the visible man. chuck klosterman. (90)

i love chuck klosterman. i have loved him ever since he nailed my john cusack crush in "sex, drugs, and coco puffs". i, like many women, had a celebrity crush on john cusack, but as klosterman pointed out this was due to "the lloyd dobler effect". his theory was that women were really in love with that character from "say anything" than john cusack himself. sadly this is true, i have followed cusack on twitter and not sure if i truly love him. so my crush was no exception well except that it was more "the rob gordon effect" cos it was the result of the film "high fidelity". seriously, i read that book in cusack's voice, i love him as that character so much!

after reading that first book of klosterman, i became a fan and read all of his books. the man has some great essays, one of my favorites is his explanation of an archenemy versus a nemesis in "IV". also he is seriously the best writer when it comes to pop culture. so you could imagine my excitement when i discovered he had a new novel. btw, he's more of an essayist than a novelist. i read his first novel "downtown owl", it didn't change my life but read it cos i love him.

and i guess i should have known better and had not expected much because "the visible man" was not good. it was a fast read and thank goodness for that. i read it quickly just cos i wanted to get it over with. kinda like a band-aid. i mean i recommended it to my friend danny cos he studies psychology. but other that that i wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

the novel is written from the perspective of a psychiatrist, victoia vick, and it's about her patient Y______, who was crazy and had a suit that made him "invisible" though Y_______ hated the use of that word because no one can truly be invisible. and even worse its written as a manuscript for a potential book which was just too cheesy for me. its like commit to it being a book instead of being the idea of a book. the character Y_____ was horrible which i guess was be point but his personality did not make "the visible man" an enjoyable read. also the narrator, victoria vick was annoying and way too gullible.

and i know from his other works that klosterman loves sci-fi. he has a whole essay on time machines and time travel. so him h.g. well-ing it up doesn't surprise me but it was just boring. there were some twists and turns but victoria and Y____'s relationship was just too predictable and that made it a bland read. the clever and wit of his essays can be found can be found in some parts of the novel. but it wasn't everywhere like it normally is.

so will share some of what did show a glimmer of why i enjoy his works:

Y______ was intelligent yet condescending and one of his insults toward victoria was "i'm not surprised you're a fan of cliff notes." i just had to mention this because i am ashamed of my cliff notes past.

Y______ spies on people. he targeted drunks and shared how he sometimes knocked them down when trying to get into their cars. he explained "sometimes they lie on he ground and laugh at themselves, because drunkards love bring drunkards. it feels great to be drunk, right?". we drunkards do love being drunkards!

for all you crossfit fanatics: "burpies are what convicts do. burpies are designed for people in prison cells."

the best description of north americans:

"north america has more crazy people than every other industrialized continent combined, except for maybe australia. i'd say 25 percent of our populace has craziness in their blood. it's genetic. it's historical. i mean what kind of person immigrated to the new world? not counting slaves, there were only four types really: people who didn't think europe was religious enough, people who thought they could make a lot of money, antisocial failures with no other option, and fruitcakes who thought risking their lived on an alien shore might make for interesting adventure. those see the four components of the american gene pool, and those are the four explanation behind everything good and bad that's ever happened here." lol. brilliant. i never realized how crazy it is that pilgrims settled our country. i mean bible humpers scare me. and here i am in a country that wouldn't exist if it wasn't for them.

klosterman discussed our current narcissism problem and clarified our obsession with facebook: "we're self-conditioned to require an audience, even if we're not doing anything valuable or interesting. i'm sure this started in the 1970s, i know it did. i think americans started raising offspring with this implicit notion that they had to tell their children, "you're amazing, you can do anything you want, you're a special person.". they thought they'd be bad parents if they didn't. they felt a responsibility to give unlimited emotional support. but---when you really thinks about it---that emotional support only applies to the experience of living in public. we don't have ways to quantify ideas like "amazing" or "successful" or "lovable" without the feedback of audience."

i am always discussing the negative effects of our all kids are winners mentality with others. and klosterman sums up the effects perfectly. i know that his explanation sums up my narcissism. i always tell people that even though i grew up in a single parent home, but grandparents and aunt filled the void of my father which resulted in me getting too much attention. being told you are axing by 2 parents is harmful try 5. i'm oddly overconfident yet can be extremely insecure at the same time. it's quite odd. and sad. and i do think the world
revolves around me. i mean let's be honest i spend more time on fb lookin at my pictures than anyone else's.

and some food for thought.

