Wool

• Author: Hugh Howey
• Full Title: Wool
• Tags: #Inbox #books
• Recommendation: 6/10
  • Only read this if you watch the Apple TV show (which is really excellent!) and want more. Otherwise it's not that great.
• Part of my Read 24 Books in 2023 goal.

Highlights

• No, it’s because you were lied to. And the toppers will feel this ever more keenly, trust me. They live in sight of those who’ve been lied to. It’s the mids, the people who aspire upward without knowing and who look down on us without compassion, that will be the most reluctant.” (Location 3884)
• He couldn’t imagine what it felt like to rise with anticipation in the morning, to fall asleep with contentment at the end of the day. (Location 4795)
• “Welcome to Operation Fifty of the World Order, Lukas Kyle. Now, if you have a question or two, I have the time to answer, but briefly.” (Location 5772)
• This idea of needing to see with my own eyes was a foundational idea for Wool and the books to follow. The wallscreens are our televisions, our web browsers, our search engines, our newspapers, the local news, our cellphones. (Location 7152)
• We are bombarded constantly by talking heads telling us what the world is like. They say it’s mostly car wrecks, traffic jams, murders, war, hurricanes, and things that might kill your children, which we’ll tell you about at eleven. (Location 7154)
• And yet, sailing across vast oceans and into ports unknown taught me something vital: there is nothing out there as dark as our doubts, nor as dangerous as our inaction. Go out. See for yourselves. And if what you find there is broken, know that together we can fix it. (Location 7172)
• Seen in this light, the popularity of apocalyptic fiction makes perfect sense. We are simply removing the social bonds and the tools that we rely upon and asking how we would fare with our wits alone. (Location 7225)