Customer Reviews

Format C:

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Having just submitted a full review of this for the Providence Journal, I will point out only that Black follows the tradition of Huxley's Brave New World and Orwell's 1984. He provides a new form of Big Brother for us to speculate about and gives a few intriguing insights into Jerusalem and Judaic tradition that are worth exploring.

I object to the stereotypes and the blockbuster quality of the final chapters, and when the red Del Sol was smashed I nearly walked out. (I began to wonder about halfway through if Black began this manuscript as a film script.) But Black has potential, and I anticipate a good read when his next production appears.

Someone loaned me this book and I am certainly glad I didn't buy it. It is the most ham-handed, overly dramatic prose I have read in a long time. I read about 50 pages and decided I didn't have enough time to waste reading anymore. Reading this book is like experiencing an episode of the 1960's Batman TV show in print.

There's this bad guy, modeled after Bill Gates, who monopolizes all OSs on the planet. His Windgazer99 was supposed to fix the Y2K problem, but it also had a feature that makes people confide in it and give out private info. Oh my, this guy is trying to bring everybody under his control! It's an evil plot!

The good guys realize this, and then realizes an even deeper conspiracy. Get this, by doing some Kaballah number stuff, you realize that computers are 666! AHHHH! So this was all a masterplan of the devil! And this OS auto update in 1999/12/31 midnight is the final piece! In order to prevent this evil plot, you must persuade people to do Format C: and erase the hard disk!

So, in 1999/12/31 midnight the god worshipping good guys and this Bill Gates devil fight it out in Jerusalem (of course, of course)...

(But do you realize that by that time, half of the world is already well into the year 2000?)

The ending gets even better, but I won't spoil it for you. Shallow thoughts, thin plot, technological nonsense babble, cheap style... Huxley? Orwell? Ah, come on. Don't drag them into this. These people had real concerns that are still valid even today, where as this cheap shot is a hack job, with no content at all.

I tried to like this book, I really did. Even though the protagonist and I both like single malt Scotch, it just wasn't enough. Once you get through all the obvious villainy of the Gates character and the products name dropping throughout, the ending saves the world with a MANDATORY SABBATH-KEEPING O/S. Yes. The world is saved from the bad guys and now quietly reflects on it's pro-Jewish superiority from sundown Friday until Saturday night, when computers will work again. Even though the writing wasn't very good, the fast -paced plot was readable, right up until the sales pitch for the Decalogue.

What a great book! It's a real page turner and the descriptions of Washington landmarks make it hard for me to believe this is a work of fiction.

This is the first book I've ever recommended to friends that I haven't yet finished. It's a good quick summer read. You'll surely enjoy it if you like suspense, mystery, and computer wars.

Richard Hayman Rockville, Maryland

Format C: is a captivating ride through corporate America and modern Israel that takes you to a very real hell and beyond. From the Boardroom to the Senate a true look a monopolistic power at it's worst.

Loved it to the last page.

This is by far the worst book I've ever read. I still really can't tell if this is written for children or if the author is just pulling our legs. We are beaten over the head with the obviouse constantly. I won't "give away" the ending but suffice it to say all the characters show up that you would expect to be present in an apocalyptic tale. The authors secret is to take a cliche, magnify it 100 fold and then beat you over the head with it. Still, I did finish the book because quite frankly I had to see how bad it could get. I was not dissappointed. If you've never watched a movie just because you couldn't believe it was so aweful then you may not see the beauty in this book.

Edwin Black's surrealistic look at what could have been a catastrophe certainly makes for an interesting read. When approaching the end of this page turner, I could barely put it down. Then I slammed it shut as the ending fizzled out.

The book makes an interesting satirical point about our dependence on computers and technology. Also, the few jabs at Bill Gates always make for an interesting piece of humor. The Biblical and historical references are well founded and, while far fetched, based on fact.

While Edwin did his homework, purists may not enjoy his work. He strays from normalcy about as often and he betrays the laws of what is possible. If you are looking for a realistic book, check the begining of the review: this is very surreal.

Last, the book is incredibly fast paced. It had me sweating until the last page. However, despite the pace, Blacks novel comes to a moral-bearing and unfulfilling end. Almost like a cheesy sitcom, the novel ends on a life lesson that doesn't seem to match the plot.

While I enjoyed this book, the pitfall at the end and the slight bit of realist in me prevents anything above a 3-star rating. This is still a good read, if you keep an open mind.

I typically stick to non-fiction philosophy, history, and politics. So when a friend reccommended this book to me, I was somewhat skeptical. But I was very pleasantly surprised after reading it. Format C: turned out to be a real thriller. As someone who is no expert in computers, I was still able easily to follow the specifics of the plot. Kudos to Mr Black for skillfully integrating factual history and fictional future!

This book is to recommended to the age of computer literate users who can fully understand this book. To me i give it the highest rating of all, i enjoyed it throughly and hope to read another Edwin Black book about the Millenium or y2k problem.