
Machine Man
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Narrated by:
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Sean Runnette
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By:
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Max Barry
Scientist Charles Neumann loses a leg in an industrial accident. It's not a tragedy. It's an opportunity. Charlie always thought his body could be better. He begins to explore a few ideas. To build parts. Better parts.
Prosthetist Lola Shanks loves a good artificial limb. In Charlie, she sees a man on his way to becoming artificial everything. But others see a madman. Or a product. Or a weapon.
A story for the age of pervasive technology, Machine Man is a gruesomely funny unraveling of one man's quest for ultimate self-improvement.
©2011 Max Barry (P)2011 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















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it is funny, emotional, sometimes gory story and the performance of actorie is very good.
another Max Berry crazy idea
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Sci-Fi That Came To Life
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The book IS cynical and entertaining, but it also raises philosophical and ethical questions. What is it to be human? Would you download and upload your mind into a much better equipped robot body? Having been subjected to augmentation, can we still remain human?
Thinking about the quote from Michio Kaku's Physics of the Impossible "...immortality (in the form of DNA-enhanced or silicon bodies) may be the ultimate future of humanity," the question is, what if the essence of humanity could be lost as a result of biotechnological improvement?
On the plus side, there are revolutionary ways of transforming human capabilities, such as pacemakers and tissue grafts that prolong life; e-broidery and smart prosthetics. So in order to survive and 'upgrade' our biological adaptability we need some nanotechnological enhancement. Or do we?
At the same time, a cyborgian reality can widen the gap between 'organic' and 'augmented' people, those who can afford to buy a better body and the havenots, those who become supersoldiers and ordinary people, unable to defend themselves...
And it's the book that gave me food for thought.
As I read about Charles looking everywhere for his lost phone in Chapter 1, I thought about the way technology infiltrates our life. We are overdependent on it. As Naomi Goldenberg put it, "We are engaged in a process of making one another disappear by living more and more of our lives apart from other humans, in the company of machines..." Even now, while typing this, I desperately rely on my iPad.
A better cyborgian future?
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engineering minded
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Max Berry quirkiness with a darker side.
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The start is actually pretty funny (in an aha way, rather than in an LOL way), and I think most of us will see ourselves in the slightly neurotic actions of the protagonist. And action comes along reasonably soon. But the pace is slow from the very start and only slows down more as you near the middle of the book.
Honestly, I read this book as a form of research. I am considering prostheses in my artistic pursuits and a previous book helped me think about them in a new way (FYI: I enjoyed Cinder by Marissa Meyer much better and was intrigued by its perspective on prostheses.) This book did, I suppose, give me something to consider in relation to prostheses, but the story itself was too slow and the main character too focused on himself for the book to be truly enjoyable.
The book is clearly a parable and while listening one feels a bit like the parable of the story is all that one can see. It ain't subtle, is what I'm saying. Read it if it sounds interesting, but here is the one and only time I can remember recommended an abridged version if available.
little less conversation; little more action. pls
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Weirdly beautiful
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Fun. Eccentric. Imagination Unbridled.
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Evil corporations. Engineers inventing without asking if they should. The dark side of biohacking. Romance, explosions, action.
The author clearly looked up various science/engineering terms to add without always using them. Not everything makes sense.
But still, an entertaining story.
Dark but entertaining
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Better living through engineering?
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