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A review by feck
Person by Sam Pink
3.0
It seems like most people either love this or hate it, but I ended up pretty middle-of-the-road on it for a few different reasons. I know Sam Pink is a talented guy, and I can tell he's a gifted storyteller and has a creative knack for unique writing, but it left me with some diminishing returns this time.
As a comedic text, it's well-done. There was a lot of deadpan/dry humor throughout that I thought was really funny. It successfully exposed and embraced the dumb thoughts that pop into our heads on a daily basis, and I think that was the book's strongest asset. There were sections of this book that made me believe this could be completely perfect had it stuck with that.
As an existentialist text, it's weak. Pink's take on existential dread is the equivalent to an "enlightened" high schooler's diary scribblings. Very edgy in parts and just approached in the blandest and dullest way imaginable. I also was really not a fan of the book's catchphrase "it feels like practice," and the way it was used throughout. A lot of the dialogue was meant to be very naturalistic to this neurotic individual, but then that catchphrase was thrown in a lot, and it felt as though Pink was trying to make a famous literature quote that we study for years to come. I wasn't a fan of that. Plus, it's just not that great of a line—certainly not one that bears repeating.
As a deconstructionist text, it's okay. I thought the short and punchy writing worked in its favor a lot of the time, though I often felt it was holding the book back from real insight and clever prose. It made the book feel more like an extended monologue, which I understand is part of its appeal. It just ended up feeling lazy to me a lot of the time. So as a deconstruction of traditional writing, I thought it certainly accomplished its goal, though I wish it were approached with a little more drive. I also think Pink's insistence on ending every sentence with a period, even when a question is being asked and the sentence obviously demands a question mark, is silly.
Overall, it was a fun, short read. It could've been a lot better in my opinion, but I still enjoyed it. I think I'll probably have better luck with Pink's other works, as I feel the style of this one is what's putting me off.
As a comedic text, it's well-done. There was a lot of deadpan/dry humor throughout that I thought was really funny. It successfully exposed and embraced the dumb thoughts that pop into our heads on a daily basis, and I think that was the book's strongest asset. There were sections of this book that made me believe this could be completely perfect had it stuck with that.
As an existentialist text, it's weak. Pink's take on existential dread is the equivalent to an "enlightened" high schooler's diary scribblings. Very edgy in parts and just approached in the blandest and dullest way imaginable. I also was really not a fan of the book's catchphrase "it feels like practice," and the way it was used throughout. A lot of the dialogue was meant to be very naturalistic to this neurotic individual, but then that catchphrase was thrown in a lot, and it felt as though Pink was trying to make a famous literature quote that we study for years to come. I wasn't a fan of that. Plus, it's just not that great of a line—certainly not one that bears repeating.
As a deconstructionist text, it's okay. I thought the short and punchy writing worked in its favor a lot of the time, though I often felt it was holding the book back from real insight and clever prose. It made the book feel more like an extended monologue, which I understand is part of its appeal. It just ended up feeling lazy to me a lot of the time. So as a deconstruction of traditional writing, I thought it certainly accomplished its goal, though I wish it were approached with a little more drive. I also think Pink's insistence on ending every sentence with a period, even when a question is being asked and the sentence obviously demands a question mark, is silly.
Overall, it was a fun, short read. It could've been a lot better in my opinion, but I still enjoyed it. I think I'll probably have better luck with Pink's other works, as I feel the style of this one is what's putting me off.