A review by izzymendes
The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler

4.0

"May we generally be happy, generally be witty, generally be honest, but above all always be interesting."

I will start out with the obvious: This book makes me want to die. It is probably my favourite non-reread book of the year, and with good fucking reason. But first, a synopsis. The Basic Eight follows Flannery and a group of her friends as they commit a murder. It's about the lead up to the murder, and toward the end, the aftermath.

Why did I like this book so much? Simple. Flannery fucking Culp. I don't think it would be bold of me to say that she is my favourite character in all of literature. As the quote above states, she is generally witty and interesting (happy and honest is a bit of a toss-up), so witty and interesting that she made me insecure about how witty and interesting I am. And I am very witty and interesting.

Other than her, though, I also adored the friend group in this novel. They weren't The Secret History dysfunctional, but they were still very much so. Another thing I loved was the twist: So well foreshadowed; so unexpected. The only things making me hesitate giving this novel a five star, or even a full four, are a) the pacing (slow and quite messy) and b) the climax (too disconcerting for my control-craving ass).

In summation, this novel may just be the peak of literature, and is generally witty and interesting.