How long will it be before privacy is an antiquated concept? I understand anyone thinking a blogger asking this is a little suspect. But after finishing Gary Shteyngart's prescient 2010 novel "Super Sad True Love Story", I'm having a little trouble escaping this question.
Shteyngart's book is not for every taste. It is smart, imaginative & romantic. In equal measure it is also profane, relentless & depressing. Released more than a year before Occupy Wall Street became news, this NYC-based novel anticipates that civil unrest in an uncanny fashion. In "Super Sad..." the tents and protesters are in Tomkins Park but the economic issues OWS is trying to highlight are eerily similar to those depicted in the book. Because the author was so spot-on there, I wondered how far off he is in his dystopian view of the future of privacy. I mean, does it make anyone else nervous how much information about all of us is readily available?
I'm a blogger so I'm obviously not real secretive. But I have been genuinely surprised how easy it is to find someone and get information, lots of it, about them. "Super Sad True Love Story" has me re-thinking where this might all lead.
About Me
- Pat Barton
- My most recent single release - "My True North" - is now available on Bandcamp. Open my profile and click on "audio clip".
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