Review of Meatspace by Nikesh Shukla

Is it not fitting that right after I decide to cut back social media/email, I get a book from Netgalley about the drain, yet the draw, of cultivating one’s online persona?

But before I review, I need to make one thing clear: Meatspace isn’t one book. Meatspace is two books. In my ePub copy, there’s a charming book that’s a fun diversion from real life from pages 1 to 216. Then from near the top of page 216 to the last page of book on page 229, comes a book that is such a waste of my and everyone’s time that I wanted to throw my kobo against the wall and DSAFJADSLRFE*RF#@%$!$GFSDAF.

So let’s divide this review in two then. I’ll try to get a nifty spoiler box for my review of the ending, as it gives all away and perhaps my upbeat review of the earlier 94% of the book will convince you to take a chance, no matter how idiotic the ending is.

So, here we go:

Is lad-lit a thing, like chick-lit? Probably, and if so, this book is firmly ensconced in lad-lit, but, dropping the gendered boxes book marketers shove books into, this is a funny book about contemporary London. This is a book about the guy with the same name as you showing up at your door and expecting you to take him in because name buddies!. This is a book about someone who decides to get the same tattoo as a Doppelganger he finds online. This is a book about how now all your family is on facebook and twitter and following you and maybe having someone tweet you’re going to a masquerade sex party for all the world to see isn’t how one should properly engage with social media. It’s a lark. It’s a farce. I spent two afternoons and an evening reading the book and giggling. To take a quote from the book itself:

Not Hollinghurst or Rushdie. Just funny and twee and harmless.

(Although I must say that I loathed the one book by Hollinghurst I read, and I’ve never read Rushdie.)

And of course, if you’re a minimally successful writer (like myself) reading about an author who, while higher up the success lattice than myself, but still pretty low to the bottom, there are the quotes and scenes you recognize because your family has, well-meaningly, said them to you too:

You’d be better writing a bestseller. One with police detectives in the countryside. One with murders and car chases. Something you can buy in an airport and a supermarket.

I do not believe there is a writer on the planet who has not heard some variation of the above quote.

Part that made me smile the most: Kitab fretting about correcting kerning when getting his tattoo. If I were getting a tattoo, that would be exactly the thing that I would be freaking out about. I spent over an hour moving font around on Tesfa’s birthday invitations this year. I totally get it.

Annoying stylistic tic: Writing out all numbers as numerals. I don’t need to see The 2 of us drank wine in a novel. I don’t care if it’s a comment on the twitterfication of literature. Write out the darn number.

Read this book if you liked: the first two Bridget Jones books (don’t worry about the third one or the movies – those, like the ending of Meatspace, aren’t necessarily worth your time, unless your a completist and not finishing things causes you undue anxiety).

Now hopefully I can find a plug in for a spoiler box to discuss the waste of the space the last few pages of Meatspace are.

I think you’re supposed to click to reveal the spoiler Not super sure how that works on mobile devices. Maybe I need Kitab from Meatspace to come and give me some pointers.

[spoiler]We can all agree that the twist ending at the end of The Sixth Sense was worth it. I’m sure there have been some other forms of media with an equally appropriate twist ending, not that I can think of any because most of the time twist endings are simply a schlock way adding drama or intrigue or depth at the expense of the attachment the reader/viewer forms with the characters. Kitab is an amusing narrator. Silly things happen to him. He’s kind of a dick, but you love him anyway. I one hundred percent do not need to have the last thirteen pages of the book be all He’s having a break from reality. All that says to me is that Shukla couldn’t think of a clever ending or he got lazy or he was up the night before the deadline and this is what got banged out. It’s a total cop-out ending. Of course Aziz’s story of saving the baby from out under the New York subway while dressed as a masked vigilante was fake. Trust the reader to know that. Then adding in Azis being fake, I don’t think wordpress has emojis or whatever, but I’m sure there’s a gagging emoji to express my disgust. Picture on in your head. If I never read another Oh, it was all in the protagonist’s head ending again, it will be too soon.[/spoiler]

There are not enough stupid‘s in the world to describe the inanity of this ending.

Meatspace by Nikesh Shukla went on sale July 3rd.

I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.