Dave

I liked Ubik by PKD. But again, it seemed like it barely got started before it was already over. Not only that, like so many books, it gave no closure. I guess Ubik is a metaphor for God (it's everywhere and fixes everything!) but as a guy reading a book I like to see a story take full arc and come to a close.

The book starts out interestingly enough - with Joe Chip and G.G. Ashwood finding a new “intertial” - someone who can negate the effects of a “psi” with powers like they've never seen. Seems like a great start to an epic adventure! But as you progress through the book, the girl they find is mostly quiet, and instead the story turns to the characters being trapped in a fantasy world that exists because of (what I assume to be) a psi boy who was killed and put into half-life prematurely. Some super villian.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the ride while I was taking it. I was just as anxious to turn the page as I have been in any story, wondering what it all meant and what the clues would lead to next. But by the end I was disappointed in both the main antagonist and the non-closure of the storyline.

List of unresolved plot points:
- What is the “rebirth” that Ella Runciter is going through?
- Why did Pat claim to be working for Hollis? If it was Jory pretending to be Pat, why did he claim to be working for Hollis?
- How can Jory “eat” minds and further sustain his own life? A lot of WTF here - what could this mean?
- If we can forever sustain ourselves in coldpac and also continue to speak with others in coldpac, why aren't they putting live people in coldpac instead of focusing on “almost dead” people?
- Why is 1939 the “FINAL DATE” that we can go back to? If we're in 1992 and Jory is in his teens shouldnt the earliest date be sometime around 1975?
- Why is everyone on Goodreads eating up Phillip K Dick? These Dick-lovers are insatiable! I've only tried Dick one other time, but it was paired with Isaac Asimov, so I'm not sure if it was the Dick or the 'sac that I was enjoying in that hardcopy.

There were some useful tidbits in here, or at least useful reminders. The first half of the book was much more valuable than the second. The first half focuses more on management. The second half is more about office life and office politics. A lot of the content is common sense.

I liked this book, but if I had to suggest just one book for someone to read to become a better programmer I'd choose Clean Code instead. There are a lot of good tips in here, but there's also a lot of outdated information (I should have checked that I had the 2nd edition). Some of the stuff they recommend is no longer applicable because tools exist for that task.

In general though, a lot of the advice is timeless and useful, even if the perspective seems to be from a consulting standpoint and not as a member of a team working on software that's continuously being updated. Again, maybe a difference in the times (everything now is continuously shipped SaaS products).

I think a lot of the ideas in this book were probably revolutionary at the time this book was published, but are common knowledge now (or common sense). Still, its good to get reminders and I did find myself highlighting a number of passages as I went along.

The writing was good, the book was ok. I can appreciate Santiago's persistence and the stoic attitude he took towards his plight and persistence to make it back home with his prized catch. Still, the book was a bit hard to get motivated to read- not much happens the whole time. Not a page turner but not a bad book.