The only thing I know about "Michael Kohlhaas" is that E.L Doctorow named the character of Coalhouse Walker in "Ragtime" as a tribute to him, so now I'm curious whether you'd find that "Ragtime" also functions as an Extremely Online story before its time (written in the 1970s and set around 1900).
I'll have to give Michael Kohlhaas a read! Some internetcentric books I've enjoyed recently are Mood Swings by Frankie Barnet, I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin, and Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor which was a less satirical, more meta fiction look at the relationship between internet fame and the creation of art than Mood Swings.. None of those seem to be specifically what you're talking about or looking for, but I still found them interesting and think do a good job of grappling with how we relate to one another and the concept of being very online. I
Anotor like very early, before-my-time in computer history one was Picks and Shovels by Cory Doctorow which does a good job of kind of elucidating proto internet history.
Sorry, for just randomly mentioning a handful of semi related sci-fi books on your post when I haven't even read the book you were actually writing about. I should probably have waited until after reading the one you mentioned to make sure they were actually addressing some of the same themes, but I think they might be at least somewhat adjacent.
…I don't condemn either the rubbernecking at Ziz's criminal activities, nor the repulsion at too much disclosure of personal suffering (e.g. in the post right after this), but *man* do those two make a strange combo
I was thinking of Accelerando, Ready Player One, Snowcrash, Neuromancer and China Mountain Zhang. Of them, Neuromancer is amazing, maybe one of the best books I've ever read, but not actually online much, especially by the modern understanding of what that means. China Mountain Zhang is very little online but still quite good. The other three are very online, dumb, and bad enough that I never finished them.
If you want a story where being online is the story, and made before most people were actually online, I highly recommend the anime Serial Experiments Lain.
The only thing I know about "Michael Kohlhaas" is that E.L Doctorow named the character of Coalhouse Walker in "Ragtime" as a tribute to him, so now I'm curious whether you'd find that "Ragtime" also functions as an Extremely Online story before its time (written in the 1970s and set around 1900).
I'll look for Ragtime!
I'll have to give Michael Kohlhaas a read! Some internetcentric books I've enjoyed recently are Mood Swings by Frankie Barnet, I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin, and Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor which was a less satirical, more meta fiction look at the relationship between internet fame and the creation of art than Mood Swings.. None of those seem to be specifically what you're talking about or looking for, but I still found them interesting and think do a good job of grappling with how we relate to one another and the concept of being very online. I
Anotor like very early, before-my-time in computer history one was Picks and Shovels by Cory Doctorow which does a good job of kind of elucidating proto internet history.
Sorry, for just randomly mentioning a handful of semi related sci-fi books on your post when I haven't even read the book you were actually writing about. I should probably have waited until after reading the one you mentioned to make sure they were actually addressing some of the same themes, but I think they might be at least somewhat adjacent.
no i appreciate the recs!
…I don't condemn either the rubbernecking at Ziz's criminal activities, nor the repulsion at too much disclosure of personal suffering (e.g. in the post right after this), but *man* do those two make a strange combo
Hot take: the more online an internet-y book is, the worse it gets.
which books do you have in mind
I was thinking of Accelerando, Ready Player One, Snowcrash, Neuromancer and China Mountain Zhang. Of them, Neuromancer is amazing, maybe one of the best books I've ever read, but not actually online much, especially by the modern understanding of what that means. China Mountain Zhang is very little online but still quite good. The other three are very online, dumb, and bad enough that I never finished them.
Such a wild book -- structurally it reminded me a lot of my favorite Brothers Grimm story, "Gambling Hansel" (https://www.worldoftales.com/fairy_tales/Brothers_Grimm/Margaret_Hunt/Gambling_Hansel.html#gsc.tab=0).
I LOVE GAMBLING HANSEL. it’s like the german “Devil Went Down To Georgia”
What’s weird is I’d never really listened to that song, despite being from Georgia and generally liking devil stories. It kinda slaps
This might be the longest-surviving folk tale form btw https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smith_and_the_Devil
Kohlhaas is peak German autism. Starts with a few horsies, escalates all the way to the guy leading a revolt against institutional injustice.
Huh
I think maybe I bought this a while back but still haven’t read it
Yes! I do have it.
The Melville House edition.
No clue why I bought this, but I guess I should bang it out now?
"real in dail life", you missed a y.
If you want a story where being online is the story, and made before most people were actually online, I highly recommend the anime Serial Experiments Lain.