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evilbjork's review
4.0
AnTkind is Kaurfman's ultimate expression of self wankery in a career full of nothing but that, so for a fan of his like me, I loved it. It's as much of a self-aware meta-comedy as Adaptation and it goes way further into surrealism than even Synecdoche New York could have. Out of the 720 pages, there are easily 300 pages that could have been cut out considering they have little to do with the plot or theme, and they contain plotlines that don't even pay off. With that in mind, it's pretty obvious that this book is specifically for fans of Kaufman's humor and meta storytelling. It's a bloated, nonsensical mess, and a fun read.
eggsmcnil's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gabrielf94's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
kenlycraighill's review against another edition
2.0
This book is like listening to a distorted recording of someone describing a nonsensical codeine fueled nightmare
demonxore's review against another edition
funny
slow-paced
2.75
Like many millennials I dig Kaufman's cinematic oeuvre, but after more than 700 pages of Antkind I can definitively say I'm not a fan of Kaufman the author. As others have mentioned in reviews, the first 300 pages were hilarious! But the gag became stale beyond the halfway point. Sorry, Charlie!
schminnyb's review against another edition
3.0
Humorous at first. Quickly becomes self-indulgent white dude drivel.
larno's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved Antkind from beginning to end. Very funny, surreal, silly, and thought provoking. Throughout the entire read I had no idea where it was heading. Maybe that’s a pro or a con, I’m not sure. The Protagonist “B.” is a type of character I like to see. Very much not a good person, but also trying to be a good person. For B., being a good person is manly for vein reasons. The middle of the book is where it started to bog down. Most of the chapters were about B. going to a hypnotists trying to remember the movie, and thats where I was getting a little lost. It gets DENSE. Multiple plot points seemingly intersecting each other, even blurring what is or is not reality. My favorite parts of the book is when it talks about memories, and how memories are what makes us human (huthon). It gets very reflective on those premises as to how powerful memory is. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Antkind. If you don’t mind a 3 month long movie being described to you, then this is worth a read.
camstipated's review
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Very funny, refreshingly original, and ironically woke.
However, the story itself is a total mess by the end. In the novel, Kaufman's protagonist refers to Christopher Nolan movies as "smart movies for dumb people" (at least I think he does) which is funny criticism for a Kaufman character to make, because this (as you might guess if you've seen any of Kaufman's films) is a smart book for almost no people - I don't think anybody will say that this is a truly consistent, satisfying book, no matter how much of a pseudo-intellectual they may be.
It will be very rare, in the first place, that somebody who enjoys this kind of story (if such a person exists) will also enjoy this kind of humor. I'm starting to think that the smarter a book tries to be, the more it shoots itself in the foot by creating some kind of devastating tonal contrast or plot-related mess that cannot be resolved by the end.
Thankfully, next on my reading list is a bunch of Tolkien, so I'll have a palette-cleansing return to form, back to books that do not try to be anything more than they can handle being.
However, the story itself is a total mess by the end. In the novel, Kaufman's protagonist refers to Christopher Nolan movies as "smart movies for dumb people" (at least I think he does) which is funny criticism for a Kaufman character to make, because this (as you might guess if you've seen any of Kaufman's films) is a smart book for almost no people - I don't think anybody will say that this is a truly consistent, satisfying book, no matter how much of a pseudo-intellectual they may be.
It will be very rare, in the first place, that somebody who enjoys this kind of story (if such a person exists) will also enjoy this kind of humor. I'm starting to think that the smarter a book tries to be, the more it shoots itself in the foot by creating some kind of devastating tonal contrast or plot-related mess that cannot be resolved by the end.
Thankfully, next on my reading list is a bunch of Tolkien, so I'll have a palette-cleansing return to form, back to books that do not try to be anything more than they can handle being.