I really liked this book. I really disliked the ending. It reminded me of the ending of Fahrenheit 451---sort of the idea that nothing bad can end up coming of this. All will be well because we deem it so. Frankly, though, I am not sure what type of ending I would have preferred. Maybe tragedy---with Nell dying or sacrificing herself---like 100 Years of Solitude or Stranger in a Strange Land. Maybe it would have been better to know the end from the beginning, like with Vonnegut or The Virgin Suicides.
The Primer was an awesome imaginary creation. Its ability to teach, learn, incorporate and adjust was very, very cool. This is what computers should be doing. It was too bad, in some regards, that there needed to be a human doing the work behind the scenes. But the consistency of the human seemed to make the difference, giving Nell the ability to stick with the Primer and learn more than the other girls.
The mix of Victorian and SciFi elements is always a fun juxtaposition for my mind. It think instantly of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and The Wild, Wild West (the TV show, not the movie with Will Smith). With all of these, and especially here, the mix of elegance with technology is very appealing to me. The Victorian imagery (not necessarily its rigidity) with its detail and elegance seems to be the perfect visualization of complex thoughts that are intricately and beautifully put together. It could be argued, though that the Victorians provided a complicated exterior when one wasn't needed (form not following function), but it provided an aesthetic of thought, which today could be, maybe best represented by a circuit board.
Overall, the writing was strong and the characters were well established. I, of course, liked the engineer (but not how he and his group treated women: their place was in the home). The ending, though, was hurried. I liked the tale told by the Primer and was often looking to get back to it when I was reading about the real world. I loved watching Nell learn. This is well recommended.
8/10
