Reviews

I wanted something humorous after some heavy reading just past, with another soon to arrive. I’ve never read anything by Steve Toltz, so here goes nothing with his Here Goes Nothing.

It’s breezy and told in the first person by Angus Mooney - generally called Mooney rather than Angus.

Certainly there are some laugh out loud moments. And Toltz’s ability to string “scientificcy” stuff together has me wondering how much of THAT is within current physics. Physics is so abstruse and conceptual these days, that it’s pretty much all I know about it - that it is way more than I know about. And converges with a sort of spirituality for some physicists.

And the book is also political. History repeating, that sort of thing.

And there’s a gripping childbirth scene - very 21st century. I can’t imagine anyone who actually gave birth writing it. But that’s just me - another male who never gave birth.

So this dead man Mooney, who led a far less than exemplary life, is to be our spiritual leader? Our guru? Who knows? At 75% in I still don’t. But it’s an easy and interesting read. A bit of a Ready Player One feel.

#areadersjourney

ichirofakename's review against another edition

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4.0

Pretty strong novel of ideas. Guy dies, discovers the afterlife is rather like this life, though generally worse. But for $1k you can haunt your wife for an hour.

illiteratekatie's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

acorn192k's review against another edition

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dark funny medium-paced

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

4.0

berndm's review against another edition

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2.0

One simple idea idea: that afterlife might just be an even more banal rerun of life with no escape from the cycle, no rest-in-peace. Brilliant as a concept, but how much mileage can you get out of this idea alone? It would have made for a great short story but here it is repeated ad nauseam for hundreds of pages, without ever adding much except the obligatory epidemic. Definitely a challenge to stay with this book. I endured only for Gracie’s free riffing sermons which are its highlight.

shorter_books's review

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Enjoyed a lot but got distracted by other books. Will maybe come back to it.

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