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amholling's review against another edition
2.25
At times very engaging and at times not, it took me six months to finish this slim volume
trin's review against another edition
3.0
A bizarrely bifurcated novel. Reading part one, I was deeply disappointed, thinking, How could a book age this poorly in just two years? Part one is about the internet, about being online, and thus already feels immensely dated and therefore shallow.
Part two is about a family tragedy, about grief and wonder and meaning, and it redeemed the book for me, almost if not quite completely, because I still don't understand why the narrative was structured this way.
Part two is about a family tragedy, about grief and wonder and meaning, and it redeemed the book for me, almost if not quite completely, because I still don't understand why the narrative was structured this way.
read_by_gee's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
confused. I don’t know what to rate this. I think because it felt like reading social media as if you were scrolling, it sometimes came across a bit random, and I also felt like because of that experience of reading trying to replicate the social media experience it made the story and characters feel distant and I felt nothing for them. But I feel like maybe that was the point ?? I really dont know
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Death
askingcrowd708's review against another edition
5.0
Dość nietypowa opowieść o kobiecie zagubionej w internecie do której nagle dociera trudna wiadomość z rzeczywistości. Historia jest spisana jak posty na social mediach, trochę dłuższe niż na twiterze, chyba krótsze niż oświadczenia z facebooka. Momentami nie wiadomo co się dzieje w opowieści bo bohaterka wrzuca nam fragmenty rzeczy które ją jakoś poruszyły na Portalu (nie jest wymieniony z nazwy, ale kojarzy się trochę z twitter/threads). Czytanie tej książki było dla mnie jak wpadnięcie w internetową króliczą norę dotyczącą jakiejś osoby, gdzie śledzicie po kolei posty i nagle uświadamiacie sobie że to prawdziwy człowiek, który ma problemy w życiu osobistym które zaczynają przebijać się do socialmediów.
Dziwna lektura ale mnie bardzo poruszyła.
Polecam
Dziwna lektura ale mnie bardzo poruszyła.
Polecam
sarahcullen's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
laraze's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
thebobsphere's review against another edition
4.0
Lately I’ve been watching The Netflix series, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. For those who do not know what it’s about, the premise is simple: a teenager is kidnapped in the 90’s and kept in a bunker for 15 years in a doomsday cult. When she emerges, Kimmy discovers that the world has changed, especially with the World Wide Web becoming a fixture of society. Throughout the four seasons there are tons of references to memes, internet celebrities or people who were called out through the internet, at times Kimmy learns that it is a powerful tool.
In a way, Patricia Lockwood’s No One is Talking about this follows the same meme overload. The book is structured like a Twitter feed and each paragraph contains a nod to a gif, meme, Reddit story or Twitter thread. Some references you’ll get, some you won’t. I had to consult Google quite a bit.
The book is divided into two sections, the first part is about an influencer who spends most of her day on the internet , here called The Portal, hence the multitude of internet culture in jokes. The narrator also travels around the world talking about The wonders of The Portal as well.
For those who think that this section is just the author showing off, it’s an incorrect assumption. The memes and gifs all capture the internet zeitgeist, it also displays how the current generation think, even the book’s use of tweet sized paragraph embraces this new way of communicating. Patricia Lockwood is making a statement – on the lines of ‘this is the current generation. This is what we’ve got and this is how we are going to use it’. As an aside there are hints that social media use helped with Trump’s election so things are not presented that optimistically.
There’s more though because Patricia Lockwood is also showing us that it is easy to get sucked in The Portal world and ignore reality.
Thus what would happen is a real life situation occurs? will the portal world keep us sucked in.
That is what the second half of the book is about.
The narrator’s sister gives birth to a child with Proteus Syndrome. Despite the tough birth, in which the narrator merges with a couple of memes. The child survives and the narrator starts to bond with it, shedding the false world. If one thought that Lockwood can only deliver soulless, reference heavy passages, think again? the aunt/niece paragraphs are some of the sweetest passages in the book. One can feel the love that the narrator is cultivating. This relationship is further developed but i’ll let you read that. All that I’ll say is that it gets pretty emotional.
As someone who is Gen Z (actually I’m part of the lost generation but there’s no need to go into specifics) I thought it would be difficult to understand all the subtexts but No One is Talking about this adds an emotional element to the book, especially in the more ‘human’ second half and this gives the book an extra dimension.
Will No One is Talking about this divide readers? – the answer is most definitely. However, I will say that I can see a lot of younger authors using this format. Already the bite sized paragraph is gaining popularity, but what makes this book something of it’s era is that it uses elements of internet culture to explain salient points – Toxic masculinity, feminism and sexual liberation are underlying topics in the memes mentioned and THAT is what I think younger writers will pick up on. To my knowledge Patricia Lockwood is the first author to use memes in order to put across big points and, although in ten years time they may be forgotten I am sure there will be a steady stream of authors keeping up this style.
In a way, Patricia Lockwood’s No One is Talking about this follows the same meme overload. The book is structured like a Twitter feed and each paragraph contains a nod to a gif, meme, Reddit story or Twitter thread. Some references you’ll get, some you won’t. I had to consult Google quite a bit.
The book is divided into two sections, the first part is about an influencer who spends most of her day on the internet , here called The Portal, hence the multitude of internet culture in jokes. The narrator also travels around the world talking about The wonders of The Portal as well.
