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biscuitcrux 's review for:
Super Sad True Love Story
by Gary Shteyngart
In a sucky future America where people of all ages talk like 13-year-olds in an AOL chat room, two immature people meet, need each other, negotiate a relationship, and then start needing more than the other person can give them.
Lenny Abramov is a 39-year-old Jewish man whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Russia in search of a better life. During an extended stay in Italy, he meets Eunice Park, a small-minded Korean woman in her early twenties.
Lenny nurses a pathetically obsessive infatuation with Eunice, and when concern for her family compels her to agree to move into his Manhattan apartment with him, he is overjoyed. They have some good and bad times together, as evidenced by Lenny's diary entries and Eunice's online messages to her mother, best friend Jenny, sister Sally, and Lenny himself, among others.
But when China decides it wants its money back and the proverbial shit really starts to hit the proverbial fan in this awful America, Lenny and Eunice's shaky relationship trembles through some pretty scary territory. Will they make it? I didn't think so either, but it was pretty interesting to read about.
What made this book so annoying and yet fascinating was the setting. The author doesn't ever tell you in what year this book takes place, but it's probably about 50 years from now. Everyone is obsessed with their smart phones (called äppäräti here), which constantly stream all kinds of imaginable information about you and the people around you. Walk into a room, and everyone instantly can access everything from how much money you have to what sex positions you like. You can see your ranking of how attractive you are compared to nearby people.
People are told to believe that books smell bad, talking is called "verballing," and people talk in annoying internet acronyms, for example, "JBF" means "just butt-fucking," which means, "just kidding." Kindergarteners watch pornography. Women wear transparent pants so you can see everything. Clothing stores have names like "JuicyPussy" and "AssLuxury." It's unbelieveably crude, and yet not too far-fetched. In fact, the terrifyingly least-far-fetched part was when citizens see hard evidence of their incipient police state, it's always accompanied by text that says, "By reading this sign you are denying its existence and implying consent." Deny & imply. Oh god. Someday soon.
Sometimes reading this book gave me a headache and I needed to stop. But ultimately, I found it very compelling.
Lenny Abramov is a 39-year-old Jewish man whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Russia in search of a better life. During an extended stay in Italy, he meets Eunice Park, a small-minded Korean woman in her early twenties.
Lenny nurses a pathetically obsessive infatuation with Eunice, and when concern for her family compels her to agree to move into his Manhattan apartment with him, he is overjoyed. They have some good and bad times together, as evidenced by Lenny's diary entries and Eunice's online messages to her mother, best friend Jenny, sister Sally, and Lenny himself, among others.
But when China decides it wants its money back and the proverbial shit really starts to hit the proverbial fan in this awful America, Lenny and Eunice's shaky relationship trembles through some pretty scary territory. Will they make it? I didn't think so either, but it was pretty interesting to read about.
What made this book so annoying and yet fascinating was the setting. The author doesn't ever tell you in what year this book takes place, but it's probably about 50 years from now. Everyone is obsessed with their smart phones (called äppäräti here), which constantly stream all kinds of imaginable information about you and the people around you. Walk into a room, and everyone instantly can access everything from how much money you have to what sex positions you like. You can see your ranking of how attractive you are compared to nearby people.
People are told to believe that books smell bad, talking is called "verballing," and people talk in annoying internet acronyms, for example, "JBF" means "just butt-fucking," which means, "just kidding." Kindergarteners watch pornography. Women wear transparent pants so you can see everything. Clothing stores have names like "JuicyPussy" and "AssLuxury." It's unbelieveably crude, and yet not too far-fetched. In fact, the terrifyingly least-far-fetched part was when citizens see hard evidence of their incipient police state, it's always accompanied by text that says, "By reading this sign you are denying its existence and implying consent." Deny & imply. Oh god. Someday soon.
Sometimes reading this book gave me a headache and I needed to stop. But ultimately, I found it very compelling.