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sauris's Reviews (248)
4.5/5
i should read this again in 15 years and see if i feel the same way
i should read this again in 15 years and see if i feel the same way
3.5/5
The story is mostly an internal monologue that begins when the author's ex-girlfriend calls to invite him to a party, ten years after abruptly leaving him. I love how he indulges in overthinking, trying to make sense of it all by drawing wild connections, spinning a narrative, and eventually coming to terms with it. He's so neurotic; the book is fast, funny, and tragic and left me dizzy. It even starts in a way similar to Camus' The Stranger: "It was the day Michel Leiris died. This would have been late September 1990, or maybe the very beginning of October, the date escapes me." And there are plenty of really witty lines throughout.
The story is mostly an internal monologue that begins when the author's ex-girlfriend calls to invite him to a party, ten years after abruptly leaving him. I love how he indulges in overthinking, trying to make sense of it all by drawing wild connections, spinning a narrative, and eventually coming to terms with it. He's so neurotic; the book is fast, funny, and tragic and left me dizzy. It even starts in a way similar to Camus' The Stranger: "It was the day Michel Leiris died. This would have been late September 1990, or maybe the very beginning of October, the date escapes me." And there are plenty of really witty lines throughout.
4.5/5
Welcome to the Antimemetics Division! This is your first day.
This one pulled me out of a major reading slump. It is presented as a series of disjointed vignettes with shifts in time and perspective that weave together into a cohesive novel. The first half really blew me away. It blends cosmic horror, sci-fi, and weird fiction, with a style and structure reminiscent of Piranesi and House of Leaves. The plot and writing are both very clever, with a premise centered around antimemes. The narration is compelling, although the second half and the ending were a bit of a letdown and resolved too conveniently.
Welcome to the Antimemetics Division! This is your first day.
This one pulled me out of a major reading slump. It is presented as a series of disjointed vignettes with shifts in time and perspective that weave together into a cohesive novel. The first half really blew me away. It blends cosmic horror, sci-fi, and weird fiction, with a style and structure reminiscent of Piranesi and House of Leaves. The plot and writing are both very clever, with a premise centered around antimemes. The narration is compelling, although the second half and the ending were a bit of a letdown and resolved too conveniently.
The Age of Discretion & The Monologue: 4/5
The Woman Destroyed: 5/5
The Woman Destroyed: 5/5
My second qntm book this year after 'There Is No Antimemetics Division,' and I found myself equally fascinated. He mainly writes hard sf in the spirit of Greg Egan/Ted Chiang but shaped by online culture, considering his writing for SCP Foundation and web fiction. qntm plays around with traditional narrative structure, presenting stories through tweets, wikipedia entries, reports, and documentation, and focuses purely on ideas instead of character development or long expositions. And somehow he makes this work, even when some stories feel like rough drafts. I enjoyed everything except the last two stories, though that's probably my fault for trying to finish it in one sitting.
A sweet little memoir shared through sketches of clothing and memories associated with them. Seems impossible to find a copy of Nora Ephron's play version online, but this one is quite charming!