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caleb_tankersley's review
3.0
Tao Lin is clearly a talented writer. His sentences are fluid, but his most impressive work is with the story structures. There's something fresh about his vision here, even if he's constantly grappling to put into words some vague sense of depression. My main issue was with this book as a collection. I was a bit bored by the last few stories. I'm not sure I can fault Lin on this, but every story in the book is so similar. This is kind of a trope in contemporary story collections. Publishers seem to require some kind of theme or strong sense of cohesion without considering how a small sense of change, of a lack of cohesion can enhance a collection and maintain a sense of surprise. Again, not sure if this is Lin's fault or his publishers. And perhaps my musings on how story collections are put together don't belong in this space or shouldn't factor in my review of Bed. But here are my thoughts, and unfortunately they did sour the end of the collection for me. Instead of reading the whole thing through, pick out three or four stories to read at a time.
carmiendo's review
2.0
this book was hard to read in a slightly different way than I expected it to be hard to read
cynicalworm's review
5.0
Fantastic prose. The stories did blur a little into each other so others may not enjoy it as much as I did. To me, this was the perfect dose of absurdity and restlessness I needed.
zachwerb's review
5.0
Really enjoyed this book, the anxiety fueled characters made me feel very human.
nathansnook's review
3.0
Bed (2007) by Tao Lin is a half-hazard assortment of short stories that range from very different emotions–alienation, loneliness, distance–things that make me feel much sadder than I need to feel. This isn’t a bad thing. When I read Taipei, I discovered these strange things happening within myself, awkward minor chords plucked without the fingers of my dominant hand. This mixed bag of stories feels like the becoming of Taipei, and makes for a very interesting stepping stone to what was to become Tao Lin.
lucasmiller's review
2.0
i like short stories which make me feel that life is hopeless. hopeless in an empowering way.
deadwolfbones's review
3.0
Tao Lin, I read your book.
I liked it, for the most part. It made me want to write, which a certain kind of fiction always does. It reminded me of my own life at times. As a fellow Floridian ex-pat of roughly the same age, the Denny's references resonated. I don't know if they resonated the same way for people not from Florida. I guess it doesn't matter.
I liked the stories in the following order:
Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues
Cull the Steel Heart, Melt the Ice one, Love the Weak Thing; Say Nothing of Consolation, but Irrelevance, Disaster, and Nonexistence; Have no Hope or Hate--Nothing; Ruin Yourself Exclusively, Completely, and Whenever Possible
Love is the Indifferent God of the Religion in which Universe is Church
Sincerity
Love is a Thing on Sale for More Money Than There Exists
Insomnia for a Better Tomorrow
Sasquatch
Three Day Cruise
Nine, Ten
I think this may indicate that I don't like the way you write children so much. But maybe not, maybe I just found those stories less compelling.
I stayed in bed all day reading this book. I felt like I was being a little self-consciously theatrical, reading a book called Bed in bed, but in the final analysis I think I was just being hard on myself.
Reading all of these stories in one go was a little exhausting. I think perhaps your tone is a bit too consistent, but that's hardly something someone could fault you for.
I do, however, have a couple of complaints.
1. You use "eschatology" twice in this collection, which, I think we can agree, is one or two times too many.
2. In the story "Nine, Ten," you use the phrasing "_____ in the face" twice. I feel the problem here is obvious.
3. Also in the story "Nine, Ten": there is a typo on page 211. "It would take three Chopin's to beat up Glenn Gould."
I hope you will take these criticisms as evidence of the closeness of my reading rather than an overriding dislike for your work, which I feel is very enjoyable in an uncomfortable and too-warm kind of way.
I look forward to reading eeeee eee eeee, whenever the library here acquires it.
I liked it, for the most part. It made me want to write, which a certain kind of fiction always does. It reminded me of my own life at times. As a fellow Floridian ex-pat of roughly the same age, the Denny's references resonated. I don't know if they resonated the same way for people not from Florida. I guess it doesn't matter.
