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Huh.

I really enjoyed that read. I did. But ... but what? But, I guess, I closed the cover feeling ... unsatisfied, maybe? I really don't know.

There are changes I would have made to the story, choices Cline made that I wouldn't have. There were times when the exposition felt like a big stinky info dump. There were times when the references and Easter Eggs and winks and nudges became too cute -- like a geek podcast revelling in their own nerdiness. There were times when the author's plea for Hollywood to come calling and make rich was whorrific. Yet I can't really blame Cline. It is, after all, a love letter to Pop-Culture, and his desire for that California booty call is totally understandable.

While I was reading this, trailers started trickling out for the film and I found myself mildly excited, especially because of Spielberg, then annoyed at potential changes from the parts of the novel I liked, then really annoyed at the seeming increase of real world time rather than OASIS time (which isn't so much about something I liked as it is about adding to the story where nothing needed to be added), then sort of excited again by how much fun it will be to see so many IPs all in the same place. And all of this impacted the way I was reading the book and added to my feeling of dissatisfaction.

And that continued: I liked a lot of the players in the book, but I didn't like some others, though I knew I was supposed to, and that left me cold.

And I found the first person narrative really suited the story, but it also narrowed our perception of the Stacks and the OASIS, which was a bummer, but while I found that frustrating as a reader, I also am not thrilled to see our perceptions of Cline's world expanded beyond the first person when Ready Player One hits the screen, so more contradiction impeded my enjoyment.

I leave Ready Player One in like rather than in love. I prepare for the film version with mild anticipation rather than hot excitement. And I wonder if it is worth reading at some later date to see if any of my feelings will change over time. And I wonder if the film will make me love this story. And I wonder if the correct form for this novel is a screenplay. And I wonder if this is a work where we should all just skip the book because the film -- even for Ernest Cline -- was always the point. Yeah. I think that is it. I think I figured out the key to this story. Skip the book entirely and revel in the film. The book is merely a means to the end.