This book is fascinating and scary, all at the same time. Anana Johnson’s father, the head of the North American Dictionary of the English Language, disappears without explanation one Friday night. As Ana tries to find out where he’s gone, she discovers much more than she bargained for – a plot to delete words from the dictionary and replace them with nonsense words and definitions. And then people begin displaying signs of “word flu,” where the words they speak make less and less sense to the people around them.
The Word Exchange is a commentary on technology. Specifically, our reliance (or over-reliance) on technology. The more you rely on something else, the less you feel able to do yourself. It’s a point that needs to be made nowadays, as we learn about the invasive permissions required for the new Facebook messaging app. Or consider the possibility that the government is recording our phone calls. Even an advertisement I heard on Pandora as I was reading this book freaked me out – how Pandora knows what mood you are in and will play the appropriate playlist. Just exaggeration in advertising, I know (I hope). Still freaky to think about.
The Word Exchange is thought-provoking at the same time as it’s hang-onto-the-edge-of-your-seat. Not many books can provide both at once. But The Word Exchange delivers. A compelling plot with characters you care deeply about that makes you examine your 21st-century life and consider the future of technology.
The Word Exchange is a commentary on technology. Specifically, our reliance (or over-reliance) on technology. The more you rely on something else, the less you feel able to do yourself. It’s a point that needs to be made nowadays, as we learn about the invasive permissions required for the new Facebook messaging app. Or consider the possibility that the government is recording our phone calls. Even an advertisement I heard on Pandora as I was reading this book freaked me out – how Pandora knows what mood you are in and will play the appropriate playlist. Just exaggeration in advertising, I know (I hope). Still freaky to think about.
The Word Exchange is thought-provoking at the same time as it’s hang-onto-the-edge-of-your-seat. Not many books can provide both at once. But The Word Exchange delivers. A compelling plot with characters you care deeply about that makes you examine your 21st-century life and consider the future of technology.
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