Super Sad True Love Story in Ask Gary Shteyngart

Jan 07, 2012 John rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction, books-i-own, cyberpunk-post-cyberpunk-fiction, dystopian-fiction

Had Neal Stephenson written "Snow Crash" as a dystopian love story, I'm not sure whether he could have equaled Gary Shteyngart's latest, greatest, novel; a memorable exploration of romantic love set amidst a dystopian near future United States. "Super Sad True Love Story" crackles with much of the same high powered kinetic energy and swift pace of Stephenson's groundbreaking cyberpunk novel - the very first to offer a memorable comedic strain of cyberpunk science fiction - but it is so much more Had Neal Stephenson written "Snow Crash" as a dystopian love story, I'm not sure whether he could have equaled Gary Shteyngart's latest, greatest, novel; a memorable exploration of romantic love set amidst a dystopian near future United States. "Super Sad True Love Story" crackles with much of the same high powered kinetic energy and swift pace of Stephenson's groundbreaking cyberpunk novel - the very first to offer a memorable comedic strain of cyberpunk science fiction - but it is so much more, a brilliant satire of clashing American immigrant values and a well paced, well conceived, romantic love story between the most unlikely of protagonists; thirty nine year-old Russian-American Lenny Abramov, and his much younger lover, twenty four year-old Korean-American Eunice Park. Shteyngart excels in exploring the inevitable cultural clash between immigrant Korean and Russian cultures, as New York City and the rest of the United States heads relentlessly towards both economic and sociological implosion. Here he relies on crisp, fast-paced dialogue which may remind some readers of David Foster Wallace's, often laced with pathos and sharp satirical wit.

Without question, Shteyngart's new novel is science fiction, even if much of the science fictional aspects of the tale are often pushed aside, as the author gives his readers full, undivided, attention to the romantic twists and turns of Abramov and Park's unlikely romance. Shteyngart's depiction of a New York City in the full brunt of a dystopian collapse echoes Rick Moody's novella "The Albertine Notes" (from Moody's novella collection, "Right Livelihoods: Three Novellas") in rendering a similarly stark, quite bleak, urban landscape (And one which offers far more verisimilitude in depicting a near future New York City which Big Apple readers and others might recognize as potentially plausible.) But a more apt comparison IS with Matt Ruff's "Sewer Gas Electric: The Public Works Trilogy" for his humorous, often irreverent take, on New York City's impending doom. Like Ruff's mid 1990s cyberpunk classic, it is one of the best depictions of this city I've come across from within the literary realm of science fiction.

"Super Sad True Love Story" seems destined to become one of this year's critical and popular literary successes. It is certainly one of the best - If not the best - novels of this year. Shteyngart's reputation as our foremost living American satirist is secured with this novel's publication. His latest novel is a much more revealing look at human relationships than his earlier "Absurdistan", and one that is much livelier in its depiction of romantic love and satire. However, I do hope his future work exhibits much of the same literary range exhibited by the lesser known Matt Ruff (whom I regard as the greatest living literary alumnus, along with Shteyngart, of our alma mater, New York City's Stuyvesant High School); "Super Sad True Love Story" represents a major first step in such a direction.

(Reposted from my Amazon.com review) ...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Jer Hogan rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 23, 2012 Jamie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

If I had to marry a book, it would probably be this one. Sharp, sparkling writing and an incredibly well-hewn story about the intersection of tech, politics, family, the financial crisis, and love (or a close approximation of love, anyway) in a dystopian future. I wish I could write this well. I'm so glad that Shteyngart does. ...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Jason rated it really liked it

Wow, this is an anxiety provoking vision set in the not do distant future. It was very disturbing to read. And yes, I was a little freaked out when a Cobra gunship flew over the Brooklyn bridge while my sons rode the carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park. It brought the novel into focus at that instant. It is satire folks, but deadly serious in a way...

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May 16, 2012 Kate rated it really liked it

Loved this! Great characters and I love a good dystopian novel. Set in a future New York that is both comical and poignant. Staten island is now cool, people live through their electronic devices and people who read real books are seen as weird. China rules the world economy. It's scary because it could be true. ...more

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Feb 14, 2012 Janene Murphy rated it really liked it

This was an uncomfortable read for me because the dystopian future shown in this book seemed so plausible. It hit me right between the eyes... Awesome. ;)

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