Super Sad True Love Story

I can’t completely describe what makes Gary Shteyngart’s writing in Super Sad True Love Story so wonderful, but I suppose I should try.

For one, his use of language is unparalleled; his perfectly chosen, vibrant words gleam at you from their place on the page, waiting to become engaged, absorbed, understood, and finally to settle down comfortably in your memory, anticipating their recollection when, with a slight titter, you remember his perfect turn of phrase, his elegant encapsulation of a meaning in neither too scant nor too many words. His sentences are at once unassuming and aggressive, not only uncluttered by superfluous expressions that ordinarily belabor the point of less talented authors, but also poignant and profound in the
ir sharpness, often gnawing at you long after the initial impact.

Shteyngart’s narrative displays such sheer originality infused with undeniable truths about the speeds at which our society’s dependence upon technology hurtles forward that the effect is both delightful and morbid. Shining with illuminations of humanity’s loss of literacy and subsequently reality, his prose details our demise by paralleling it with that of hopeless Lenny Abromov, his protagonist. I don’t want to give anything away from this truly meaningful story, so go read it yourself!

booooo

Style chose to use the 4 x 5 inch space in the back of the paper for more advertising instead of a crossword. It's available online. However, the format is not interactive; you have to print it out in order to complete it. Guess who doesn't have a printer? That's right. This guy. Ugh.

On another note:

days like today

I don't know about you, but extreme weather really brings out the worst in me. On sweltering summer days I find myself ritualizing and trying to appease the gods, something I think I've done since I was little when I would walk down the street chanting that "I'd rather take 4 feet of snow and walk through it naked than be this hot right at this moment, can't you just make it cold?" Of course my prayers would be answered and a few months later I'd chatter through my teeth that I'd rather be burned alive by a thousand suns than suffer any more frost. What is it about humans that makes us so adaptable and simultaneously such pussies?

Rain sucks and I stayed indoors today in my sweatpants until 6 pm when I had to go to work. And here I am blogging about how much rain sucks. Well it does!