Wow or meh? No One Is Talking About This | REVIEW

MY CAT DESTABILIZED THE CAMERA, SORRY TO THOSE OF YOU WHO GET SEASICK, SHE **PROMISES TO DO BETTER NEXT TIME

**(she promises no such thing and in fact thinks you should do better whoever you may be)

Book Mentioned:
No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

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This is not a sponsored video, and unless otherwise stated, I bought these books myself.

00:00 Intro info
01:05 The First Half (aka how online are you)
09:37 The Second Half (aka weep o mine eyes)
13:30 Final Thoughts
18:17 Bai

[gemma]

My prayers have been listened to! I can stop with the human sacrifices now! Yay!

Jennifer the Let Me Just Leave Some of My Brilliant Thoughts Here and then Dissappear for a Year or So has returned to us and I'm not ready to have her back. She is my favorite person. And tomorrow I'm going to be sad.

I'm so deeply disengaged with what's hot right now in the book world and what is coming out and what are people talking about that I have no clue what this book is and which shortlist it has made. But I really want to read it now.
You can recognize when a person talking about the social media has never participated in any of the aspects of it when all they have to share is disdain. Right when the whole chaos of anything can happen and sea of memes and just about any fan account for any obscure thing you happen to be into for the time being is here to embrace you. That Lockwood book sounds like a bit of safe haven for all the poeple out there thinking that Internet can be hell but also would miss it so much if it was simply gone.

I would be interested to see how well the portal-feed works at emulating a sort of stream of over-conciousness. When you are desperately aware that practically anyone can see your thoughts and where it leads the narration.

Big hugs, Jenny <3

[SixMinutesForMe]

This was *chef’s kiss*!! Exquisite return to single book reviews, Jen 💯

I’m so intrigued about this one and you’ve definitely prompted me to get to it sooner, and I was really intrigued by your comments around acknowledging social media in novels. I feel like when it’s used so organically, and not as a gratuitous pop culture time stamp of sorts it can be excellent. Hope you’re well and happy reading x

[rachelh]

LOVE this analysis, do not love Lila's sabotage, I had to listen to this without the visual, pls make her answer for her crimes (aka appear in your next vid)

[Toastwig]

Excellent review.

7:07
I’ve found myself in the past year or two while reading, occasionally thinking, this book sounds like twitter. Sometimes it’s a passage or a transition or the whole tone. And while I’m extremely online, I’m not on twitter. Yet I feel like I can sometimes spot an author who is.

And I find it fascinating that whilst one age bracket feels the flow of platforms slowly eroding the self, another generation, that knows no different, is building a sense of their identity on those very same platforms. I tend to relate to the former but I wonder how it will play out.

[KayAmpersand]

Appreciate your thoughts, Jennifer. I didn't like this book very much. It was really two books for me, the first part I didn't care about and I wanted a lot more from the second. I find interesting what you say about short-listing this as a way to defend the relevance of the book awards, not necessarily about the novel itself- I haven't thought about it this way, but I can totally see it.

[GunpowderFictionPlot]

Wow, this was an incredibly eloquent review. You spoke about this in a unique and interesting way. 🙂

[smooshie]

Another thoughtful and thought provoking review, thank you! I had mixed feelings about this novel, it's very much a book of two halves and there is something a little trite about the juxtaposition. I felt like Lockwood fell into the cliche about online life not being 'real', like one of those reactionary memes from /r/phonesarebad. I would have expected her to have a fresher take.

It's also ironic how, like so many contemporary novels that are part of or adjacent to the 'autofiction' trend, the book appears to be rejecting or reacting against the elements of conventional fiction like character, plot, objectives and obstacles, but ultimately bends in the second half to the pressure to have a story, to be about something. There's a lack of conviction.

[mindyutay]

Amazing review of an extraordinary book. The contrast in the two sections of the book is its weakness and strength and I agree with your reaction to the acknowledgement section. Its originality makes it a top contender for the Booker.

[HannahsBooks]

I am such an old fogey that I suspect I would find the social media approach not only unsatisfying and unfunny but annoying. The second half sounds like an unearned switch potentially but far more interesting. Hm. Very thoughtful review.

[MargaretPinard]

'the reading experience of Twitter...reproduced' Wow, great review!

[electraandbooks]

Hello ! Yes a video about one book and about one that I have indeed read ! Being on vacation in Québec gives me the opportunity to reply to it quickly and it’s funny to think we are on the same (or almost?) time zone. Anyway, I did read Patricia Lockwood’s book and like you found it funny at times. Here my examples of quotes : A person might join on a site to look at pictures of her nephew and five years later believe in a flat earth. Or the Sopranos quote. I really enjoy her thoughts about people nowadays always trying to show their best image to the world. Everything is exaggerated kindness, generosity or violence and hatred. The social networks have not revealed our personalities but our choices of clothes, posters or Tupperware. I have to admit I was also a little bored in the middle of my reading, but then I really liked the ending. Loved the last pages. I also have to admit I was at first not sure about my opinion of this book when I finished it. It took a few days to really understand what I had experienced. Sometimes it’s the opposite, I close a book and think it was so good but after a couple of weeks, there’s nothing left. Anyway, your bookcase behind looks really nice 😊 Hope to see you soon (and Lila)

[christelleliscia-sadik]

Thank you for this amazing review. I am so intrigued by this book now.

[ginnymccoo]

so good. I think you make the most thoughtful reviews on booktube.

[vanessalaughtland]

LOVED this. Definitely feel like you hit the nail on the head with how I personally felt about this book, but far better articulated of course! ;:)

[jennifernash]

Can you just come talk to me about every book I read? 😄 Great review!

[KierTheScrivener]

Needing context for something that is ruthlessly taken out of context. I feel like I will feel the same way I am more interested in reading it because of the prizes but it is nice to have someone write about socisl media who uses social media. Great review

[faatimahfarhad]

What an amazing review. Please do more!!!

[lyddie]

loved this review so much, thank you!

[analupelosi]

i couldnt make past 1/3 of this book. i hated the format of small paragraphs. should i try it again? or is it fully like this?

[janethansen]

Great review. To me it seemed to be making some obvious points around social media but I'm not a twitter user so perhaps I missed some more nuanced narrative. I feel this book will not date well but is that a concern for book prizes, or more a concern for sales and revenue? I do feel like I need to re read it now that I've seen a few reviews but it is never going to be a favourite.