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Wow. Absolutely nothing could make me happier than finally being able to write a review for this horrible, horrible book. Probably the worst I’ve ever read. I’ve been fantasizing about what I’d write here for weeks now so this is a very proud moment for me.
Even though it’s only 240 pages it took me five months to finish, and then only because I forced myself to read ten pages every night before I went to sleep. Though “read” might be overstating it because I often struggled to pay attention for more than three sentences, but it wasn’t a problem because every time I zoned back in I realized I hadn’t missed anything. This is because, for a book about a man being stranded on an island, absolutely nothing happens. Even his being stranded is a nonevent. The writing is so monotonous and emotionless it often felt like I was reading an incredibly dense shopping list. I really could not recommend it less. It barely even has any literary or historical merit (if I was pioneering the modern novel, I simply would have written a better book) and reading it is like pulling out your own teeth. I’m convinced everyone who’s ever given this a positive rating is playing an incredibly elaborate joke on me.
Even though it’s only 240 pages it took me five months to finish, and then only because I forced myself to read ten pages every night before I went to sleep. Though “read” might be overstating it because I often struggled to pay attention for more than three sentences, but it wasn’t a problem because every time I zoned back in I realized I hadn’t missed anything. This is because, for a book about a man being stranded on an island, absolutely nothing happens. Even his being stranded is a nonevent. The writing is so monotonous and emotionless it often felt like I was reading an incredibly dense shopping list. I really could not recommend it less. It barely even has any literary or historical merit (if I was pioneering the modern novel, I simply would have written a better book) and reading it is like pulling out your own teeth. I’m convinced everyone who’s ever given this a positive rating is playing an incredibly elaborate joke on me.