A review by mattycakesbooks
I Hate the Internet by Jarett Kobek

3.0

I'm a bit hesitant to agree with all of the comparisons to Vonnegut -- there are definitely a lot of one-liners and jokes, there are definitely a lot of repeated lines and glib reframings of common narratives, but the similarities end there. Vonnegut, at his core, was motivated by compassion (at best) or pity (at worst) for mankind, and Kobek seems to feel nothing but contempt for humanity. Seriously, this is maybe the most pessimistic book I've ever read, and I'm including in that assessment Thomas Ligotti's "Conspiracy Against the Human Race," in which he argues that humanity should stop breeding because consciousness is a horrifying genetic mutation and is basically a torture we should eliminate by choosing voluntary extinction. Ligotti, at least, seems motivated by a basic sympathy for humans and the torture they go through, while Kobek seems more disgusted with humans than anything else.

The thing is, he's usually right. Sometimes, he's just being shitty (which I'd guess is his intention), but most of the time, there's no lie in what he's saying. And ultimately, I'd rather see a book be honest than uplifting, so by that measure, it's an unqualified success. But man, is it depressing.