Appreciated but Not Enjoyed

What did you like best about The Unseen World? What did you like least?

I'm not sure where to begin. I respect Ms. Moore's tackling the idea, the premise, the story layers, however felt at times I was listening to a YA book...perhaps because the young Ada was well drawn and quite likable. I found the language uncomfortably stilted...which had its justification, but for me was a constant distraction and caused the often very slow pace to further lose momentum. This tale might be better told in cinematic terms with visuals replacing many of the repetitive computer and coding references. Typically I am sad when a book ends even as I am compelled to listen and reach the conclusion, but I could not wait to get to the end of those one. It was work.

Would you be willing to try another book from Liz Moore? Why or why not?

I'm not sure! I think I might carefully read other listener and reader comments first!

What three words best describe Lisa Flanagan’s performance?

Modulated / Editorial / Directive

Was The Unseen World worth the listening time?

I'm sorry to say, for me, no. I wish I could have spent those hours in the company of characters I cared more about. But, I felt I should see this one through for some reason. Maybe because there was an underlying earnestness and I appreciated the effort to construct the story, but I frequently found myself checking how long there was left.

98 people found this helpful

Moore's Character Depth is Impressive

I loved Heft, Moore's second novel. In my opinion the audio production of Heft is in the top 3 audiobooks I've ever listened to. I was very excited when her new novel came out. The audio of The Unseen World is quite good compared to most but no where near Heft. Moore is amazing for her depth of character description, she is able to draw people in a way that puts the listener behind the eyes of her main subjects look no other author I have read recently. In both novels I was amazed by how she crafts her characters as though she has lived their lives. Her description of adolescent angst and fear and uncertainty is so vivid, her insight so clear, you feel the anguish physically. The premise of The Unseen World is based on computer science, which I have no interest in, and certain passages where she describes coding and technical aspects don't lend well to audio, but overall this novel is a success. I do recommended reading Heft first to experience her writing style.

47 people found this helpful

Enjoyable Not Riveting

I look for books with well-drawn characters, a good story and - hopefully - a mystery to solve. This book had all three, but in a milder, less exciting form. I liked the characters, but I was not dying to know what happened to them. And the basic premise - that a father had to keep his true background a secret from his daughter - was a little bit silly. There was no pressing reason for the secret at the time of the story, although there was when he was much younger.

So I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it.

41 people found this helpful

Weak Elements

I did not find any of the characters quite believable, The main character Ada has been homeschooled with no mother, virtually no TV, no social life, and no friends, yet this does not seem to have affected her significantly. She seems to have the desires and motivations of a normal young girl. Other characters seemed narrow with little development or evolution.

The story is also problematic. The novel hinges on a secret coded message. Yet this secret message would be completely obvious to anyone who had ever decrypted anything. Yet all the experts are completely stumped for years. Finally a character with zero experience solves the obvious puzzle.

There is a tiny AI subplot which also seemed contrived. There was virtually no action and very little tension.

I would not recommend this to any sophisticated reader. It might be fine for younger readers.

36 people found this helpful

Ada Sibelius, What a Magnificently Drawn 14-Yr-Old

This is a coming-of-age novel unlike any I can readily recall. Yesterday morning, after finishing it, I was ready to say 4, thinking then it may have been an hour or two too long. The novel did not affect me with a strong emotional reaction such as utter sadness upon finishing a few novels. The ways here were much more subtle and rather more profound.

This morning, after sleeping on it, I say 5. My primary barometers on a novel's quality are whether it will follow me, has it evoked contemplation of some pressing issue in my world, whether I've been transported into another world in the reading, whether I've connected with at least one character in some way, positively or negatively, and Borges' test of aesthetic emotions mentioned below. On all counts, I'd say definitely yes. Moreover, if I was pushed to state what segments should have been cut, I'd be hard-pressed to point to any parts I now believe were unnecessary to the final resolution and what I got from reading the novel.

This has in some places been described as a mystery, but the mystery part is not that difficult. While that mystery certainly was the motor that drove the book from beginning to end, I didn't see it as a huge revelation in the bigger picture, particularly not in today's world. If you seek a book of mystery, you'll likely be disappointed and find this book too slow. On the other hand, if you are a "hedonistic reader" as Borges described himself, one who reads "books for the aesthetic emotions they offer me, and ignor[ing] the commentaries and criticism," then I think this book is for you, especially for female geeks, and I use that term in a positive way to describe girls who grew up with a technical or scientific precocity and weren't in the uppity social crowd in grade school.

Much has been made of the novel earlier this summer, The Girls, and how it was that many women connected with the 14-year-old female protagonist being thrown into an odd environment. The protagonist, Ada Sibelius, here is 14 for most of the novel, and I connected much more with her, found her nuances much deeper, as well as having considerably more empathy for her fears, the betrayals she's suffered, the utter lack of trust now in the world and her losses. While it is true I'm male, the author is not, Liz Moore's most definitely been a 14-year-old girl. While I had to look up the name Evie as "The Girls" protagonist, I won't forget Ada's name.

Ada grew up with her single dad, David Sibelius, a socially awkward computer scientist, being "home schooled" (before home schooling had been approved in MA) at his computer lab on the campus of a fictional MIT (here called Boston Institute of Techn.). She was born to a surrogate mother and raised by David. We learn much of their connection and life together and of Ada's work on a computer program that processes the English language, called ELIXIR. But dad's mind starts to go to the point he ultimately has to be taken to a home for Alzheimer's patients. Before he's lost all of his mental faculties, he gives Ada what should be the key to decode a text document explaining his past. Yet she cannot figure out how to decode it for many years.

