[Book] The adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson: What is identity?

[Book] The adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson: What is identity?

Title: The adoration of Jenna Fox

Author: Mary E. Pearson

I read this book for a book club meeting. Fortunately, I could borrow its ebook copy from the local library as shown in the picture above. Before having the book club, I'd like to make a note for myself to summarise the story and to make a note of questions and comments for the discussion.

This is the first book of the Jenna Fox Chronicles which have 3 more books (1.5, 2 and 3). 

1. Summary

Jenna Fox is a teenage girl who had an accident and was in coma for one year. She used to be in Boston but moved to California and woke up from the coma. It wasn't a medical miracle that happened but a surgery with an advanced bio- and nano-technology to transplant 90% of her brain with an artificial brain made of neurochips. 

2. Questions to check the story

Well, I skimmed and skipped quite a part of the book, so I had to ask myself some questions to figure out what I missed.

Q1. Why Jenna doesn't have the memory?

A1. Maybe there was a technical failure when the memory of the original brain was uploaded to the artificial brain which composes 90% of her brain.

Q2. Why Jenna has so much memory of historical facts?

A2. I don't know yet.

After the book club: They were uploaded when the artificial brain was transplanted.

Q3. What is the Net?

A3. Probably it's the society itself in the future.

Q4. What is the reason for Ethan to be at the Charter?

A4. I don't know yet.

After the book club: I still don't know. 

Q5. What happened to the boxes in the closet in the end?

A5. I don't know yet. Were they discarded?

After the book club: Jenna discarded the box of her backup and the others for Kara and Locke.

3. Quotes

Here are some quotes.

(1)

Curious adj. 1. Eager to learn or to know, inquisitive. 2. Prying or meddlesome. 3. Inexplicable, highly unusual, odd, strange.

- at 4%

Jenna often looks up the dictionary for definitions of words and this is one example. Then she thinks the meaning of curious is 'odd and strange.' So when people say to her, 'You're curious,' she thinks they mean that she is odd and strange. 

(2)

'Mother, why did we move here?'

She stops. I think I see a slight stumble. She turns around. Her eyes are wide. She doesn't speak, so I continue. 'When the doctors, Father, and your career are all in Boston, why are we here?'

- at 6%

That's a very reasonable question that Jenna should have at one point. And the answer from Mother that they moved because Jenna needed a quiet place is not quite satisfactory. So what's the real reason of their moving?

(3) 

It's a backup, Jenna,' Father say, in his usual cut-the-crap voice. 'We had to save the original upload.'

...

Another Jenna is still there.

- at 70%

Jenna has 10% of her original biological brain and 90% of the artificial brain. To do that, they have the memory of the original brain and uploaded it to the transplant. Then naturally the keep the backup in the closet just in case. But, what case? Is it OK to just load another copy of Jenna into the artificial brain and body to regenerate one more Jenna in case the current Jenna gets wrong?

(4) 

   'Everyone has to die eventually,' I say.

Father lifts the bottle of wine.

...

   'No more,' he says.

- at 72%

The technology made it different. Not everyone has to die eventually any more.

(5) 

And I am what I am. I just need a definition for what that is.

Jenna n. 1. Coward. 2. Possibly human. 3. Maybe not. 4. Definitely illegal.

- at 75%

Jenna needed to identify herself. Who is she? And this is how she defines herself. One thing for sure is her existence is illegal.

4. My comments

It's an interesting story at the beginning.

And I kind of expected more scientific details of how the artificial brain is made and works. It is categorised as a science fiction somewhere and I saw it in the middle of reading it. And I was surprised because it didn't really look like an SF. Then I wanted to see more SF things but it is more like a philosophical fiction which asks a question about identity. 

Jenna has 10% of her original brain. And her body might be fully artificial judging based on the mentions of her artificial heart and lungs. Is 10% enough to make her Jenna? Is she still the same one as the old Jenna? 

This kind of question already existed for a long time and it is being revisited considering the new technology these days. A little disappointingly, I found the author keeps asking the question of identity so directly in the entire book without providing various aspects to find the answer from different angles. 

In addition, if there are more scientific details, then the story will be more attractive at least to the SF geeks. Or if there are some mysterious crimes behind the accident, then it would keep readers better.

5. After the book club meeting

This part will be updated after I have the book club. How others think about the book and how my thought is changed will be updated.

I had a nice book club in the park and we talked a lot about the book. Most of members said they enjoyed the book and found the story is interesting. Many of them didn't know that this is one of the four books in the series. 

My thought didn't change much after the book club though. I liked it but I wouldn't go for the next book in the series. 

25 January 2017

gguro

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