I should really know better than to choose books just because they’re on sale, but The Plagiarist lured me with the $2 audiobook price tag. Lesson learned. Whatever you do, don’t listen to the audiobook version of this story. The narrator was so incredibly annoying that it couldn’t help factoring into my enjoyment of the book.
The Plagiarist is a novella about Adam Griffey. He’s a plagiarist, but not in the traditional sense of the word. He teaches English by day and at night he secretly searches simulated digital worlds for great works of literature. He’s looking for the next Shakespeare. When he finds something great, he memorizes it and brings it back to the real world. He wishes he could write great works himself, but he doesn’t have the dedication or patience required. He has to settle for writing off the cuff bits of poetry to his girlfriend whom he cares less about than his virtual girlfriend in one of the simulated worlds.
The premise of this story was fascinating and held so much promise, but ultimately Hugh Howey squandered that promise. I could see the ending coming from a mile away. That might have been forgivable if The Plagiarist had given me interesting, well-drawn characters or insights into the possible future of technology, but it didn’t. I couldn’t help thinking what a movie version of this novella might bring to the table. A talented director could really bring this story to life and infuse the characters and plot with more substance.
