Jennifer Government

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 12:24 am

Well this isn't really about sex, drugs nor rock 'n' roll - it's about that book Max Barry wrote some time ago. You know, nationstates.net and that shit? Well I got that book a couple of days ago as a late Christmas present and I chewed it through in a couple of sittings. It was very enjoyable, even translated, and I was wondering what you guys thought of it.

Spoiler alert:
The only part I thought that didn't really fit in the story was the moment when Jennifer had to go to Europe for a week and she left her only daughter to a man, who she had known for like a day or two and had sex with. You know, Buy Mitsui, the guy who Jennifer met when she convinced him not to kill himself! So this government agent left her daughter to a man who obviously wasn't in the most stable state of mind and who on top of all that had never even been with kids. But oh well, this thing was important to the flow of the story, so I guess you can forgive one stupid thing?

Ernesto · Post by **Ernesto** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 5:57 am

Read this book a year ago, I loved it. A little lax on the social critique and there's too much Tom Clancy-esque running and gunning. It could have been brilliant, but it Barry didn't go all the way. I loved the style of the plot and of the writing.Other than that, it's an above average novel. I would love to read Max/x Barry's Syrup novel, but I've haven't gotten around to it.

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 9:16 am

The way he kept several storylines going at the same time and at some, strategic points, wrapped them together was pretty cool. I think that happens three times in the book - first when the main characters are presented, then how they mess up each other's lives.

The ending kind of gave the picture that nothing then changed. The society ended up the same as in the beginning. People were happy with names like Carl IBM and Kate McDonald's, they didn't want to return to paying taxes etc. So is that really Max Barry's dream? Or is that the way he sees the future? I don't know.

But I liked the running and gunning scenes! They were pretty well written and they didn't take the major role in the book. It kept reader's interest in the book. There's gotta be some action, if you know what I mean. The depth and uniqueness of the characters was something worth mentioning. Especially Hack Nike and that poor, poor Billy NRA guy were *delicious*.

Sovy Kurosei · Post by **Sovy Kurosei** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 12:34 pm

It is like a the anti-thesis to Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged in a way. Except Jennifer Government wasn't a freakin' bullshit propaganda rag that Atlas Shrugged turned out to be.

I'm not too sure, but the book (Jennifer Government) felt like it lacked polish, with some of the scenes and ideas not fully meshed or worked out, like the NRA having access to fighter jets. I think the book, in the form it was printed, would have been better suited for a movie script than as a novel.

And I have a Nationstate's account from December 2002, so yeah.

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 2:51 pm

I didn't think it was weird NRA had fighter jets - it was a business and you can't run a business without proper equipment, eh? Well sure it was kind of an overkill, but that suits the book's style in my opinion. It's satire, after all.