I found the section describing the game of Eschaton on pages 323-342 especially hard to get through. I'd been enjoying the book, but when it got to that point, I found myself mindlessly reading the acronyms --AMNAT, SOVWAR, REDCHI, IRLIBSYR, SOUTHAF, INDPAK, ??-- and not even trying to comprehend the strategies of the players. I understand the game is complex, but why so drawn out? Did anyone enjoy this section? Was it meant to be enjoyed, or was Wallace trying to make a point? The game doesn't seem like a typical children's game at all, nor does it seem like much fun (to me, anyway), so I was wondering if it was meant to convey something about the kids at E.T.A. They are worked insanely hard, all of them seem to be extremely bright, and they are forced to grow up and decide their futures so quickly. Twelve year old kids are playing highly mathematical strategic war games. Shouldn't they be jumping rope or something?
I was, however, intrigued by the "the map is not the territory" idea, the philosophical relationship between a reaction to or symbol of a thing and the thing itself. It's also interesting that such young kids would be having this debate. I read a lot about this in relation to the well-known Magritte painting, The Treachery of Images (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:MagrittePipe.jpg)--this is not a pipe, but an image of a pipe. It doesn't seem quite as interesting now that I'm typing it, but at one point I was really into this stuff, so if you're intersted here's a link to more on the map/territory relation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map-territory_relation
Yeah, I completely agree with you. I found myself just skimming that section because it was driving me crazy trying to understand everything that was going on! I think your idea is interesting, about how it's supposed to convey things about the kids at the E.T.A. ( I mean, when I was 12, I was playing 4-square and wallball. Not exactly intense war games). It's interesting to think about what these kids are going to be as adults if they already have this much mental capacity and the ability to play this "game."
I think it also says something about the state of the world at this point. If kids are playing war games, it must be because they know this and are used to it. War must have become so common an occurence that they are kind of desensitized to the horror of it, and it is now just something fun and interesting.
I don't think it's that uncommon for children to play violent/war games. A lot of games are morbid like that. Ring Around the Rosie is about people falling dead from the Plague, Cowboys vs. Indians promotes violence and is pseudo-warlike, video games, etc. Even the typical playground games are a little brutal sometimes. Anyone remember Butts Up? I still cringe when I think about that one.
I agree that there is a desensitization and I think maybe this is just a general trend that Wallace is trying to convey. Who knows where it goes from here.
It was hard not to notice all the acronyms in this section. Actually, there are a lot of acronyms in this book too (or bacronyms I guess). Anyways, the acronyms reminded me a lot of internet-speak, the way that we abbreviate things to save time. The thing is, in this game, and when we do use a lot of acronyms, we tend to get lost and then it takes time to figure out what is actually being said. One acronym allows us to save time, so then we have this idea to use more, but at that point we end up losing time due to confusion. Another product of the fast-paced world.
Actually, if you've spent any time around the military, these acronyms become totally legible. The military has more acronyms than you can shake a stick at (which is a lot). For instance: CENTCOM = Central Command; NAVEUR = Naval Forces Europe; SECDEF = Secretary of Defense; MILCOMSAT = military communications satellite; and bajillions of others here. The acronyms in the Eschaton scene are all totally plausible, but all totally made up. Which is one of the reasons why I find this scene absolutely riotously funny. It's one of my favorite parts of the book. The rest of you break my heart.
(Kidding. I swear. But I really do love this scene.)