Though not my life per se, I find the fiction in the USMC's reading list to be very .. interesting. It's a strange mix of more popular titles and super niche books. It's all focused on war-fighting, but it gives a great look into the Marines:
GATES OF FIRE: AN EPIC NOVEL OF THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE by Steven Pressfield
STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein
ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card
READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline
GHOST FLEET: A NOVEL OF THE NEXT WORLD WAR by P. W. Singer; August Cole
THE KILLER ANGELS: THE CLASSIC NOVEL OF THE CIVIL WAR by Michael Shaara
It's one of my favorite books. Totally explains why Facebook would buy Oculus for $2 Billion. Ready Player One shows virtual reality's potential to infinitely expand our world. It's also just a really fun book with a ton of interesting pop culture references.
Sure. But my question had less to do with why it was popular generally, and more with why it's on the USMC commandant's reading list specifically.
That said, the USMC Research Library [1] places it in, among other categories, "Regression (Civilization)", which may cast a glimmer of light on why it's where it is.
Nearly every time the USMC list goes up on HN, the reaction is the same: Why the heck is Ready Player One on the list?
Thanks for diving a bit deeper into the selection.
To add a bit more context, the USMCRL has this in addition to the categorization:
"2044. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets..."
As the selection is in the 'Primary Level - Enlisted' alongside Ender's Game and Rifleman Dodd, I think it is there to showcase initiative and intelligence for young enlisted marines.
GATES OF FIRE: AN EPIC NOVEL OF THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE by Steven Pressfield
STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein
ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card
READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline
GHOST FLEET: A NOVEL OF THE NEXT WORLD WAR by P. W. Singer; August Cole
THE KILLER ANGELS: THE CLASSIC NOVEL OF THE CIVIL WAR by Michael Shaara
The whole 2019 reading list is great stuff, top notch reading for any hacker or c-suite, especially the discussion guides: https://grc-usmcu.libguides.com/usmc-reading-list/discussion...