Reviews

Feels like eating a poke bowl

I found this to be a particularly fascinating novel. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the storyline, and the thought put behind each sentence through cultural and academic references. There are two main aspects which I liked about the book, namely the perception of losing one's mind, and that which could be considered a critique towards surveillance culture.

**spoilers ahead**

The narrator is an unreliable one. Told in first person, the reader is only perceiving the story as the character himself perceives it. However, throughout the book, the character slowly begins to lose his mind. The reader loses track of what is concretely happening, whether any of it is imagined or real, and it is impossible to predict what will happen. I am fascinated by the way in which Kunzru achieves this. At a certain point in the book, the sentences seem to not make sense anymore: you read them individually and understand them, but they seem to be disconnected from each other - none of it really makes sense anymore. The reader lives alongside the main character in the same state of dissociation and confusion the latter feels. It is a wonderful representation of what slowly losing one's mind (probably) feels like.

Looking, for example, at the scene in which the narrator leaves his therapist's office, and believes that everything around him is simply a simulation. Going from every minuscule detail such as the dog near the fence, or the phone screen that the person next to him is looking at, to questioning reality in general and the body's belonging to its environment, the reader is brought along through a roller-coaster ride of emotions questioning life and death and the meaning of it all. This kind of representation of thought spiraling must be praised.

The second aspect is that which I perceive to be an overarching critique of surveillance culture. There are four instances in the novel where the concept of privacy or being watched are central themes - although one could simply argue that it was part of the narrator's deteriorating mental state. Still, the discussion of privacy and extreme control over one's actions is first brought up at the Deuter Center, where the institution seems to be a little too concerned about the main character's schedule and plans. This is then reinforced when put next to Monika's story of living in East Berlin and her experience with the Stasi. The extreme control, the fear of constantly being watched, and the way in which that lifestyle has ruined Monika's chances in life send the narrator spiraling even further.

The concept of surveillance then arises again with the introduction of Anton, and throughout the narrator's "disappearance weeks", before ending with him back home, feeling observed by everyone and worrying about how to control what is known by others and what is not. I find this to be a highly relevant topic nowadays, though I must admit that it scared me a bit to see it in such an extreme and negative way.

There are so many different and contrasting aspects and themes in this book. Regardless, I was fascinated by it all. I highly recommend it.