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A review by brittrivera
You Shall Know Our Velocity! by Dave Eggers
4.0
This is the third book I have read by Dave Eggers (not counting "The Best American Nonrequired Reading" series he edits) and it just continues to prove why he is one of my favorite authors writing today. His books are about people and the human condition summed up in beautiful prose and creative, heartbreaking stories. But that's all I can say without spoilers.
*SPOILERS BELOW*
I loved this book mostly because nothing works out the way Will and Hand plan. And that's life. You plan on a lot of things that don't happen and you sometimes a lot of things you don't plan happen and all make for a great story. The only thing that confuses me is the way Eggers chose to tell this story. I loved this book, was devouring it whole, until Hand's chapter. Then I just felt confused and duped. Not in a Gone Girl way, but it a "why is this happening?" way. The story is great and sad and interesting without the added "twist" about whether or not Will is a reliable narrator. Are we ever truly reliable narrators when telling our own stories? Don't we want our lives to be more interesting, have more meaning, serve a higher purpose sometimes? Is that the point of all this? This strange middle part just made me think of one of my favorite quotes from another great book, The Catcher in the Rye "What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it." I would love to talk to Eggers, ask him why he made that choice and what it means.
I thought Hand's chapter would change how I read the rest of Will's story, but besides registering that it didn't really change how I felt overall. I still loved the story and the journey and the unconventional places they went (that I now want to visit). I still felt moved. And that is the beauty of Dave Eggers. I can't wait to see what else he's got.
"The futility of the time in-between. Every drive to every airport in the world was ugly, line with the backsides of the most despondent of homes, and every hotel lobby underlined our sloth and mortality."
"...statis is itself is criminal for those with the means to move, and the means to weave communion between people."
*SPOILERS BELOW*
I loved this book mostly because nothing works out the way Will and Hand plan. And that's life. You plan on a lot of things that don't happen and you sometimes a lot of things you don't plan happen and all make for a great story. The only thing that confuses me is the way Eggers chose to tell this story. I loved this book, was devouring it whole, until Hand's chapter. Then I just felt confused and duped. Not in a Gone Girl way, but it a "why is this happening?" way. The story is great and sad and interesting without the added "twist" about whether or not Will is a reliable narrator. Are we ever truly reliable narrators when telling our own stories? Don't we want our lives to be more interesting, have more meaning, serve a higher purpose sometimes? Is that the point of all this? This strange middle part just made me think of one of my favorite quotes from another great book, The Catcher in the Rye "What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it." I would love to talk to Eggers, ask him why he made that choice and what it means.
I thought Hand's chapter would change how I read the rest of Will's story, but besides registering that
Spoiler
there is no Jack and his mom is already dead"The futility of the time in-between. Every drive to every airport in the world was ugly, line with the backsides of the most despondent of homes, and every hotel lobby underlined our sloth and mortality."
"...statis is itself is criminal for those with the means to move, and the means to weave communion between people."