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Cory Doctorow's Little Brother is an innovative book on many levels, including the meta-level. In a book about hacking the system, Doctorow continues the theme outward, hacking the concept of pulp fiction/serial novel into something not profit-based, but education-/literacy-based.
In programmer terms, hacking something does not necessarily imply tinkering with code. "While using hacker to refer to someone who enjoys playful cleverness is most often applied to computer programmers, it is sometimes used for people who apply the same attitude to other fields" (1). Doctorow is just this sort of hacker.
In such serial works as Princess of Mars and Herland, chapters were published with cliffhangers which would ensure readers' eagerness to purchase the next installment of the stories. In the free digital version of Little Brother (2), a similar technique is used, but not to garner profit. Instead, the story is interrupted by entertaining exhortations to provide business to bookstores of note. In Little Brother's sequel, Homeland (3), Doctorow further expands on this idea in his requests for readers to donate copies of the book to underfunded libraries.
In this way, although Doctorow is promoting the distribution of books, he is not promoting capitalism, per se. He is promoting the broad dissemination of information, no matter if money is involved or not. One of the central themes of Little Brother is that with the right know-how, even the little guy can triumph over tyranny and foment positive social change. By use of reminders and book store write-ups at the beginning of each chapter, Doctorow subverts the pulp fiction model to ensure youths can continue the informational revolution.
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_(programmer_subculture)
2. Doctorow, Cory. Little Brother. http://www.goodreads.com/reader/3271-little-brother?return_to=%2Fbook%2Fshow%2F954674.Little_Brother
3. Doctorow, Cory. Homeland. http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download
In programmer terms, hacking something does not necessarily imply tinkering with code. "While using hacker to refer to someone who enjoys playful cleverness is most often applied to computer programmers, it is sometimes used for people who apply the same attitude to other fields" (1). Doctorow is just this sort of hacker.
In such serial works as Princess of Mars and Herland, chapters were published with cliffhangers which would ensure readers' eagerness to purchase the next installment of the stories. In the free digital version of Little Brother (2), a similar technique is used, but not to garner profit. Instead, the story is interrupted by entertaining exhortations to provide business to bookstores of note. In Little Brother's sequel, Homeland (3), Doctorow further expands on this idea in his requests for readers to donate copies of the book to underfunded libraries.
In this way, although Doctorow is promoting the distribution of books, he is not promoting capitalism, per se. He is promoting the broad dissemination of information, no matter if money is involved or not. One of the central themes of Little Brother is that with the right know-how, even the little guy can triumph over tyranny and foment positive social change. By use of reminders and book store write-ups at the beginning of each chapter, Doctorow subverts the pulp fiction model to ensure youths can continue the informational revolution.
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_(programmer_subculture)
2. Doctorow, Cory. Little Brother. http://www.goodreads.com/reader/3271-little-brother?return_to=%2Fbook%2Fshow%2F954674.Little_Brother
3. Doctorow, Cory. Homeland. http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download
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Date: 2013-04-09 01:42 pm (UTC)From:I see what you did there.
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Date: 2013-04-09 02:02 pm (UTC)From: