A review by samusiamus
Universal Harvester by John Darnielle
4.0
Darnielle is a true master of prose, in my most humble opinion. I pre-ordered and devoured Wolf in White Van, enjoying the flow of his writing; imagining it in his lyrical, playful voice. Both novels have read just like any one of his songs might, and yes, I am a complete and utter fan girl but I will also point out the flaws that I found during my experience.
Jeremy's story starts off as rather bland and uninteresting, but that's the things with humans-- we have a strange fascination with the mundane things of every day life, especially when we're privvy to the life and thoughts of strangers. I found the slow unfolding of Jeremy's predicament intriguing, his eventual apathy frustrating, and the overall arc very unique. I will admit some confusion with the second half of the book in trying to piece together the timelines, I am not sure if it's just my own reading comprehension or my inexperience with the very specific way Darnielle chose to tell the stories.
I can't quite remember the other issue I had with the story, it's been a few months so the details are a little fuzzy. Despite the minor qualms I have, overall I really enjoyed reading this and will continue to support Darnielle's ventures.
Jeremy's story starts off as rather bland and uninteresting, but that's the things with humans-- we have a strange fascination with the mundane things of every day life, especially when we're privvy to the life and thoughts of strangers. I found the slow unfolding of Jeremy's predicament intriguing, his eventual apathy frustrating, and the overall arc very unique. I will admit some confusion with the second half of the book in trying to piece together the timelines, I am not sure if it's just my own reading comprehension or my inexperience with the very specific way Darnielle chose to tell the stories.
I can't quite remember the other issue I had with the story, it's been a few months so the details are a little fuzzy. Despite the minor qualms I have, overall I really enjoyed reading this and will continue to support Darnielle's ventures.