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Going Nowhere: A Life in Six Videogames
Videogames are among the defining art forms of our age. They are variously adored and reviled, but their influence is felt everywhere. Every game is its own little universe – and hundreds of millions of us now spend part of our time living in those universes.
But what does it mean to play them? What does it feel like to be a member of the generation that grew up with them? Where do they take us, and what needs do they serve? In this short memoir, Sam Leith tells the story of his life through his relationship with games.
It’s a story of games-playing. But it’s also the story of an anxious child trying to find a way of being in the world, a twenty-something negotiating the unfamiliar terrain of heartbreak, and an adult emerging from a turbulent time into marriage and fatherhood. It’s a story of love, fear, substance abuse and – well – mechanical emus.
But what does it mean to play them? What does it feel like to be a member of the generation that grew up with them? Where do they take us, and what needs do they serve? In this short memoir, Sam Leith tells the story of his life through his relationship with games.
It’s a story of games-playing. But it’s also the story of an anxious child trying to find a way of being in the world, a twenty-something negotiating the unfamiliar terrain of heartbreak, and an adult emerging from a turbulent time into marriage and fatherhood. It’s a story of love, fear, substance abuse and – well – mechanical emus.
- GenresNonfiction
37 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 18, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 29, 2015
This guy writes about his life inside of various video games...It sounded like it was going to be an interesting book for me to read but it turned out I couldn't stand his writing style. It chopped and changed from place to place - one minute you'd be in the game world and the next sentence he may be talking about his life outside of gaming then back into the gaming world, to me this just broke things up too much.
The one thankful thing is how short it is - only 32 or 33 pages. However, even with it being so short I still wouldn't bother recommending this book to anyone.
The one thankful thing is how short it is - only 32 or 33 pages. However, even with it being so short I still wouldn't bother recommending this book to anyone.
March 7, 2013
A slim collection of short, personal essays about video games and growing up, available via Kindle Singles. They’re very pleasant pieces, easy reading; nothing revelatory here in terms of game criticism, but well-written and evocative regardless.
It’s always interesting to me how gamers have a shared sense of empathy which extends beyond certain titles. This is another way of saying that even if you haven’t played any of the games mentioned here, you too may find something common in the experiences described.
The essays revolve around the notion of gaming as escapism, which seems to be an increasingly unfashionable theme amongst those who still regard it as a serious medium – too many associations with hormonal teenage loners and male obsession. Getting away from myself is still a big part of what motivates me to play, but I don’t feel like I ought to be ashamed of that, and it doesn’t seem like the author does either.
In the end, this book is somewhat balanced between suggesting that escapism might be valuable and important, with the counter-notion that it is ultimately something to be moved beyond once the responsibilities of family life arrive. I confess I found myself feeling rather sad that it concludes with the author having finally forgone games in favour of a more grounded existence. I rather hope he’ll relapse one day.
It’s always interesting to me how gamers have a shared sense of empathy which extends beyond certain titles. This is another way of saying that even if you haven’t played any of the games mentioned here, you too may find something common in the experiences described.
The essays revolve around the notion of gaming as escapism, which seems to be an increasingly unfashionable theme amongst those who still regard it as a serious medium – too many associations with hormonal teenage loners and male obsession. Getting away from myself is still a big part of what motivates me to play, but I don’t feel like I ought to be ashamed of that, and it doesn’t seem like the author does either.
In the end, this book is somewhat balanced between suggesting that escapism might be valuable and important, with the counter-notion that it is ultimately something to be moved beyond once the responsibilities of family life arrive. I confess I found myself feeling rather sad that it concludes with the author having finally forgone games in favour of a more grounded existence. I rather hope he’ll relapse one day.
August 17, 2014
Clever and nostalgic references to a shared computer game past. Interesting read.
December 2, 2014
There are three ways in which to view this book: the first is as an analysis of the role video games play in our lives. A conclusion that they represent escapism is uncontentious and banal. To regard the missive simply as a memoir is perhaps only any more revelatory if you are interested in the life of Sam Leith. I'm not. If I was I'd probably be disappointed by the cavernous gaps, even if they may be expected in so short a tract of text. The third way to see it is as something which studies the interplay of the two.
Leith's structure and message are both neatly summarised in the title of his essay. Video games are escapism but, like diversions or art-forms that share these traits - novels particularly but also records, they are not without cost. Consciously or unconsciously we invest a great deal in them. They are not passive experiences but ones in which we deposit our time and emotions. Should it be any wonder then, that they are in some way formative? When we re-read a book, re-play a game or listen again to a cherished record we experience it differently to that first time. We're aware not only of the immediate experience but also of our shadows, of what we were thinking and doing when we experienced it before. In choosing structure the narrative of his live around computer games, there are echoes here of Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch .
Leith's structure and message are both neatly summarised in the title of his essay. Video games are escapism but, like diversions or art-forms that share these traits - novels particularly but also records, they are not without cost. Consciously or unconsciously we invest a great deal in them. They are not passive experiences but ones in which we deposit our time and emotions. Should it be any wonder then, that they are in some way formative? When we re-read a book, re-play a game or listen again to a cherished record we experience it differently to that first time. We're aware not only of the immediate experience but also of our shadows, of what we were thinking and doing when we experienced it before. In choosing structure the narrative of his live around computer games, there are echoes here of Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch .
June 3, 2014
I found the concept of this Kindle Single interesting, but overall I wasn't insanely impressed. The author writes about six video games he's played throughout his life and ties them to what he was experiencing at the time. It was well written and pretty good, though the author definitely seems a little bit on the pretentious side. It just wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be, and I had a hard time feeling bad for the author. I would skip it, personally.
September 1, 2014
If I ever write an autobiography, the first 3 chapters have already been written for me in this book...
July 16, 2017
The Spectator's Sam Leith writes a very short autobiography structured around six video games he's been obsessed with at various points in his life. This is far better than it has any right to be. I've never played any of the games, and have only vaguely heard of a couple, but that doesn't matter. Leith deftly weaves together descriptions of gameplay with personal reflection on life's choice and challenges, the move in society from relatively "normal" beginnings to the "elite" via an all-paid Eton scholarship, and the philosophical insights of great poets. There's a great deal more Latin than you'd expect in thirty-odd pages on video games. It's not as pretentious as that makes it sound. Brilliant.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews