marginwalker's review against another edition
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This book is loathsome, but I guess deliberately so. Being stuck in the stream-of-consciousness of a character like B is, for the most part, unpleasant. I don't think I would've made it through the print version, but the narrator in the audiobook makes this a lot more palatable. His stilted, dry delivery of B's internal "Ha-ha"s at his own weird jokes is one of the bright points of this book.
Still, B's fetishization, racism, sexual harrassment--I wouldn't fault anyone for putting this book down.
The book has its funny moments. A lot of the social commentary doesn't work for me, but the fixation on clowns, comedy duos, and slapstick is where the book excels. Also any time B starts waxing poetic about his love for Judd Apatow. There's a lot of horror woven into the comedy, which I enjoyed. This is also maybe one of the few instances of Comedy That Involves Donald Trump that is actually funny.
The pieces of this book don't really add up to any sort of worthwhile whole in my estimation (once we enter the apocalyptic wasteland forever war section the book becomes a slog), but there are some pretty entertaining moments that reach a fun fever pitch of absurdity.
I'm probably missing content warnings. Maybe just assume all of them.
Still, B's fetishization, racism, sexual harrassment--I wouldn't fault anyone for putting this book down.
The book has its funny moments. A lot of the social commentary doesn't work for me, but the fixation on clowns, comedy duos, and slapstick is where the book excels. Also any time B starts waxing poetic about his love for Judd Apatow. There's a lot of horror woven into the comedy, which I enjoyed. This is also maybe one of the few instances of Comedy That Involves Donald Trump that is actually funny.
The pieces of this book don't really add up to any sort of worthwhile whole in my estimation (once we enter the apocalyptic wasteland forever war section the book becomes a slog), but there are some pretty entertaining moments that reach a fun fever pitch of absurdity.
I'm probably missing content warnings. Maybe just assume all of them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Homophobia, Racism, Antisemitism, Body horror, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Animal death, and Stalking
semeyers's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This book....where do I even begin?
For the first 300-400 pages, I was INTO IT. I flew through the first 200 pages loving every minute and slowed down as I approached 400, but was still really enjoying the experience. B. Rosenberger is probably the most annoying, frustrating, narrator in history and being inside his head was hilarious. The novel trudges further and further into fantasy and ridiculousness as it goes on and the journey was fascinating to experience.....until page 400ish.
My copy was 709 pages and, let me tell you, once I hit page 400 or so I felt every page intensely. I was bargaining with myself to read 10 pages per day. I would fantasize about tossing the book out of my window and forgetting about it. I would start day dreaming about doing anything else while reading. There were still moments of hilarity and entertainment, but the ends did not justify it. It seems like Kaufman ran out of ideas and just began stream-of-consciousness spewing ideas onto the page. It was painful. It ruined the first 450 pages for me. I read the first 400 pages in just three weeks and it took me three months to read the last 250 pages.
There's definitely an excellent 400-500 page postmodern novel in these pages and I wish that is what we would have gotten.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking and Sexual content
Moderate: Antisemitism and Violence
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Transphobia
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