I liked the stories in the following order:
Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues
Cull the Steel Heart, Melt the Ice one, Love the Weak Thing; Say Nothing of Consolation, but Irrelevance, Disaster, and Nonexistence; Have no Hope or Hate--Nothing; Ruin Yourself Exclusively, Completely, and Whenever Possible
Love is the Indifferent God of the Religion in which Universe is Church
Sincerity
Love is a Thing on Sale for More Money Than There Exists
Insomnia for a Better Tomorrow
Sasquatch
Three Day Cruise
Nine, Ten
I think this may indicate that I don't like the way you write children so much. But maybe not, maybe I just found those stories less compelling.
I stayed in bed all day reading this book. I felt like I was being a little self-consciously theatrical, reading a book called Bed in bed, but in the final analysis I think I was just being hard on myself.
Reading all of these stories in one go was a little exhausting. I think perhaps your tone is a bit too consistent, but that's hardly something someone could fault you for.
I do, however, have a couple of complaints.
1. You use "eschatology" twice in this collection, which, I think we can agree, is one or two times too many.
2. In the story "Nine, Ten," you use the phrasing "_____ in the face" twice. I feel the problem here is obvious.
3. Also in the story "Nine, Ten": there is a typo on page 211. "It would take three Chopin's to beat up Glenn Gould."
I hope you will take these criticisms as evidence of the closeness of my reading rather than an overriding dislike for your work, which I feel is very enjoyable in an uncomfortable and too-warm kind of way.
I look forward to reading eeeee eee eeee, whenever the library here acquires it.
jennifer_inaldo's review
2.0
i read the back cover at city lights bookstore and instantly decided i needed to read this.
hope. there was something hopeful about the back cover blurb.
lies.
i had to stop reading. i was more then 1/2 way through but i couldn't take it anymore or even skip to the next story. that same mournful voice in each piece made me want to call it a day and slit my wrists.
that's not to say there are some beautiful sad moments that are written with great clarity and insight, but those moments are few and far between and they're still dripping with a feeling of listlessness.
real life seems to be hard enough to deal with these days. i don't need fiction to make me feel awful about the futility of things. i don't need it to blow sunshine up my ass but i'd like some sort of realistic balance.
hope. there was something hopeful about the back cover blurb.
lies.
i had to stop reading. i was more then 1/2 way through but i couldn't take it anymore or even skip to the next story. that same mournful voice in each piece made me want to call it a day and slit my wrists.
that's not to say there are some beautiful sad moments that are written with great clarity and insight, but those moments are few and far between and they're still dripping with a feeling of listlessness.
real life seems to be hard enough to deal with these days. i don't need fiction to make me feel awful about the futility of things. i don't need it to blow sunshine up my ass but i'd like some sort of realistic balance.
hcube3's review
4.0
these stories evoke a sense of humoured disappointment - the feeling after something goes so badly that you can't help but chuckle, or give that wry face you give as if to say "I didn't really try" - and ultimately while reading I felt a kinship to these people who my rational brain knew were terrible human beings
you find yourself thinking "maybe i am that bad", and then "maybe that's okay."
you find yourself thinking "maybe i am that bad", and then "maybe that's okay."
swirlnswing's review
3.0
So, I liked this, mostly.
Here's my primary dilemma when it comes to Tao Lin's writing, as I've read a couple of his books, aside from this collection of short stories: Some stories were better than others, but I really feel as though I'm reading about the same characters, over and over again, with different names. All of them are young, somewhat disaffected people, trying to figure out why and what they're lacking and how to fix it.
I call this a dilemma because I've read other authors who have a similar tone and style and I took zero issue with their works, didn't find them repetitive or boring. Not so here, after a while. Which is rather sad, all things considered.
Here's my primary dilemma when it comes to Tao Lin's writing, as I've read a couple of his books, aside from this collection of short stories: Some stories were better than others, but I really feel as though I'm reading about the same characters, over and over again, with different names. All of them are young, somewhat disaffected people, trying to figure out why and what they're lacking and how to fix it.
I call this a dilemma because I've read other authors who have a similar tone and style and I took zero issue with their works, didn't find them repetitive or boring. Not so here, after a while. Which is rather sad, all things considered.