nymphomation-a review
Do you play Domino? Love Math? Into computer programming? This one might just be for you. This novel by Jeff Noon is all about these things and more.
Domino is played here in a different way. It is played like lottery and the people of Manchester, where the story is set, are all hooked to their TVs, wishing their domino bone is the lucky one.
Instead of a ticket, the people buy domino bone with a special programmed mechanism; it’s dots keep changing until the draw every Friday night. In order to win, your domino bone must match the dots in the costume of Cookie Luck. There will only be one grand prize winner and several minor winners.
The winner doesn’t need to claim his prize. It will be delivered right where he/she is. There are also special prizes. Everyone dreads a double blank because it might mean death. And he/she who wins a double-six get to be the Mr. Million, the man behind the game (Hmm…BigBrother? Banker?). Everyone in Manchester really got crazy over the game. The company actaually had a deal with the government: if the game will be a success in Manchester, it can go national.
The book features crazy things like blurbflies, bio-mechanized flies that play jingles for a store or for anyone (the medium of advertisement in the future?), and jazz, a special fluid that fuels the blubflies, opens door locks, and even penetrates encrypted files.
All these things were created by a class, which had a teacher in grade school, who taught them probability on the first day of class. Haha.
I haven’t really understood the term nymphomation because it was described in different ways in the novel. One, it is an equation. Second, it is the effect of a virtual maze game to the players (wanderers around the maze), turning them into maniacs.
It talks about desires, greed, luck (are there really lucky people?), dreams, and more.
What makes this book an enjoyable read is its being basically crazy. It has a crazy plot, crazy setting, crazy characters, crazy rules. It somewhat reflects how crazy our world is.
God bless, everyone!