Before long, she learns that his name was not David Sibelius. That disclosure is a big part of the book, because it sets Ada adrift at a time when she's already having a tough time adapting to the unseen world of school after being home schooled all her life, and now this: a betrayal that shakes the foundation of her identity. Who was her father if not the David Sibelius estranged from a monied NYC family who graduated from Cal Tech and was hired to run the lab at BIT? So, Ada's having to discover another unseen world of David's secrets.

Another unseen world is David's brain slowly deteriorating from Alzheimer's, with his inability to recall the language of which he was so aware in building ELIXIR, and he then starts to have a Midwestern U.S. twang in his accent, starts referring to Ada as Susan, says his name is Harold Kannady and can only remember things if put a certain way, like his favorite Christmas song which Ada sings to him, when he's no longer aware of who Ada is.

The book is told mostly 3d person from Ada's POV, from early 1980s Boston fast forward to 2009 San Francisco and back to the 1940s and 50s to discover facts about David, ending in 2016 Boston and going beyond in the last chapter, the Epilogue, which is told from a completely unique POV.

I'll leave out discussion here of computer science and virtual reality, except to say that Liz Moore does a great job of breaking it down in terms that made sense.

In addition to the theme of rapidly changing technology, the book fully explores what it means to be a parent and to give your child a surname; the trust we blindly give our parents as children until we are betrayed in some way, big or small; the cycle of life, escape, love of family, puppy love v. amorous love, and fear of betrayal.

The thing I took away from it most was identifying with as fully developed a character as I can recall in recent memory, Ada Sibelius, a 14-year-old girl thrown into a tailspin of life as she knew it, an awkward social world, a world in which she has no one to trust as she now lives with Liston, a close work friend and neighbor of David's, and her 3 sons, one of whom is 17 and is her crush.

I recommend this novel highly for such a remarkable young female character, and give it extra oomph if you were ostracized as a geek/nerd in high school, with the provisos that you should not read this as some sort of mystery novel, and if you don't mind a slow burn in development of a character as a price for a more satisfying payoff.

35 people found this helpful

Intriguing

I bought this book because of how much I enjoyed Liz Moore's book Heft.
This book is similar in that the character development is excellent. However, I didn't feel any of the emotional engagement that I expected based on my experience with Heft. Perhaps that is part of the point based on some of the relational limitations of some of the primary characters? I enjoyed the book very much and I thought it was extremely well written, but it left me feeling a little flat...
The themes and ideas around technology and relating are very intriguing and handled beautifully.
The narration is excellent.

27 people found this helpful

beautiful and mysterious

I really loved this book, but I realize it's not for everyone. So a traditional review wouldn't be relevant to everyone. So here's a quick quiz that might help. If you can honestly answer yes to these five questions then you'd probably really enjoy it, if not... sorry.

-Are you curious?
-Are you intelligent?
-Are you patient?
-Are you open-minded?
-Are you interested in the future possibilities of computer technology?

24 people found this helpful

would listen to 1000 times

This has now become one of my most favorite books. Now I will get the actual book and add to my library.

17 people found this helpful

Fascinating Characters And A Great Narrator, Too!

I did not devour this book quickly like some others that I really enjoy. I didn't have that desperation to finish, which was very nice for change. Rather, I took it slowly, digesting the story, the characterizations, adding some time off for a vacation, and then finished the remainder in one day.

What made this book particularly likeable to me was the wonderful narration contributed by Lisa Flanagan. I am usually a bit more fond of male readers but I will search out more books narrated by Lisa in the future. I also enjoyed the scientific aspects, that is, the lab, the computer and the artificial intelligence aspects. I like this type of fiction.

In looking over other's reviews, there are some terrific ones for this audiobook, and I am not sure if I could do it justice. It is very strong on interesting characters, and I almost feel the events of the story are secondary to them. That is not bad, actually, once you come upon the realization that you can enjoy the characters and the narration as much as the plot. Which, I may add, is not to say that the plot is lacking. Well, maybe it is lacking just a hair. I expected a bigger reveal on Ada's father's secret, the history he kept from his daughter until after his death. I even, at some points, expected something perhaps sci-fi, which really didn't happen.

Never-the-less, I found the book fascinating and enjoyable and am glad I chose it. If you read some of the more comprehensive reviews, I am sure you can determine if it is something you would enjoy.

16 people found this helpful

Meticulous, Patient, and Wonderful

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Unseen World?

The epilogue, but I can't say why for risk of spoiling it. Second most memorable part was a simple scene where Ada finally allows herself to be vulnerable with Liston and gain comfort from another human.

Any additional comments?

4.5 stars. This is the story of Ada and her father David, and of David's work (work that is fully intertwined with his life) and the lab that is a home away from home for both him and Ada. And this is a story of what happens when early onset dementia intrudes upon this life, this small family, this intense little world, and things that were taken as true are found to be false.

This was a quietly wonderful book and a book that really defies genre classification. Much of it feels like character study and examination of identity, carving a place for yourself in the world, and the puzzle that is life. It is a family story, stories of the families you are born to and the families you create, sometimes from whole cloth. It is a coming of age story, but without any melodrama besides the fits and starts of fitting in and crushes and bullying. It has elements of a mystery and examination of the past. And it has ideas mixed in that, in many contexts, would brand it science fiction (except that the story is mostly told at the human scale, and while intertwined with technology it is not driven solely by such advancements). Which is the long-winded way of saying what I already said -- this book defies genre. And I loved it.

15 people found this helpful