Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - The Bug

The Bug
The Bug
Author: Ellen Ullman
The Bug is a mesmerizing first novel about a demonic, elusive computer bug and the havoc it wreaks on the lives of the people around it. This rare combination–a novel of ideas and a suspense–is a story about obsession and love that takes readers deep into both the personal and virtual life. — In 1984, at the dawn of the ...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780385508605
ISBN-10: 0385508603
Publication Date: 5/6/2003
Pages: 368
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 4

3.8 stars, based on 4 ratings
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review
Read All 2 Book Reviews of "The Bug"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

reviewed The Bug on
As a novel, this book was just ok. The writing was great in some places, a little clunky and slow in others. The character development was so-so accross the board. That said, I couldn't put it down. I was literally five minutes late to pick up my daughter at daycare because I was sitting in the car reading and was physically unable to put down the book and walk inside until I got to the end of the chapter. I loved this book for the subject - there are so few novels set in a in this type of environment, and the plot is fantastic. Just the premise and the brilliant resolution at the end make this book worth reading.
reviewed The Bug on
As a professional programmer for the past 27 years, I found the technical content of this book to be very good -- I only spotted on mistake (bug? :-).

However, I'm *really* happy to say that no programmers in my experience (or in the experience of my colleges and friends) are as horrible as most of the people in this book.

Nor, I'm happy to report, is programming (or learning to program) something that makes you an insensitive, unfeeling, uncaring person.

So, yeah, this is an unpleasant people do unpleasant things to each other kind of story. From that starting point, it's pretty well done.

I'm just sorry to see how (undeservedly) bad a portrait of the developer community it portrays.


Genres: