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katykelly's review
5.0
"Connections used to be important. Now it's all selfies and sandwiches on Twitter."
The fact that I had to ask my husband what 'meatspace' is will tell you something about me. So while I don't share the protagonist's obsession with all things internet and cyber, I was aware enough to understand the references, the humour, and the irony of the story.
I saw this as a book mocking all things online, for readers who probably spend a lot of their free time online. But so I don't sound hypocritical, I admit that I read this book on an iPhone, using an App, updating my progress on a reading website, and am now reviewing it online for public appraisal. I'm not calling kettles names. It's mocking the cyber-world by showing how reliant we have become on it, how it can replace real life for some, how the distinction between the two can even blur.
It's very, very smart. It's very, very relevant. And it's very, very funny. Asian Brit Kitab Balasubramanyam has published his first book to... no acclaim whatsoever. He's been dumped. He's been fired. His income is fast dwindling. He lives with his more relaxed brother Aziz and sees his born-again-bachelor father once a week for dinner, where his dad's latest dates are related. Two events occur that rock the fragile foundation of Kitab's (mostly online) world, one where he posts carefully thought-out Tweets and counts his 'likes'. Aziz decides to get a tattoo, and discovering that the only bow-tie tattoo owner looks jjust like him, heads to American to track him down. While he's away, the only other online Kitab Balasubramanyam attempts to 'friend' Kitab on Facebook, and then shows up at his door. What is he after?
It's not as if we look down on Kitab and Aziz, slave to the hourly updates, unable to last a conversation without checking their phones for emails and Tweets to respond to. I imagine almost anyone reading this will feel a pull of familiarity, possibly one of guilt, unlikely one of smugness.
Kitab knows this about himself: "I used to read so much... I'd struggle to eat with a knife and fork or with my hands as I navigated sentences on a page. Now that's all been replaced with thinking of arch things to tweet, twitpic'ing my lunch or making up overheard conversations that might make people laugh." He knows he's been sucked in, but can't help himself.
It's funny because it's true. But does that make it sad as well? I assume Shukla is trying to show us the darker side of online living, and he does this very wittily with various characters. Mitch is a friend determined to stay in the 'meatspace' world of real people and interactions. Kitab and Aziz represent the generation who've grown up with technology and embraced it. The reader can see it is to their detriment. In a sex scene, Kitab realises his porn viewing has altered his experience of sex in the real world: "It doesn't fee like the videos I spend days watching. There's too much kissing. Everything flows from one act to another. We don't jump-cut from kiss to blowjob... to her willing face." We live edited and fast-cut lives online. Will this make our real lives pale in comparison?
Aziz's story adds to the issue. Kitab doesn't want him to leave (he's become agoraphobic since his recent setback and relies on his brother somewhat). Aziz is off to discover his bow-tie-tattoo doppelgänger. Why? Because "I need to populate my blog with content... I just need something to write about. A proper adventure." We see his narrative through blog updates (and the comments they solicit) and wonder just how much of the online world represents reality.
There's a lot more to the story than this. Kitab's own doppelgänger plays a huge role in the book and also shows us in one hilarious chapter how whatever we put online is then no longer under our control, the tiniest thing can have huge ramifications, it can't be taken back.
Just when you think you can compare this book to something else - the Joseph Gordon-Levitt film 'Don Jon' maybe, the book throws a curve-ball in the last act (one I'd suspected but was still stunned by). It's satisfying, sad, and makes you rethink everything you've read up to that point.
You'll laugh at this, you'll recognise yourself, you'll refuse to recognise yourself, you'll wonder how it all fits together. And then you'll see.
A great read. One I'd want older teens to read actually, to discuss in English lessons. Full of usable quotes, it's a carefully constructed piece that I really hope does well. Brilliant.
Review of a Netgalley advance copy.
The fact that I had to ask my husband what 'meatspace' is will tell you something about me. So while I don't share the protagonist's obsession with all things internet and cyber, I was aware enough to understand the references, the humour, and the irony of the story.
I saw this as a book mocking all things online, for readers who probably spend a lot of their free time online. But so I don't sound hypocritical, I admit that I read this book on an iPhone, using an App, updating my progress on a reading website, and am now reviewing it online for public appraisal. I'm not calling kettles names. It's mocking the cyber-world by showing how reliant we have become on it, how it can replace real life for some, how the distinction between the two can even blur.
It's very, very smart. It's very, very relevant. And it's very, very funny. Asian Brit Kitab Balasubramanyam has published his first book to... no acclaim whatsoever. He's been dumped. He's been fired. His income is fast dwindling. He lives with his more relaxed brother Aziz and sees his born-again-bachelor father once a week for dinner, where his dad's latest dates are related. Two events occur that rock the fragile foundation of Kitab's (mostly online) world, one where he posts carefully thought-out Tweets and counts his 'likes'. Aziz decides to get a tattoo, and discovering that the only bow-tie tattoo owner looks jjust like him, heads to American to track him down. While he's away, the only other online Kitab Balasubramanyam attempts to 'friend' Kitab on Facebook, and then shows up at his door. What is he after?
It's not as if we look down on Kitab and Aziz, slave to the hourly updates, unable to last a conversation without checking their phones for emails and Tweets to respond to. I imagine almost anyone reading this will feel a pull of familiarity, possibly one of guilt, unlikely one of smugness.
Kitab knows this about himself: "I used to read so much... I'd struggle to eat with a knife and fork or with my hands as I navigated sentences on a page. Now that's all been replaced with thinking of arch things to tweet, twitpic'ing my lunch or making up overheard conversations that might make people laugh." He knows he's been sucked in, but can't help himself.
It's funny because it's true. But does that make it sad as well? I assume Shukla is trying to show us the darker side of online living, and he does this very wittily with various characters. Mitch is a friend determined to stay in the 'meatspace' world of real people and interactions. Kitab and Aziz represent the generation who've grown up with technology and embraced it. The reader can see it is to their detriment. In a sex scene, Kitab realises his porn viewing has altered his experience of sex in the real world: "It doesn't fee like the videos I spend days watching. There's too much kissing. Everything flows from one act to another. We don't jump-cut from kiss to blowjob... to her willing face." We live edited and fast-cut lives online. Will this make our real lives pale in comparison?
Aziz's story adds to the issue. Kitab doesn't want him to leave (he's become agoraphobic since his recent setback and relies on his brother somewhat). Aziz is off to discover his bow-tie-tattoo doppelgänger. Why? Because "I need to populate my blog with content... I just need something to write about. A proper adventure." We see his narrative through blog updates (and the comments they solicit) and wonder just how much of the online world represents reality.
There's a lot more to the story than this. Kitab's own doppelgänger plays a huge role in the book and also shows us in one hilarious chapter how whatever we put online is then no longer under our control, the tiniest thing can have huge ramifications, it can't be taken back.
Just when you think you can compare this book to something else - the Joseph Gordon-Levitt film 'Don Jon' maybe, the book throws a curve-ball in the last act (one I'd suspected but was still stunned by). It's satisfying, sad, and makes you rethink everything you've read up to that point.
You'll laugh at this, you'll recognise yourself, you'll refuse to recognise yourself, you'll wonder how it all fits together. And then you'll see.
A great read. One I'd want older teens to read actually, to discuss in English lessons. Full of usable quotes, it's a carefully constructed piece that I really hope does well. Brilliant.
Review of a Netgalley advance copy.
patchworkbunny's review
3.0
Meatspace in part is a great social commentary on what the internet is doing to us. Kitab spends so much time composing tweets and checking for updates, he isn’t really present in the real world, or meatspace as some would call it. He places so much importance on gaining meaningless interactions online; has his latest tweet been retweeted, or just favourited?
He’s slowing slipping away from the real world though. It sounds like his break up was probably over his social media time and ignoring his girlfriend in order to look at his phone. I all think we’ve been guilty of wanting to check a response to something we’ve posted when there’s someone trying to talk to us at the same time. But real life relationships should always be the priority.
The online interactions and obsessions are spot on, it’s clearly written by someone who spends plenty of time online, specifically Twitter. It’s also kind of scary how some people make identity theft incredibly easy for potential thieves. Not just those seeking to use it for financial gain but just usurping someone’s life online. When you put so much into building your online presence, an interloper can be a real threat.
Some parts did make me cringe though, and I’ll admit to skim reading parts such as some of Aziz’s blog posts and the chapter where they go to a sex party. Aziz’s blogging does highlight how there’s plenty of rubbish on the internet though and the commenter who keeps coming back to complain did make me laugh. Why take the time to read and comment on something you don’t like? I did like how Aziz’s narration kind of tells the same story from the other side, being that person off the internet that just turns up to meet a stranger.
Kitab2 is uninhibited and free from the social constraints most of us abide by. He doesn’t care if what he does is spread on the internet, in fact there’s no one paying attention to him. Apart from what he does reflects badly on Kitab. I suppose Kitab2 is young and immature but I found him a bit irritating. If I were Kitab I probably would have called the police. However it does remind me how people can become over-familiar through the internet. They think they know you so well but in reality, they are still strangers.
The ending was surprising and rather changed the tone of the book into something more emotional. I wonder if I would have considered some parts differently if I had known what I know now…
He’s slowing slipping away from the real world though. It sounds like his break up was probably over his social media time and ignoring his girlfriend in order to look at his phone. I all think we’ve been guilty of wanting to check a response to something we’ve posted when there’s someone trying to talk to us at the same time. But real life relationships should always be the priority.
