Ultimate Game

by Christian Lehmann, William Rodarmor (Translator)

Overview

When Eric, Charles and Andreas stumble across a remarkable computer war game called The Ultimate Experience they soon realise the game has a life of its own...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781567922158
Publisher:	David R. Godine, Publisher
Publication date:	05/01/2003
Pages:	178
Product dimensions:	4.80(w) x 7.44(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

Editorial Reviews

In this novel about teenage boys obsessed with computer war games, the first by French physician-author Lehmann to be translated into English, the moral overpowers the story. The tale has eerie resonance in the wake of the Littleton, Colo., massacre. Yet despite snappy dialogue and exciting (though often gruesome) war scenes, Lehmann's broadly painted characterizations and clunky, far-fetched plot bog down the narrative, which switches among the three French youths and a refugee Bosnian Serb girl. A mysterious computer game transports them to, variously, a WWI battle, the bombing at Guernica and an "ethnic cleansing" sortie in Bosnia. And just in case readers don't get the point that computer games are unhealthy, a character named Dr. Munier steps in to intone, "Video games, all this virtual stuff... it's a world that's beyond this world, beyond what's real, a place to escape from reality." The ending--in which fascist, violent Andreas winds up in Nazi-era Paris and meets the teenage self of the old man who sold him the computer game--not only defies credulity, but is a facile resolution to a complex issue. Ages 13-up. (June) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 9 Up-An action-packed tale of computer games and an adolescent's preoccupation with hate and violence, both vicarious and real. On a school trip to London, three teens-Andreas, a neo-Nazi control freak; Charles, a computer boffin; and Eric, the reluctant hero-discover an enigmatic video-game store. When the shopkeeper notices the Nazi insignia on Andreas's jacket, he goes ballistic and sends them off with a dusty, seemingly innocuous game. "Play it with your friend. Especially with him. If it isn't too late," he advises Eric. Once back home in France, the true metaphysical nature of the game soon reveals itself. All three teens become ensnared in the mind-over-modem scenario of The Ultimate Experience, which adds a frightening dimension to the na ve thrills formerly gleaned from computer carnage. This expertly translated, riveting story is bound to make readers take stock of the destructive nature of violence. The book is well paced and researched. Its computer-gaming jargon is perfectly juxtaposed against tantalizing historical anecdotes. The message is clear, and the story ends with quite a satisfying twist.-Lisa Denton, J. S. Russell JHS, Lawrenceville, VA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

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