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A review by jdintr
A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers
4.0
There is only one reason to get into this book: you are an American or a US-phile who cares enough about the country's place in the world.
This is a parable, to be read for its message more than mere entertainment. Eggers has strong opinions of America's generation-long decline (Being a fellow Gen-Xer, the use of Schwinn bicycles was poignant. I remember how they were THE bike of my childhood, yet now they're just Chinese-made knockoffs not worth buying for my own kids.)
They closing scene of the book, an unsuccessful sexual encounter, goes beyond parable to allegory. The surreal scenes of Clay's young colleagues in the tent are hilarious, almost Beckettian.
I care deeply for my nation as it is cannibalized by me-first economics and political dreams of Limited Greatness. Hologram really brings this to light.
This is a parable, to be read for its message more than mere entertainment. Eggers has strong opinions of America's generation-long decline (Being a fellow Gen-Xer, the use of Schwinn bicycles was poignant. I remember how they were THE bike of my childhood, yet now they're just Chinese-made knockoffs not worth buying for my own kids.)
They closing scene of the book, an unsuccessful sexual encounter, goes beyond parable to allegory. The surreal scenes of Clay's young colleagues in the tent are hilarious, almost Beckettian.
I care deeply for my nation as it is cannibalized by me-first economics and political dreams of Limited Greatness. Hologram really brings this to light.