Reviews

I Hate the Internet by Jarett Kobek

myphairlady's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

brifirith's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny informative fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

avitaminose's review against another edition

4.0

Very interesting book about the society we live in. The style was peculiar in a good way, trying to reflect our way of reading on the Internet. The book exposes the hegemony of the silicon valley on our culture and the working of capitalism in a networked society.

chillcox15's review against another edition

5.0

This book is more than a bit insufferable, but if it wasn't, it probably wouldn't work as well as it does. Not so much a novel as it is a deserialized diatribe a la a blog post or twitter thread (although Kobek might pull his hair out if he heard it described as such), I Hate The Internet confronts several of the neoliberalite lies that we dwellers of cyberspace want to conveniently ignore in order to continue our day to day social media ins and outs. Is it about as broad-sided an assault as a wooden plank to the face? Sure, but what isn't nowadays.

ericfheiman's review against another edition

4.0

The cri de coeur that so many of us living in the Bay Area have wanted to write, but didn't have the courage or talent to do so. The book is successful, though, because it ruthlessly spares no one. As a SF local, I felt as much indicted as I did vindicated. A great example of how fiction often bears more truth than any nonfiction story. It also helps that I Hate The Internet is compulsively, relentlessly readable. I devoured it in one extended fever dream of a day. You should, too.

annielovesnyc's review against another edition

Horrible writing style, boring or unlikable characters

fbarone's review against another edition

5.0

Livro sensacional, recomendado para todos que curtem uma boa dose de sarcasmo e que não aguentam a bizarrice patológica do comportamento humano em sociedade.

ebokhyllami's review against another edition

3.0

God, men tung. Omfangsrik, men lite strukturert. Noe jeg forsåvidt visste. Hørte forfatterne prate om boka på Kapittel 18. Om hvordan IT-bransjen raserte over San Franscisco. Anbefales, men ingen sengelektyre.

hsliwinski's review against another edition

5.0

My world is upside down. Also feel helpless and hopeless after reading this book, but he speaks truth.

mattycakesbooks's review against another edition

3.0

I'm a bit hesitant to agree with all of the comparisons to Vonnegut -- there are definitely a lot of one-liners and jokes, there are definitely a lot of repeated lines and glib reframings of common narratives, but the similarities end there. Vonnegut, at his core, was motivated by compassion (at best) or pity (at worst) for mankind, and Kobek seems to feel nothing but contempt for humanity. Seriously, this is maybe the most pessimistic book I've ever read, and I'm including in that assessment Thomas Ligotti's "Conspiracy Against the Human Race," in which he argues that humanity should stop breeding because consciousness is a horrifying genetic mutation and is basically a torture we should eliminate by choosing voluntary extinction. Ligotti, at least, seems motivated by a basic sympathy for humans and the torture they go through, while Kobek seems more disgusted with humans than anything else.

The thing is, he's usually right. Sometimes, he's just being shitty (which I'd guess is his intention), but most of the time, there's no lie in what he's saying. And ultimately, I'd rather see a book be honest than uplifting, so by that measure, it's an unqualified success. But man, is it depressing.