You Shall Know Our Velocity!
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You Shall Know Our Velocity is about a guy searching for meaning in his life. He aims to give away an arbitrarily-acquired $32,000 as he spends one week traveling to random cities throughout the globe with a friend who goes by Hand. Yes, all of that already sounds ridiculous, and it is. It’s absurdist–as in, it’s intentionally bizarre in an attempt (I think) to emphasize how bizarre it is to ‘search for meaning’ in the first place. It has a Kerouac-feel with the urgent, heart-as-your-compass jumping from place to place, so perk up if you’re into that sort of thing.
I’ve clearly been on an Eggers kick lately. Last week, I reviewed What Is the What and before that, I reviewed A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and The Circle. His range is seriously astounding and my reaction to his books is a bit rollercoastery. I worship his non-fiction. I was stunned the first time that I read AHWOSG and was re-stunned when I discovered that not only could he write his own memoir, he could write someone else’s (What Is the What)! Unfortunately, his fiction falls flat for me. Still, I want you to focus on his range. Marinate in his range– we’ll come back to that. Hold please…
…You Shall Know Our Velocity (YSKOV– Eggers loves an acronym) is too earnest. Will, the narrator, is desperate to figure out his place in the world but his desperation frankly reeks. It’s too pervasive throughout the novel–it’s 400 pages of dramatic soul-searching and I didn’t even really like the guy. Unlikeable guys deserve to find meaning too, but it becomes a slog. The most redeeming element is when Eggers breaks the 4th wall and acknowledges the reader. Much like David Foster Wallace, Eggers does very creative things with the medium of writing itself (playing with the Copyright section, using footnotes within footnotes, etc.). I like the clever stuff but I don’t like the story itself…
Back to his range. A few years ago, my friend Ryan Howick said something that has stuck with me ever since. Sylvan Esso released a new album and they were getting heat for it because they totally changed their sound. I was one of those obnoxious people complaining like ~omg, it’s so different from their good stuff~. Ryan, probably disgusted with my myopic ass, said something to the effect that a real artist is always evolving. They’re not going to give you the same thing over and over. They’re going to try new things and push the limits even if it means taking risks and not being as commercially or critically successful as before. So, even though I’m not crazy about this book in and of itself, I’m still proud of my boy Eggers for pushing himself artistically.
This book gets 2 out of 5 flames though, tbh.
