fabilousreads's review against another edition
4.0
This book was good! Very strange but awesome. The writing style was excellent. It took a little bit to get used to and to get into the world but it was pretty great. Reminded me a little bit of 1984 with the government issues and the world going to hell which I love to read about. I do think that the interviews before and after the actual novel section were unnecessary. I understand what the author was trying to do with it but I don't think it was needed to enjoy the story that was written. I will definitely be checking out more from this author. Such a ride!
bookloversboudoir's review against another edition
1.0
I really didn’t get on with Hystopia. The blurb made it sound interesting and a bit crazy but lots of fun. What a huge disappointment. I found this book long-winded, rambling nonsense for the most part. None of it made a much sense and I spent a lot of time being confused while reading this, scratching my head and starting at the book and wondering what am I reading? I’m not sure what didn’t work apart from the whole thing. Maybe the whole novel-within-a-novel thing isn’t for me? Who knows? I can’t even give specific feedback on what didn’t work. I just disliked the whole novel and the idea of it. At times Hystopia comes across as pretentious at times as if the author is sneering at us mere mortals and has a superiority complex. I’m sure fans will assume I’m not smart enough to understand Hystopia but whatever. Life is too short to read this kind of gibberish. Hystopia is a book you will either love or hate. This is not a middle ground kind of novel (i.e. I liked these bits but this part wasn’t so good), you will love it or hate it, no compromise. I hated it. I’m glad to see the back of it. I really didn’t enjoy anything about it and certainly couldn’t recommend it.
bowman's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
It's hard to describe this book as anything other than Thomas Pynchon and Cormac McCarthy getting together and trying to fictionalize The Body Keeps the Score. This book is very in line with the spirit of all three, but it also maintains its own identity as an examination of not just the personal aspects of trauma, but trauma as a sort of collective, evolving ecology. We see this reflected in the forested setting of Michigan (on fire, mostly), and in the jarring changes and constant movement of the local apex predator Rake (who is also, in a way, on fire), in the many social experiments of the Corps and the collective reaction to the (final, successful) assassination of JFK. I liked the beatnik-ish, meandering organization of this book, and the dreamlike way it denied its reader any sense of certainty, especially when it came to its climax. It will not be a book for everyone, but books for everyone are only for everyone in that they're reduced to boring, common denominators. This was a weird little drug-fueled adventure that is loyal to the spirit of its mid-century cousins, and well worth the read.
relf's review against another edition
4.0
A novel within a novel, conjuring up a disorienting--almost hallucinatory--alternate version of Vietnam vets returning to Michigan in the 1970s. I'm not sure how David Means's prose managed to create such a tangible, sensory world that kept me fully immersed as I read and yet resulted in a feeling of having dreamed it. The novel is a meditation on storytelling, memory, gaps, conspiracy, trauma, violence, madness, love, and what constitutes reality. This one will be running through my head for a long time.
vanityclear's review against another edition
2.0
Man Booker Challenge #6. Pretty ambivalent about this one—there were one or two lines of startling beauty about nature or the universe, delivered during the chapters focused on Hank the Amiable Tree Hunter—but on the whole this entire book felt forced. Plot is really not one of David Means's strongpoints (and maybe the form of the novel is not....), and I was pulled along neither by the narrative nor by the characters' developments (which, come to think of it, might not have existed that much either). I was frequently bored, and slogged through mostly because I gave myself this inane challenge. Like Eileen, this one wasn't worth it for the rare snatches of beauty. Means should, by all accounts, stick to short fiction (and American readership should appreciate the form more).
barrypierce's review against another edition
1.0
Hystopia (2016) is one of those books where I recognise the cover but I had no idea what it was about. This is David Means’ debut novel after birthing a couple of short story collections into the world. (Note to self: never read any of those books)
Hystopia began so well. Page one and we are hit with an editor’s note. I thought to myself, ‘great, a meta-novel, I already love this’. The first fifty-ish pages consist of editor’s notes, author’s note, and testimonials, all of which are fictional. We are told that the novel presented to us was written by Eugene Allen, a Vietnam vet who has since killed himself. We learn of the hours he spent in his room working on the novel and we read the opinions of the people upon whom characters in the novel are based. In the back of my mind I’m feeling the flickers of Pale Fire but that flame is quickly quenched. The novel within the novel, also called Hystopia, is a mess.
I’ve read reviews for Hystopia that mention great names like Pynchon and Cormac McCarthy. If David Means writes like Pynchon then my reviews read like Dorothy Parker’s. Hystopia is set in an America where Vietnam never ended and JFK doesn’t die in Dallas. It follows a band of outsiders as they violently roam the country, wishing they were being written by Larry McMurtry. I read whole pages thinking, ‘Am I not smart enough for this novel or does it just not make any sense?’, judging by the critical reaction – it’s the latter. It reads like if Kerouac attempted to write an IKEA manuel. A mess begets a mess.
I spent most of Hystopia waiting for it to end. The whole thing reminded me of a movie you’d see on Mystery Science Theatre 3000. What is so disappointing is that Means was really onto something with the meta-fictional parts that bookend the novel. How can they be so good but the novel so bad? Another thing that annoys me is the name. Hystopia. It’s hard to type and when you google it the first suggestion is ‘hysterectomy’. My disappointment in this novel is palpable. I hate this book.
