Several People Are Typing
Ratings89
Average rating3.7
Reading the bio of this book, I had little expectations for what I was about to read. With today’s dependencies on corporate chat platforms, it can almost feel like one lives inside of them - and Kasulke’s way of showing this in a literal form was strange but innovative. The way the conversations between characters unfolded reminds me much of the rise of AI actors online emulating real people, blurring the lines between real and generated.
It also made me oddly aware of how much people can and DO share online. Like this book review. While not our full consciousnesses (yet) are online, our thoughts, words, actions and experiences can be collected into a single digital folder for anyone to ingest. And this folder will last far longer than any, physically.
Great, quick read.
“but these scraps of ourselves we fling into the ether will outlive most of us, like the sun”
Reading the bio of this book, I had little expectations for what I was about to read. With today’s dependencies on corporate chat platforms, it can almost feel like one lives inside of them - and Kasulke’s way of showing this in a literal form was strange but innovative. The way the conversations between characters unfolded reminds me much of the rise of AI actors online emulating real people, blurring the lines between real and generated.
It also made me oddly aware of how much people can and DO share online. Like this book review. While not our full consciousnesses (yet) are online, our thoughts, words, actions and experiences can be collected into a single digital folder for anyone to ingest. And this folder will last far longer than any, physically.
Great, quick read.
“but these scraps of ourselves we fling into the ether will outlive most of us, like the sun”
Reading the bio of this book, I had little expectations for what I was about to read. With today’s dependencies on corporate chat platforms, it can almost feel like one lives inside of them - and Kasulke’s way of showing this in a literal form was strange but innovative. The way the conversations between characters unfolded reminds me much of the rise of AI actors online emulating real people, blurring the lines between real and generated.
It also made me oddly aware of how much people can and DO share online. Like this book review. While not our full consciousnesses (yet) are online, our thoughts, words, actions and experiences can be collected into a single digital folder for anyone to ingest. And this folder will last far longer than any, physically.
Great, quick read.
“but these scraps of ourselves we fling into the ether will outlive most of us, like the sun”
Reading the bio of this book, I had little expectations for what I was about to read. With today’s dependencies on corporate chat platforms, it can almost feel like one lives inside of them - and Kasulke’s way of showing this in a literal form was strange but innovative. The way the conversations between characters unfolded reminds me much of the rise of AI actors online emulating real people, blurring the lines between real and generated.
It also made me oddly aware of how much people can and DO share online. Like this book review. While not our full consciousnesses (yet) are online, our thoughts, words, actions and experiences can be collected into a single digital folder for anyone to ingest. And this folder will last far longer than any, physically.
Great, quick read.
“but these scraps of ourselves we fling into the ether will outlive most of us, like the sun”
This was a fast and fun read. It wasn’t hilarious, but the non-work related chats workers engaged in were amusing in that they are pretty realistic and true to office culture. Aside from their personal chats and inside jokes, is the PR firm’s biggest and most pressing project: putting out fires for Bjärk, their dog food client. Those of you who have the misfortune of talking up a shitty client, stretching report data (or making it up) to their favor, or exaggerating and manipulating interviews, quotes, social media posts, etc. to keep the client happy and paying up, will nod in agreement and understanding with a lot of the back and forth chat going on in the Slack channel.
The story does get weird (in a good way). Without giving anything away, I’ll just say that the twist is creative and fresh, yet I would have liked a bit more action and detail to the ending’s resolution. Just like in the the beginning of the story, the wrap-up could’ve seemed a bit more exciting had it stayed true to office culture by having the characters gossip and dissect the crap out of the ending (have an office meeting, one-on-one meetings, and after work gossip sessions about what just happened!). Each character could have provided a piece to the puzzle as to how and why things took a turn. Overall, makes for a very fast and enjoyable read when you’re in between books or want to get out of a reading slump. Lydia??
This was a fast and fun read. It wasn’t hilarious, but the non-work related chats workers engaged in were amusing in that they are pretty realistic and true to office culture. Aside from their personal chats and inside jokes, is the PR firm’s biggest and most pressing project: putting out fires for Bjärk, their dog food client. Those of you who have the misfortune of talking up a shitty client, stretching report data (or making it up) to their favor, or exaggerating and manipulating interviews, quotes, social media posts, etc. to keep the client happy and paying up, will nod in agreement and understanding with a lot of the back and forth chat going on in the Slack channel.
The story does get weird (in a good way). Without giving anything away, I’ll just say that the twist is creative and fresh, yet I would have liked a bit more action and detail to the ending’s resolution. Just like in the the beginning of the story, the wrap-up could’ve seemed a bit more exciting had it stayed true to office culture by having the characters gossip and dissect the crap out of the ending (have an office meeting, one-on-one meetings, and after work gossip sessions about what just happened!). Each character could have provided a piece to the puzzle as to how and why things took a turn. Overall, makes for a very fast and enjoyable read when you’re in between books or want to get out of a reading slump. Lydia??
