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samarakroeger's review
challenging
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
ummm.... did I know this was going to be experimental lit featuring an entire scene about pooping on the toilet? no. no I did not. this book is either very genius or very dumb, and I haven't been able to decide which yet.
this is an extremely meta book, following an unnamed male author who is struggling to write his novel, which is a piece of auto-fiction. is this author himself a piece of auto-fiction from Castro? is this multi-layered auto-fiction? anyways, I read an interview where it seems Castro has been trolling one of his author friends (Tao Lin) through inside jokes and references to his characters here. I honestly thought it was funny and bold for him to include "Jordan Castro" as a character in this book (although I think he was brought up too many times, sometimes seemingly to spew his own agenda).
and yet, despite it all, I found parts of this weirdly relatable. the indecision, the weird morning habits, the wanting to avoid social media but doom scrolling as a reflex anyways. I didn't think that this was going to be an ~internet novel~, but I was pleasantly surprised by that aspect here. also, for experimental lit fic about the internet, Patricia Lockwood's No One Is Talking About This is far superior (imo). I think the fact that The Novelist is a two-in-one, with a drug novel inside an internet novel, kinda complicates things.
and yeah, this would be the worst motivational book to get you to work on your own novel. I cannot in good faith recommend this book to most people.
this is an extremely meta book, following an unnamed male author who is struggling to write his novel, which is a piece of auto-fiction. is this author himself a piece of auto-fiction from Castro? is this multi-layered auto-fiction? anyways, I read an interview where it seems Castro has been trolling one of his author friends (Tao Lin) through inside jokes and references to his characters here. I honestly thought it was funny and bold for him to include "Jordan Castro" as a character in this book (although I think he was brought up too many times, sometimes seemingly to spew his own agenda).
and yet, despite it all, I found parts of this weirdly relatable. the indecision, the weird morning habits, the wanting to avoid social media but doom scrolling as a reflex anyways. I didn't think that this was going to be an ~internet novel~, but I was pleasantly surprised by that aspect here. also, for experimental lit fic about the internet, Patricia Lockwood's No One Is Talking About This is far superior (imo). I think the fact that The Novelist is a two-in-one, with a drug novel inside an internet novel, kinda complicates things.
and yeah, this would be the worst motivational book to get you to work on your own novel. I cannot in good faith recommend this book to most people.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Excrement, Body horror, and Drug use
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