The online interactions and obsessions are spot on, it’s clearly written by someone who spends plenty of time online, specifically Twitter. It’s also kind of scary how some people make identity theft incredibly easy for potential thieves. Not just those seeking to use it for financial gain but just usurping someone’s life online. When you put so much into building your online presence, an interloper can be a real threat.
Some parts did make me cringe though, and I’ll admit to skim reading parts such as some of Aziz’s blog posts and the chapter where they go to a sex party. Aziz’s blogging does highlight how there’s plenty of rubbish on the internet though and the commenter who keeps coming back to complain did make me laugh. Why take the time to read and comment on something you don’t like? I did like how Aziz’s narration kind of tells the same story from the other side, being that person off the internet that just turns up to meet a stranger.
Kitab2 is uninhibited and free from the social constraints most of us abide by. He doesn’t care if what he does is spread on the internet, in fact there’s no one paying attention to him. Apart from what he does reflects badly on Kitab. I suppose Kitab2 is young and immature but I found him a bit irritating. If I were Kitab I probably would have called the police. However it does remind me how people can become over-familiar through the internet. They think they know you so well but in reality, they are still strangers.
The ending was surprising and rather changed the tone of the book into something more emotional. I wonder if I would have considered some parts differently if I had known what I know now…
georgina_bawden's review
3.0
This was really readable, so I've bumped it up to 3 stars. The ending infuriated me so much I marked it as 2 originally!
The book follows a writer struggling to write his second novel (so far so meta). He and his brother Aziz have simultaneously discovered their doppelgangers on the internet and embark on slightly awkward adventures as they meet them in real life.
The main character Kitab is only vaguely sympathetic. He's grieving, he has a strained relationship with his father, he's recently broken up with a long term girlfriend, and he's struggling to write whilst rapidly running out of money and only making the most half-hearted attempts to find a day job.
The book is funny in parts, and this is the work of a skilled writer - despite never really gripping me it did zip along quickly and was entertaining enough and well written that I kept going.
The ending however was atrocious. There are hints throughout that something is off, and that the information our narrator Kitab is giving us isn't quite right. I won't spoil it, but it makes use of a common fiction cliche, and in my opinion didn't provide the character development or proper closure I felt the book needed.
So I wasn't a fan, particularly, and I wouldn't recommend it per se, but I will seek out Nikesh's other work because he's certainly very talented. And if you want an entertaining light read then you could definitely do worse.
The book follows a writer struggling to write his second novel (so far so meta). He and his brother Aziz have simultaneously discovered their doppelgangers on the internet and embark on slightly awkward adventures as they meet them in real life.
The main character Kitab is only vaguely sympathetic. He's grieving, he has a strained relationship with his father, he's recently broken up with a long term girlfriend, and he's struggling to write whilst rapidly running out of money and only making the most half-hearted attempts to find a day job.
The book is funny in parts, and this is the work of a skilled writer - despite never really gripping me it did zip along quickly and was entertaining enough and well written that I kept going.
The ending however was atrocious. There are hints throughout that something is off, and that the information our narrator Kitab is giving us isn't quite right. I won't spoil it, but it makes use of a common fiction cliche, and in my opinion didn't provide the character development or proper closure I felt the book needed.
So I wasn't a fan, particularly, and I wouldn't recommend it per se, but I will seek out Nikesh's other work because he's certainly very talented. And if you want an entertaining light read then you could definitely do worse.
starduest's review
3.0
A firm 3.5 but it was a bit too weird for me and a use of a clichéd literary device meant a mark down. Also, I don't understand how someone who's meant to be living his life online and on social media doesn't have the sense to block people on Twitter or do simple things to protect his various accounts. Though I guess if Kitab knew how to do all that there wouldn't be much of a story. I liked however the portrayal of how technology/social media controls lives and how online personas are so carefully curated.
schopflin's review
3.0
I chose this because I saw the author speak and found him very funny and articulate. The book is indeed well-written and funny but I'm probably ten years too old to read this (even as a keen social media person). Moving in the end though.
marissalobot's review
3.0
Book was enjoyable throughout but the bit that really made it special was the ending.
Big fan of Nikesh Shukla, would like to read more from him in future.
Big fan of Nikesh Shukla, would like to read more from him in future.
grovelund's review
3.0
Funny and great characters, but at times the 'oh god what is the online world doing to our lives and interactions' bit felt a tad heavy handed, and I felt the twist was pretty unnecessary.
catherine_brooks's review
2.0
The premise of this is good but got a bit bored in the middle and struggled to finish.
roma's review
5.0
I heard Nikesh read from Meatspace at Bad Language in Manchester, I was drawn into the narrative by it's quick and fresh humour but I stayed for Kitab and his heartbreak, I don't want to spoil anything but the twists in this book were all the more heartbreaking after the humour it sucks us in with. this is one of the freshest books I've set in a long time one you really cannot take out of 2010s something it should be immensely proud of.