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A review by millionaire
Red Pill by Hari Kunzru
3.0
Possibly the most intellectual book that I've read this year.
The unnamed narrator is accepted in to a fellowship program following a bout of writer's block. However, his mental state is fragile and coupled with his extreme aversion to socialising (the backbone of the institute's program), his sense of impending doom and undercurrent of guilt from leaving his wife to care for their young daughter; the narrator slowly descends in to paranoia.
Kunzru uses the Stasi and Anton (a possible neo-Nazi?) to stoke the narrator's sense of armageddon approaching. Becoming obsessed with Anton, the creator of a violent cop show, and believing that he will be responsible for bringing about the end of humanity. Relegating the population to bare machinery while the elite few profit and thrive off of their labour (#capitalism).
The Anton character was the most interesting. His interactions with the narrator were difficult to read not for lack of Kunzru's skill but the character was an embodiment of lurking evil. The gut feeling that this friendly, smart, polite face was the devil himself.
Though the last 1/4 of the book picked up the pace and put all the pieces together, most of the book was a slog. I found the character self-indulgent and a bit frustrating though I do admire how, despite how it may seem on the outside that he's a man gone mad by the end of the book, the narrator was bold enough to take action against Anton against all odds.
The unnamed narrator is accepted in to a fellowship program following a bout of writer's block. However, his mental state is fragile and coupled with his extreme aversion to socialising (the backbone of the institute's program), his sense of impending doom and undercurrent of guilt from leaving his wife to care for their young daughter; the narrator slowly descends in to paranoia.
Kunzru uses the Stasi and Anton (a possible neo-Nazi?) to stoke the narrator's sense of armageddon approaching. Becoming obsessed with Anton, the creator of a violent cop show, and believing that he will be responsible for bringing about the end of humanity. Relegating the population to bare machinery while the elite few profit and thrive off of their labour (#capitalism).
The Anton character was the most interesting. His interactions with the narrator were difficult to read not for lack of Kunzru's skill but the character was an embodiment of lurking evil. The gut feeling that this friendly, smart, polite face was the devil himself.
Though the last 1/4 of the book picked up the pace and put all the pieces together, most of the book was a slog. I found the character self-indulgent and a bit frustrating though I do admire how, despite how it may seem on the outside that he's a man gone mad by the end of the book, the narrator was bold enough to take action against Anton against all odds.