For those who think that this section is just the author showing off, it’s an incorrect assumption. The memes and gifs all capture the internet zeitgeist, it also displays how the current generation think, even the book’s use of tweet sized paragraph embraces this new way of communicating. Patricia Lockwood is making a statement – on the lines of ‘this is the current generation. This is what we’ve got and this is how we are going to use it’. As an aside there are hints that social media use helped with Trump’s election so things are not presented that optimistically.
There’s more though because Patricia Lockwood is also showing us that it is easy to get sucked in The Portal world and ignore reality.
Thus what would happen is a real life situation occurs? will the portal world keep us sucked in.
That is what the second half of the book is about.
The narrator’s sister gives birth to a child with Proteus Syndrome. Despite the tough birth, in which the narrator merges with a couple of memes. The child survives and the narrator starts to bond with it, shedding the false world. If one thought that Lockwood can only deliver soulless, reference heavy passages, think again? the aunt/niece paragraphs are some of the sweetest passages in the book. One can feel the love that the narrator is cultivating. This relationship is further developed but i’ll let you read that. All that I’ll say is that it gets pretty emotional.
As someone who is Gen Z (actually I’m part of the lost generation but there’s no need to go into specifics) I thought it would be difficult to understand all the subtexts but No One is Talking about this adds an emotional element to the book, especially in the more ‘human’ second half and this gives the book an extra dimension.
Will No One is Talking about this divide readers? – the answer is most definitely. However, I will say that I can see a lot of younger authors using this format. Already the bite sized paragraph is gaining popularity, but what makes this book something of it’s era is that it uses elements of internet culture to explain salient points – Toxic masculinity, feminism and sexual liberation are underlying topics in the memes mentioned and THAT is what I think younger writers will pick up on. To my knowledge Patricia Lockwood is the first author to use memes in order to put across big points and, although in ten years time they may be forgotten I am sure there will be a steady stream of authors keeping up this style.
zelinacarstens's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
ellieavery's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
4.0
"Our mothers could not stop using horny emojis. They used the winking one with its tongue out on our birthdays, they sent us long rows of the spurting three droplets when it rained. We had told them a thousand times, but they never listened—as long as they lived and loved us, as long as they had split themselves open to have us, they would send us the peach in peach season.
NEVER SEND ME THE EGGPLANT AGAIN, MOM! she texted. I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU’RE COOKING FOR DINNER!"
"Previously these communities were imposed on us, along with their mental weather. Now we chose them—or believed that we did. A person might join a site to look at pictures of her nephew and five years later believe in a flat earth."
The first half of this book tries to encompass the modern life in so fat as it involves excessive use of internet and social media. The continuous change in very universe we move around in - from real life to internet chats to some article to some article; not to mention the short attention span issues it causes. Its as well the book is written in vignettes. There is something to be said about how little literature has, as yet, explored the impact of literature on how we perceive reality.
"Previously these communities were imposed on us, along with their mental weather. Now we chose them—or believed that we did. A person might join a site to look at pictures of her nephew and five years later believe in a flat earth"
"Every day we were seeing new evidence that suggested it was the portal that had allowed the dictator to rise to power. This was humiliating. It would be like discovering that the Vietnam War was secretly caused by ham radios, or that Napoleon was operating exclusively on the advice of a parrot named Brian."
The author touches a number of these elements of internet life - trends, gifs, emojis, images etc. While the theme is original enough in among my personal reading experience; the treatment it received was somewhat amateurish except for a few brilliant moments. The vignettes start like a random collection and it is only slowly that a story arc appears - this was very well done I think.
The second theme - caring after a dying baby and dealing with its death.
*
"Lol, her little sister texted. Think if your body changes 1-2 degrees . . . it’s called a fever and you can die if you have one for a week. Think if the ocean has a fever for years . . . Lol."
NEVER SEND ME THE EGGPLANT AGAIN, MOM! she texted. I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU’RE COOKING FOR DINNER!"
"Previously these communities were imposed on us, along with their mental weather. Now we chose them—or believed that we did. A person might join a site to look at pictures of her nephew and five years later believe in a flat earth."
The first half of this book tries to encompass the modern life in so fat as it involves excessive use of internet and social media. The continuous change in very universe we move around in - from real life to internet chats to some article to some article; not to mention the short attention span issues it causes. Its as well the book is written in vignettes. There is something to be said about how little literature has, as yet, explored the impact of literature on how we perceive reality.
"Previously these communities were imposed on us, along with their mental weather. Now we chose them—or believed that we did. A person might join a site to look at pictures of her nephew and five years later believe in a flat earth"
"Every day we were seeing new evidence that suggested it was the portal that had allowed the dictator to rise to power. This was humiliating. It would be like discovering that the Vietnam War was secretly caused by ham radios, or that Napoleon was operating exclusively on the advice of a parrot named Brian."
The author touches a number of these elements of internet life - trends, gifs, emojis, images etc. While the theme is original enough in among my personal reading experience; the treatment it received was somewhat amateurish except for a few brilliant moments. The vignettes start like a random collection and it is only slowly that a story arc appears - this was very well done I think.
The second theme - caring after a dying baby and dealing with its death.
*
"Lol, her little sister texted. Think if your body changes 1-2 degrees . . . it’s called a fever and you can die if you have one for a week. Think if the ocean has a fever for years . . . Lol."