Shire recently so he knew Randy was a d..."

The dinner scene was awesome. What randy says right after this was very memorable for me.

“The words came out of Randy’s mouth before he had time to think better of it. “The Information Superhighway is just a fucking metaphor! Give me a break!” he said.”

I don’t know why, but I could picture him with a beard and a T-shirt to accessorize his indie developer look. I don’t remember if I read a description of what he looked like and forgot, but now he has a beard and a T-shirt because of this scene.

Randy definitely has a beard. Remember his girlfriend did all that research about white male beard privilege and how he would joke when they went out that the rest of his body was shaved? And now that she is his ex and he’s in the heat of Manila that he is actually contemplating shaving his beard off.

And now that I typed that, maybe you just meant that he has a T-shirt on. :)

Anyway, I loved the entire dinner scene too.

Oh yah I do remember that part about the bears. Lol. Thanks for the reminder. :)