Customer Reviews

2044: The Problem isn't Big Brother; It's Big Brother, Inc. (1)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed 2044. It's a riveting page-turner set in a world of the future where big business is in control and fresh water is in short supply. It's about an average guy, Malcolm, who comes across a new technology that desalinates water without need of energy. It's a technology that's good for people, but bad for business. Find out what happens when Malcolm and his friends set out to share the technology with the world.

I found Lotke's vision of 2044 more frightening than Orwell's 1984. While the threat to our individual freedoms has shifted from government control to the increasing power of global corporations, the plausibility of the threat becoming a reality feels way more likely, and at times, approaching probable.

I highly recommend this novel. The pace is fast, the characters are compelling, the message is haunting, and the punch is hard. Lotke extrapolates to a world where employees are reduced to productivity obsessed units of production. A smaller and smaller number of increasingly consolidated multinational corporations monitor, manipulate, pressure, and control its employees and customers.

Today, we rationalize our commitment to long work weeks with language, such as spending "quality" time with our friends and family. However in Lotke's world, we don't even try. Normal social interactions are a distant memory -- part of our antiquated past left by the wayside on the steady march in the name of progress. Instead, we pledge loyalty to the corporation and willingly sacrifice our fleeting leisure time to complete the next project like a workforce of Bill Murrays trapped in a really scary version of Ground Hog Day.

Like Orwell, Lotke relies heavily on exaggeration; however, after reading the book, one cannot help but notice things at work in a different (more jaded) light. On a similar note, I just saw a phenomenal documentary, Food, Inc. (a must see) where the alleged behavior of today's Monsanto Corporation is no less alarming than Lotke's fictionalized Microtech Corporation. Unfortunately, glimmers of 2044 are already here in 2009.

I'm very interested in seeing what Lotke sees in his crystal ball for 2084...

Just finished reading 2044. It is a fun read. Great characters and story line, with some interesting views on where things are going (or where they might actually be already).

"What will life be like in 25 years?" This is the question that guides this taut, fast-paced novel. Author Eric Lotke creates a rich world of the future, extrapolating from current trends, where the dominant values are those of the efficient, all-consuming corporation. Can human values survive in this world? That's the struggle.

Talk about devouring! I was turning the pages as fast as I could to learn what our heroes would do next.

This is a thought-provoking and important book about the perils that await a culture that is taken over by corporations. Any institution (government, corporations, religions, etc) can create havoc if it is not accountable to the greater society. In these days of anti-government sentiment, it is good to remember that corporations need not be above mischief. The picture painted in 2044 is worrisome, and would be bleak indeed if not for the compelling and human story of Malcolm and Jessica.

Wow. This is a terrific book! The writing is elegant and engaging, and the plot-line compelling. Best of all, it is a truly gripping and thought-provoking read. The human characters could use a little fleshing out, but the main character-- life in a corporate-dominated future-- is vividly imagined and truly chilling. Each element of life in 2044 is a straightforward extension of current trends... and deeply disturbing. Lotke opens our eyes to the dangers of unchecked corporate power, and in the process, issues a profound wake-up call. Read this book, America, and wake up to THE major threat of our times!

Incidentally, this book should be picked up by an aspiring (or even better, by an established) screenwriter and movie-maker, and turned into a full-length feature film!

2044 owes much to Orwell's 1984. Allusions abound. Eric's first novel is an attempt to warn us all of the dangers we face from The Corporation, Big Brother, which seems to control all commerce in this brave new world.

The main characters are Malcolm, a worker in corporate America, Jessica, a lawyer who becomes Malcolm's girlfriend, David, Jessica;s young son, and a mysterious corporate leader, Jackson. Malcolm's revolt against the water grabbing Big Brother results in ... But that would be spoiling the twists and turns of this view from the inside of the dystopia. I highly recommend this futuristic thriller. Eric, keep writing.

This is just the kind of book that reminds me why I got a Kindle. I did not want to put it down. I read it, horrified yet not wanting to stop, as my husband drove the car, as I was waiting for a concert to begin, in bed... etc. The "Predator State" that James Kenneth Galbraith describes so well, the oligarchy we live in, could definitely get worse. We have corporations now who decide life and death issues for people by denying health care and lobbying to oppose health care for all. Climate change is already depriving 3rd world citizens of food and water and it will get worse and effect us in the west also. The author has put together a novel that paints one of the possible bleak scenarios that await unless we regain our identities as citizens and NOT consumers, and invest in a world economy that supports human life and human dignity over greed and short term gain for those at the top.

See also The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too

An extremely well written, fast paced prediction of society in 2044 if big business should continue its increasing control of government. As Orwell believed that society would be entirely controlled by big government in 1984, Lotke fears that we will be under the thumb of a few global mega-corporations in 2044. Hopefully, just as Orwell's view never completely materialized, neither will Lotke's.

I was getting into the sample when the formatting went haywire and it became too difficult to continue. I suggest the author check this out and ask his publisher to fix it.