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rielake93 's review for:
Super Sad True Love Story
by Gary Shteyngart
I was amused by the book, but it didn't end as strongly as I had hoped. In a way, it ended like 1984-- but like, a tamer version. The title is pretty freaking great, so A+ for that, but that's the only thing I would give such high grades.
Super Sad True Love Story is a satirical dystopia. I love dystopia novels. I love satire. So of course I would love this hybrid. Of course, by my tone you can probably tell I did not love it. I did love certain aspects. The over-the-top descriptions Lenny used. Imagining how futuristic objects looked-- were Onionskin jeans really 100% transparent? What crazy chain of events had to happen in my stuffy US where this could ever be worn in public? The set up by introducing Eunice and the beaver intrigued me because they seemed to be catalysts for Lenny's and the ARA's plots, respectively. How would the two plots intertwine?
It turns out, not much. At least, Lenny never is important. The only reason he's interviewed by the ARA beaver is because he knows a couple dissenters. None of his actions ever spur any of the events in the developing rebellion. In fact, Eunice would have been a better main character, because at least she makes some contact with the rebellion army. But she would also be a much worse main character, because her arc is a mess.
Mentioning her, I need to bring up one of my biggest critiques. Women are viewed through a particularly creepy lens throughout the whole book. The author definitely doesn't understand that most women wouldn't do half the shit these fictional women did. Please, streamers and influencers do some weird things for views, but a woman describing childhood molestation while naked? Yeah, no, this guy doesn't get it. Yes, I get that the novel's tone is supposed to be cartoonish. But, the male characters never did such over-the-top things with the exception of one gay live streamer getting rammed while talking news. And it doesn't help that Lenny is supremely creepy. I don't think a page goes by where he's not obsessing over Eunice. She's nearly half his age but acts like she's a third of his age sometimes. He's 39, so you get the picture. And the author makes one of the biggest mistakes made by male writers when they attempt to write female characters: Eunice's plotlines are advanced by fucking different people. Come on, man.
I was most satisfied by Lenny's outlandish quest to reach immortality. He states this is his goal, and I was like, this guy is crazy. But because the novel starts with such a shocking premise, I thought, maybe this ordinary man could achieve it in such an extraordinary world. As I read on, my faith in him seeped while my incredulity grew. As you approach the end, you realize he was pretty much always nothing and the nice thing is he realizes that, too. The last journal entry we see, he says he will die that day. He's wrong about this, too. He continues to live on and witness Joshie's attempt at immortality inevitably fail.
All in all, the book isn't bad, but it's not as great as it could've been. To put it in a tldr-version, apropos to the book's themes: it's fun but disappointing and is too-frequently icky.
Super Sad True Love Story is a satirical dystopia. I love dystopia novels. I love satire. So of course I would love this hybrid. Of course, by my tone you can probably tell I did not love it. I did love certain aspects. The over-the-top descriptions Lenny used. Imagining how futuristic objects looked-- were Onionskin jeans really 100% transparent? What crazy chain of events had to happen in my stuffy US where this could ever be worn in public? The set up by introducing Eunice and the beaver intrigued me because they seemed to be catalysts for Lenny's and the ARA's plots, respectively. How would the two plots intertwine?
It turns out, not much. At least, Lenny never is important. The only reason he's interviewed by the ARA beaver is because he knows a couple dissenters. None of his actions ever spur any of the events in the developing rebellion. In fact, Eunice would have been a better main character, because at least she makes some contact with the rebellion army. But she would also be a much worse main character, because her arc is a mess.
Mentioning her, I need to bring up one of my biggest critiques. Women are viewed through a particularly creepy lens throughout the whole book. The author definitely doesn't understand that most women wouldn't do half the shit these fictional women did. Please, streamers and influencers do some weird things for views, but a woman describing childhood molestation while naked? Yeah, no, this guy doesn't get it. Yes, I get that the novel's tone is supposed to be cartoonish. But, the male characters never did such over-the-top things with the exception of one gay live streamer getting rammed while talking news. And it doesn't help that Lenny is supremely creepy. I don't think a page goes by where he's not obsessing over Eunice. She's nearly half his age but acts like she's a third of his age sometimes. He's 39, so you get the picture. And the author makes one of the biggest mistakes made by male writers when they attempt to write female characters: Eunice's plotlines are advanced by fucking different people. Come on, man.
I was most satisfied by Lenny's outlandish quest to reach immortality. He states this is his goal, and I was like, this guy is crazy. But because the novel starts with such a shocking premise, I thought, maybe this ordinary man could achieve it in such an extraordinary world. As I read on, my faith in him seeped while my incredulity grew. As you approach the end, you realize he was pretty much always nothing and the nice thing is he realizes that, too. The last journal entry we see, he says he will die that day. He's wrong about this, too. He continues to live on and witness Joshie's attempt at immortality inevitably fail.
All in all, the book isn't bad, but it's not as great as it could've been. To put it in a tldr-version, apropos to the book's themes: it's fun but disappointing and is too-frequently icky.