Josh

Wow, what a fantastic end to a page turning novel. Although a little stale in places, and weirder in others, Suskind paints a vivid picture of Jeans life, or lack thereof.

It's a book about social isolation and although brilliance lay beneath him, and was unstoppable at times in his pursuits, ultimately did not know what to do with this great power. Although conniving and careful, he didn't understand that he was commit murders. He didn't love, didn't see “people”.

Briefly, life plans are touched on. Despite Jean having plans to head directly to Grasse, plans that had been set for years. But then he changed them quickly based on his desires and spent 7 years in a cave. So too, life plans are set but often not given the freedom to change (as they always do).

I read this mainly as it was Kurt Cobains favourite book (or so they say).

A must read for software engineers.
I gained so many gems from this book and made me reflect on my own career in software.

It's made me reflect on questions such as
- why did my manager act that way?
- why are we lacking X resource?
- why am I motivated even though it's not in my best interest to be?


Computers are so much more than the sum of their parts. Although I've not been fortunate to work on a project like Eagle, I resonate heavily with the feeling expressed.

The book is an immensely well written, humorous and thoughtful account of the Data general company. I'll be re-reading it in years to come.