SSTLS has everything. Tons of imagination, realistic description of places, life, love, hate, great style of writing and a satirical but acute insight.
Imagine a United States that has lost its economical power to China (ahem!). Imagine New York in the hands of the Chinese government who could choose to do with it whatever they please, at any minute, without any warning. And still the rich, glamorously selfish, and doing what some of them do best, how to make more money from the situation. Imagine a world in which Asia is wealthy, Europe is even wealthier and we are glued to the internet like never before——people actually committing suicide when the net freezes for a few hours. (I can easily see myself jumping of a building because the stupid internet froze). The universe is a true global village and people hardly use their mouth to talk anymore. These are the scenes in SSTLS.
It is incredible (perhaps because it mirrors our society today, just with a tiny exaggeration, of course). The main characters; Leonardo Dabramovinci, an old Russian-American gentleman who is perhaps the only guy who still reads real books, and his girlfriend the psychologically wounded Eunice Park. Lenny is 39 and Eunice 24. They are worlds apart not only by a generation gap but by how they perceive the world——responsibilities to oneself and to others. Eunice is a beautiful Korean girl brought up to think like a stereotypical traditional Korean girl; family is everything, even if that family is the reason why one is miserable. Lenny is afraid of dying. He wants to be taken care of, to be loved unconditionally and lacks the ability to stand up for himself. He is a brilliant brain with super low self-confidence.
Read it for yourself, it is worth the time. It makes you think of our society today and where it is heading. A laugh out loud satire.
