Anyone who reads this should be prepared that it’s a stark metaphor for Existentialism. The individual is ignored, no names are given (just capitalized functions like The Investigator, The Guide, The Policeman, etc.), and the purpose of existence is questioned. I never liked existential books like The Stranger. This idea that there is no point to existence since you have no control and only a matter of time before death seems to me a depressing and possibly destructive way to go through life. It doesn’t really excuse one for murdering people for no reason (such as in The Stranger). However, The Investigator takes that story in reverse. Instead of the cold man realizing his existence is futile, you have a man determined with a purpose in a cold unfeeling world. The story is quite absurd, going from the hellish concepts in The Third Policeman, Kafka’s The Trial, along with some metafictional concepts.

A hapless Investigator is sent out to the Enterprise to find the cause of an unusually high rate of suicides. He arrives in an unfriendly environment. As soon as he steps off the train, people avoid him, Waiters, Guards, and Clerks treat him so severely he wonders what could possibly be going on. He is constantly assaulted, bewildered, and too tired to focus on anything except his investigation, which seems to be going nowhere. Will he prevail in this harsh and confusing world?

The references are very obvious and the author has peppered reflections on life, the cruelty of men to each other as well as the earth, into the work. It’s a simpler stripped down novel making its points obvious. It is staring you in the face and you can’t look away. It’s a fun experimental novel with a good message (let’s try to be kinder, be more observant), but the metafictional ending seems more lazy than clever.