“If I was feeling depressed or frustrated about my lot in life, all I had to do was tap the Player One button, and my worries would instantly slip away as my mind focused itself on the relentless pixelated onslaught on the screen in front of me. There, inside the game's two-dimensional universe, life was simple: It's just you against the machine. Move with your left hand, shoot with your right, and try to stay alive as long as possible.”
More from Ernest Cline
“'Cause, like Halliday said, 'reality is the only thing that's real.'”
“I'm taking the leap.”
“I created the OASIS because I never felt at home in the real world.”
“He made it through the first gate and avatars are gonna be on him like hoes on Santa.”