Innocence After the Long Goodbye
I recently finished reading Innocence After the Long Goodbye. This novel belongs to the Ghost in the Shell franchise. I haven’t made my mind yet to whether I like it or not. It is written by Masaki Yamada, quite known in Japan.
The novel follows Batou in his search of his lost dog, but really is about the search for the human soul in a world where humans have lost the essence of being and are subsumed more and more into the emptiness of the technology that surrounds them. Bit philosophical isn’t it? so I took it for what is worth. There are irrefutable points in the book about where we are heading with the lack of human interaction. We should not forget that the story does happen in a world where robots are more than common, where most humans have an e-brain and such, so the arguments play well in this futuristic world.
I am not a fan of the story telling in the book. At least the translation, even if accurate, doesn’t seem to hook you in the story itself. The side stories are actually quite good and inventive. They are all interconnected with the main plot so none feel superfluous, which is a very good thing. I wish there were more about some of them. I don’t remember if any of them are followed upon in the Innocence movie, should watch it again soon.
Much to my disappointment the Major doesn’t appear, though she is mentioned constantly by Batou.
All in all I enjoyed it, and I think it does play well with the rest of the franchise.
