Reviews

Konzum by David Cronenberg

lilli_l_f's review against another edition

2.0

2.5/5 This book could have been.... so much better. Such a well though out world and plot but such boring and bland characters. Oh well.

robgruszecki's review against another edition

2.0

Wow. I’m so surprised and disappointed in how much I didn’t enjoy this. David Cronenberg is one of my absolute favourite filmmakers (Videodrome, The Fly, The Brood, Scanners, Existenz are all some of my favourite movies) and I was so excited for his first novel. He’s got some great prose throughout and the plot is very very ‘Cronenberg’ so in theory I should have loved it. But I sadly found it exhausting, relentless and interminably boring in parts. I found the characters hollow and dull and at about the halfway point I completely stopped caring about them at all. I found this to be such a slog to get through and it bums me out that this just didn’t click with me at all in the way every movie I’ve watched of his absolutely captivates me. Cronenberg is a brilliant artist but this one in particular just didn’t land for me.

gigiivid's review against another edition

3.0

The beginning half was so good, but the second half, particularly the last 50 pages, just felt indulgent and unfocused. It's very clear that he's a director through how beautifully cinematic his writing is, but also through his lack of follow through in the actual storytelling, with the novel more interested in quirky nuances and thematic show-offs. It was a super interesting idea though, and definitely the sort of stuff I love.

Plot rating: 7.5/10
Character rating: 5/10
Style of writing: 7.5/10

First 1/3: 8/10
Second 1/3: 7/10
Third 1/3: 4/10

Main Character rating: 6/10
Scenery rating: 8/10
Concept rating: 6/10
Emotional rating: 3/10

Overall: 62/100

aksel_dadswell's review against another edition

2.0

I wanted to like this book so much. I really tried, if only out of service to my admiration for Cronenberg's incredible back-catalogue of films. I’m a big fan of the guy’s work and so it seemed a given that I’d equally enjoy his debut novel, but it was not to be. It's not that Consumed is an unmitigated piece of shit – there are some great ideas in there, some nice Cronenbergian body horror, and some hilarious, subversive moments. It's just that these things, for me, felt buried beneath the endless philosophical ramblings and itemised breakdowns of technology that seemed to make up most of the book. I almost stopped reading this so many times. I know the emotional disconnect of the characters here is probably part of the point, that I’m supposed to feel like I’m observing the narrative on a laptop screen or through a camera lens, but the whole experience left me floating in a void of frustration and indifference. Having finished the novel, I feel like maybe I missed the point, that my reaction to it is wrong somehow, that maybe the story doesn’t really flounder in its own self-aggrandising philosophical wank, but who knows? I guess I’m torn because of the potential the book had for me. For every dull, esoteric moment there are glimmers of intrigue and horror, but being caught in this good/bad see-saw isn’t exactly what I’d call a good time. Even the book’s final scene feels both absurdly abrupt and actually quite clever. In the end, though, I was left dissatisfied and underwhelmed for a book with so many supposedly shocking and weird moments.

dennisjacobrosenfeld's review against another edition

3.0

Too long. Unnecessary amount of tech descriptions. Somewhat fascinating. Body horror does not work as well in this shape as it does in Cronenberg's early films.

dargent94's review against another edition

2.0

Weird and excessive for the sake of weird excessiveness. So typical Cronenberg (I'm a big fan, honestly). Sort of like an uninspired cross between Videodrome and Naked Lunch except not even half as good as either of those. Only intermittently interesting and trying way to hard to be about everything at once and misses the mark almost every time.

witchybeach's review against another edition

2.0

interesting at first, then it all went downhill from there; although there were some good plot points

mobyskine's review against another edition

2.0

Awal pembacaan asyik fikir apa yang saya baca ini. Satu kegilaan atau hal pelik-- belum dapat vibe jalan cerita. Nak kata ia satu kerja translasi yang bagus pun tak dapat. Hingga ke mukasurat 100, tentang Naomi dan Nathan dan satu penyakit STD yang buat Naomi menjerit celaka! celaka! dari dalam kapal terbang-- sehingga itu baru saya sedikit catching up dengan jalan cerita. Hal aneh tentang anak beranak Roiphe dan misteri Arosteguy agak mengujakan, tapi jujur cakap-- susah nak hadam sangat relation semua yang jadi (tak pasti ini masalah translasi atau jalan cerita memang rumit macam itu).

Pekerjaan Nathan dan Naomi sangat aneh. Okay ia cuma fotojurnalis dan penulisan artikel/buku, tapi caranya saja saya tidak boleh tahan. Nathan dan kes sindrom Roiphe, saling kaitan dengan misteri Arosteguy, si lelaki falsafah berideologi Marxist yang mahu jadi orang Jepun, dengan isteri yang (kononnya) mati dipotong-potong (kes yang bawa Naomi menjejak Jepun). Jalan cerita intense dan banyak kali buat saya keliru. Agak gore dan thrill-- hal-hal psikopatologi, terapi atau trauma tak masuk akal dan ritual makan daging sendiri.

Hubungan-hubungan asmara yang pelik dan bagaimana Célestine mati barangkali kerana kanser atau khayalan neurotik-- cerita tentang filem, Korea Utara, agama serangga yang harus dihapuskan dan kisah audiologi. Penyampaian cerita berbunyi klasikal, seperti satu teater di atas pentas. Translasi yang buat saya keliru dengan metafora-metafora hingga rasa nak letak tepi dan berhenti seksa otak sendiri.

Bahagian komplot Perancis-Célestine-Korea Utara itu buat saya sedikit terkejut juga dengan kata Elke-- like how? Cerita dah masuk scene misteri dan penemuan Naomi tentang hal dalam laptop Arosteguy mengungkap satu-satu persoalan tentang Célestine.

Satu jenayah sosial dan psikoseksual, dua fotojurnalis yang terjerat di tengah-tengah. Terlalu confusing bagi saya, malas nak faham sudahlah ending buat saya terkedu, agaknya penulis sangat sengaja. Probably just another Cronenberg thingy and fetish.

woowottreads's review against another edition

3.0

I'm still not sure what I think about this book. It could have a sequel, but that's not necessary. It's so weird, it probably won't have a sequel. If it were less weird, I'd say sequel. I kinda enjoyed it, especially the bits from Naomi's p.o.v. Nate sometimes got on my nerves. They weren't a very good couple. And I'm not at all into techno porn, which this sort of is. But part of me still enjoyed it. It does indeed involve global conspiracies involving North Korea and hearing aid devices and French philosophers and illegal Eastern European surgeons and STIs. And reality is incredibly dubious. I was only disappointed because I wanted a bit more horror and a bit more strange sex. I feel like the blurb on the jacket was being a bit misleading about all the sex. It was actually pretty tasteful, for the most part. If you're up for a bit of a mindscrewing, this might be your book.

rominadelap's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25