Y_______ is obsessed with observing people when they were alone because that is when he thinks they are their true self. which made me question how differently i act when i am alone and i must admit i am a lot more quiet than normal. this might shock those of you that know me.

okay so those were the best part of the novels. oh also the mention of the beatles. Y______'s story often involved them which seems fishy but he says it's cos everyone loves the Beatles. which is kinda true. everyone does well except grandma bea.

but as a klosterman fan, i recommend to skip his novels but read everything else of his.

the time machine & the invisible man. h.g. wells (5)

"the time machine" has been on my to read list ever since bravo's "work of art" book cover challenge. not because "the time machine" was the winning cover (it was cool, i almost bought it for that reason). but because the other artist's cover had flowers, a teddy bear (?) and a girl. this sparked my curiosity: what did she read to make a cover like that (turns out she didn't read it. but to help her out, the girl is weena and flowers were mentioned but still confused about the bear).

i read "the time machine" back in october, when the occupy wall street movement was in full force and i was disappointed that the 99% didn't take up "the time machine" as a metaphor for the current class divide and what can occur in the future if things do not change. (i can't be too mean, i for one had no idea that h.g. well's sci-fi classic was so political). "the time machine" can serve to the 1% as an example of what will happen to them if they don't improve the treatment of the 99%; they will be eaten (literally).

as the time traveler discovered 800,000 years into the future there are two species derived from humans, the eloi (the 1%) and the morlocks (the 99%). the traveler first encountered the eloi, lazy, stupid, pleasuring seeking pink-skinned creatures with curly hair, large eyes and tentacle-like hands. at first, he admired them for their "social paradise" but soon discovers that the morlocks (a subterranean species, ape-like with dull white skin and "strange large greyish-red eyes" and "flaxen hair" on their head and backs) are terrorizing the eloi. it is discovered that the eloi's paradise is the result of the morlocks who labor to feed, cloth and house the eloi. but here is the twist! the morlocks no longer have a food supply and since they are carnivores start treating the eloi like cattle and eating them!!! the rich, you have been warned. if you don't start treating the working class better then they will bite the hand they feed.

in addition to this, wells' explanation of how the classes diverged also serves as a warning to the super rich about what the future contains for them if their reliance upon the working class continues. the aristocracy becomes the unintelligent eloi due to their dependence upon the morlocks' labor. as a result of the upper class' lack of labor, they become devoted to leisure which leads to their minds deteriorating due to lack of stimulation. as the traveler explained "the too-perfect security of the upper-worlders had led them to a slow movement of degeneration, to a general dwindling in size, strength, and intelligence." in addition to this, the working class continued labor results in an even wider gap between the classes for as the traveler observed, "in the end, above ground you must have the Haves, pursuing pleasure and comfort and beauty, and below ground the Have-nots, the workers getting continually adapted to the conditions of their labour." does this sound familiar? it's interesting to consider that although wells' future can appear far-fetch (giant crabs in the even farther future?), however when it comes to class relations 100 years from its publication, "the time machine" is pretty on point.

so why are the morlocks the "monsters" and the time traveler sympathizes with the eloi? because this story is to serve as a warning against the evils of capitalism. wells' was a socialist and wanted to stop the exploitation of the working class. he is not calling the working class monsters but understands that if their oppression continues they will start to push back. (see: occupy wall st, labor strikes)

lastly i want to point out that the eloi were vegetarians. and would just like to share a random fact that i learned at the natural history museum of los angeles. when meat was introduce to our prehistoric ancestors diets, their brains grew and their intelligence increased as a result. so i for one am worried with the current trends of veganism/vegetarianism that the absence of meat in our diets might result in the opposite effects. just some food for thought.

ps being a huge fan of natural history museum, i was happy to see the appearance of one in this novella. it makes me happy that museums ruins will be around in the future.

---
the book i checked out also included "the invisible man." i will say that i didn't enjoy it and i hated the invisible man. i was disappointed by the novella because as a kid, i always wanted my super power to be invisible. (as an adult, it would be to teleport and for those of you who have had my teleport convo with me, the ability to teleport out my fat cells and also babies.) but i learned if you are invisible, you'll go crazy. the invisible man was horrible and i am glad (spoiler alert!) he died in the end. i am not sure how to analyze this work. other than people go crazy with power. and science in the wrong hands can be destructive.

all in all, check out "the time
machine" but don't bother with "the invisible man". and do not watch "war of the worlds" (just cos i hate tom cruise.)