How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
#89AWESOMEEEEEE!!!! BEAUTIFULLLLL!!!! BRILLIANATTTT!!! CRAZZZZYYYY!!! AWESOMEEEEEE!!!! BEAUTIFULLLLL!!!! BRILLIANATTTT!!! CRAZZZZYYYY!!! AWESOMEEEEEE!!!! BEAUTIFULLLLL!!!! BRILLIANATTTT!!! CRAZZZZYYYY!!! AWESOMEEEEEE!!!! BEAUTIFULLLLL!!!! BRILLIANATTTT!!! CRAZZZZYYYY!!! Well I am in a loop :)This is going to be one of my favorite book. Bought it for cheapest price and got the fullest experience. A very clever, almost too clever, time-travel "meta-story" that sits a bit uncomfortably on the tightrope between the science fiction ghetto and the lit-fic mainstream. At times, the details of the minutiae of the fictional world read like "Mezzanine"-era Nicholson Baker. It's obvious Yu knows his SF, but the warp drive of his career seems to be aimed for mainstream acceptance. What saves this book from just being clever is the deeply felt and achingly described relationship between the sad-sack narrator (suspiciously also named "Charles Yu") and his (physically and emotionally) absent father. The real story here is not how the protagonist is caught up in time-travel shenanigans but this evolving relationship, as Yu realizes his father is more that just a distant, frustrated hard-numbers-type but a dreamer and a man just like him. I would actually give this book 3.5 stars if I could, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to see if an SF conceit can support an emotional payload, not just an intellectual hypothesis. It's also laugh-out funny in a few places, which doesn't hurt.
What do You think about How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe (2010)?
Very clever. Takes more thought than I was willing to give it.
—PipRosi
Very complex and complicated but fascinating at the same time.
—verdejo
