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scribblepost's review
4.0
4.5 stars. Smart, funny, political, and engaging. Most of all, pro-woman, which I so appreciate, especially coming from a male writer—though oddly, I did not feel drawn at all to his main protagonist. On that note, it's less a novel about characters than ideas (by which I mean they feel more representational than human, with the exception of Ellen), but to that end, it's definitely worth reading. The ferocity of his outrage is admirable. His parody of Ayn Rand towards the end is HILARIOUS. On the surface, this is a cynical novel, but it is fueled by a deep concern with humanity.
diamondolc's review
4.0
4.5 stars
This book was amazing. It was such a brilliant and unapologetic blend of fiction and nonfiction; basically Kobek just wanted to discuss nonfictional discourse but created fictional characters to very blatantly illustrate his points, which was something I’ve never seen before in a novel (at least not quite like this). Reading this, I felt like “finally someone gets it!!!” because many of the points made in the book were things I’ve thought about myself and no one ever seems to understand what I mean.
Kobek does such a brilliant job at shoving our society’s hypocrisy in our faces. To some readers this might seem abrasive, but I loved it. Sometimes you need to be obnoxious to get a point through people’s thick skulls.
Overall I absolutely adored this book and thought it was completely brilliant. I’m only taking off points because I think the message could have been more effective if the book had been a little more concise, and because the narrative can get a little too pretentious for my taste at points.
I wish more people would give this book a chance, because seriously...I hate the internet too in a lot of ways haha.
This book was amazing. It was such a brilliant and unapologetic blend of fiction and nonfiction; basically Kobek just wanted to discuss nonfictional discourse but created fictional characters to very blatantly illustrate his points, which was something I’ve never seen before in a novel (at least not quite like this). Reading this, I felt like “finally someone gets it!!!” because many of the points made in the book were things I’ve thought about myself and no one ever seems to understand what I mean.
Kobek does such a brilliant job at shoving our society’s hypocrisy in our faces. To some readers this might seem abrasive, but I loved it. Sometimes you need to be obnoxious to get a point through people’s thick skulls.
Overall I absolutely adored this book and thought it was completely brilliant. I’m only taking off points because I think the message could have been more effective if the book had been a little more concise, and because the narrative can get a little too pretentious for my taste at points.
I wish more people would give this book a chance, because seriously...I hate the internet too in a lot of ways haha.
bunceyyy's review against another edition
3.0
This is definitely for fans of hyper-intellectual fiction; what I - affectionately - refer to as "wanky" fiction. Kobek is very clever and likes to show it, so this reads more like a scathing takedown of the Internet and modern western civilisation than an actual novel, as the front cover claims it to be. It is disjointed and plotless, with slightly too many characters for me to be able to remember which one is which and how they correspond to each other. Ultimately, nothing really gets concluded. Having said that, that may be your type of thing (it's not mine). Regardless, it's very funny, and that was it's saving grace - and why I persevered to the end. Kobek has an extremely effective way of putting things; you realise how absurd the modern day is and laugh...until you consider that you are everything he is laughing at.
kkniaziewicz's review against another edition
3.0
Valjana kritika savremene internet kulture koja neprekidno (još od svog početka) srlja u propast. Nešto iritantan stil pisanja koji podsjeća upravo na sadržaj prosječnog internetskog prostora sa komentarima stvara dodatnu nelagodu zvog koje poželite da pobrišete sve društvene mreže kojih ste član, te bacite svoj modem za internet, telefon i računar. Kontinuirano se i slažete i raspravljate s piscem i nadate se da preuveličava i našu stvarnost predstavlja gorom no što jeste.
vesseltosea's review
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
mostrengo's review
dark
funny
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
3.25
danielugh's review
1.0
reads like a high schooler writing a paper trying to meet the word count and they got all their information from wikipedia
bleary's review against another edition
3.0
A frustrating book. It's a Vonnegut pastiche, with endless asides, repetition of phrases, a plot that's completely forgotten about most of the time, and even a Kilgore Trout-type character.
Kobek has a core idea in this, which is that corporate America is a long history of unpaid labour. There was slavery, America's original sin (apart from the ethnic cleansing prior to the formation of the state, of course). Then there's the comic industry, with creators like Jack Kirby being paid a few hundred dollars for intellectual property that is now worth billions and which dominates all of world culture. The internet has now turned us all into Jack Kirbys, creating content for free on social media platforms, which allows those social media platforms to sell advertising. Collectively, our Facebook posts generate more revenue than all of Marvel's characters, but Mark Zuckerberg pays us even less than the comics industry paid Jack.
If this sounds like a slightly tedious guy sounding off at a dinner party... well, that's what this book is like. Sometimes. And other times it's quite lucid and funny and entertaining. I read it in a few hours and I would say that I hated it for about 30% of the time.
What's really funny though is how this now reads as a period drama. It's a vivid and very accurate snapshot of internet life in 2013, meaning that it's not only pre-Trump but pre-#Gamergate, and therefore feels as distant as the Georgian era. Still, at least this opens the door to a sequel: "I Fucking Hate The Internet".
Kobek has a core idea in this, which is that corporate America is a long history of unpaid labour. There was slavery, America's original sin (apart from the ethnic cleansing prior to the formation of the state, of course). Then there's the comic industry, with creators like Jack Kirby being paid a few hundred dollars for intellectual property that is now worth billions and which dominates all of world culture. The internet has now turned us all into Jack Kirbys, creating content for free on social media platforms, which allows those social media platforms to sell advertising. Collectively, our Facebook posts generate more revenue than all of Marvel's characters, but Mark Zuckerberg pays us even less than the comics industry paid Jack.
If this sounds like a slightly tedious guy sounding off at a dinner party... well, that's what this book is like. Sometimes. And other times it's quite lucid and funny and entertaining. I read it in a few hours and I would say that I hated it for about 30% of the time.
What's really funny though is how this now reads as a period drama. It's a vivid and very accurate snapshot of internet life in 2013, meaning that it's not only pre-Trump but pre-#Gamergate, and therefore feels as distant as the Georgian era. Still, at least this opens the door to a sequel: "I Fucking Hate The Internet".
bundy23's review against another edition
5.0
It's Vonnegut but with more hate and I, despite the fact that the actually story part was very meh, loved it. Luckily the "plot" was only there so the author could spit hate and bile at pretty much everything that deserves to be torn to shreds.
It also contains some of the greatest book reviews I've ever read.
It also contains some of the greatest book reviews I've ever read.