Hystopia began so well. Page one and we are hit with an editor’s note. I thought to myself, ‘great, a meta-novel, I already love this’. The first fifty-ish pages consist of editor’s notes, author’s note, and testimonials, all of which are fictional. We are told that the novel presented to us was written by Eugene Allen, a Vietnam vet who has since killed himself. We learn of the hours he spent in his room working on the novel and we read the opinions of the people upon whom characters in the novel are based. In the back of my mind I’m feeling the flickers of Pale Fire but that flame is quickly quenched. The novel within the novel, also called Hystopia, is a mess.
I’ve read reviews for Hystopia that mention great names like Pynchon and Cormac McCarthy. If David Means writes like Pynchon then my reviews read like Dorothy Parker’s. Hystopia is set in an America where Vietnam never ended and JFK doesn’t die in Dallas. It follows a band of outsiders as they violently roam the country, wishing they were being written by Larry McMurtry. I read whole pages thinking, ‘Am I not smart enough for this novel or does it just not make any sense?’, judging by the critical reaction – it’s the latter. It reads like if Kerouac attempted to write an IKEA manuel. A mess begets a mess.
I spent most of Hystopia waiting for it to end. The whole thing reminded me of a movie you’d see on Mystery Science Theatre 3000. What is so disappointing is that Means was really onto something with the meta-fictional parts that bookend the novel. How can they be so good but the novel so bad? Another thing that annoys me is the name. Hystopia. It’s hard to type and when you google it the first suggestion is ‘hysterectomy’. My disappointment in this novel is palpable. I hate this book.
jon_doyle's review against another edition
*More of a 4.5 stars/9 out of 10 sort of book, FYI*
What becomes important for these troubled people is not discerning the capital-T Truth but rather finding a variation they can believe in. More often than not, this involves a sense of mission, the victim’s need for order in the face of chaos, the desire for purpose or meaning in “an age when everything else seemed to be spinning deeper and deeper into despair,” anything which enables them to form a narrative of the world in a way they would like it to exist.
And that’s what sets apart David Means’ Vietnam from that of the postmodern cannon. Yes, it is full of claims and counter-claims and impenetrable paranoia, but rather than using these to trace a descent into bewilderment, Hystopia utilises them to chart a way out. In a world where confusion and conflict constitute the resting face of the planet, maybe disinformation is needed not to obscure the truth but rather create it?
Read the full review here: http://www.wakethedeaf.co.uk/2016/09/09/lit-links-hystopia-david-means/
What becomes important for these troubled people is not discerning the capital-T Truth but rather finding a variation they can believe in. More often than not, this involves a sense of mission, the victim’s need for order in the face of chaos, the desire for purpose or meaning in “an age when everything else seemed to be spinning deeper and deeper into despair,” anything which enables them to form a narrative of the world in a way they would like it to exist.
And that’s what sets apart David Means’ Vietnam from that of the postmodern cannon. Yes, it is full of claims and counter-claims and impenetrable paranoia, but rather than using these to trace a descent into bewilderment, Hystopia utilises them to chart a way out. In a world where confusion and conflict constitute the resting face of the planet, maybe disinformation is needed not to obscure the truth but rather create it?
Read the full review here: http://www.wakethedeaf.co.uk/2016/09/09/lit-links-hystopia-david-means/
benjamawockeez's review against another edition
This meta-novel is expertly executed and refreshingly original. It's a mixture of 1984 x A Clockwok Orange x The Road. And it's brilliant. Very impressed.
an_mao's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I had mixed feelings with this book after I read the review. However, after I read it, it was not that bad at all. The flow of the story is also quite interesting especially after I am about halfway through where the plot thickens.
Song that I listened to while reading this (I need this just in case I need to recall the story):-
Medusa - Distorted, C.H.Q.Y.
나는 새롭게 떠오른 외로움을 봐요 (I'm Watching a Loneliness Just Arisen) - 새소년 (SE SO NEON)
Song that I listened to while reading this (I need this just in case I need to recall the story):-
Medusa - Distorted, C.H.Q.Y.
나는 새롭게 떠오른 외로움을 봐요 (I'm Watching a Loneliness Just Arisen) - 새소년 (SE SO NEON)
grauspitz's review against another edition
I only made it 30 pages in before I couldn't take it.
You know I actually liked the beginning segment, which might seem odd considering how quickly I gave up. But as soon as it got to the actual book Hystopia itself, well that was where it went downhill for me. Nothing about the story appeals to me, and I can't see why this was even nominated for the Man Booker in the first place.
Of course to some I'm sure it has redeeming qualities, but for me nothing appeals. Maybe if I continued on I might enjoy it but I'm positive there are other books I'm better off spending my time reading.
You know I actually liked the beginning segment, which might seem odd considering how quickly I gave up. But as soon as it got to the actual book Hystopia itself, well that was where it went downhill for me. Nothing about the story appeals to me, and I can't see why this was even nominated for the Man Booker in the first place.
Of course to some I'm sure it has redeeming qualities, but for me nothing appeals. Maybe if I continued on I might enjoy it but I'm positive there are other books I'm better off spending my time reading.