1 4 '24

1 4 ‘24

★★★★☆

Compelling book. Decently paced, although could be a bit too fast paced for the liking of some. Overall, 2024 strove to do what it set out to do, challenge the readers and bring them into the world of our protagonist. 

The Goods: 

• Most narrative arcs have a realistic and satisfying payoff which makes it an enjoyable read, the sole exception would be the romantic arcs, which I will elaborate later. The bulk of the text comprised the protagonist facing academic challenges which he would eventually overcome, but the writer pours through a relentless amount of detail to make you feel like you’re in his shoes, sitting alongside him as he sits in the Starbucks struggling over the 4th past year paper. Writing style is deeply poetic and interesting – and that’s the least I can say. The most I can say is that you have to experience the writing yourself.
  
  

• Characters are mostly fleshed out. Enjoyed in particular the protagonist’s main group of friends; the writers does a good job in bringing them to life especially during the main complication of the novel. Without entering too much into spoiler territory, one of the protagonist’s main complications is listening to the storyline of his best friend; which acted as a very interesting juxtaposition as the two characters acted as foils but also parallels to each other. Overall, a compelling narrative decision that deserves credit.
   

• Humour was interspersed, used much more sparingly as compared to previous entries. We can see a clear evolution in the writing style as it pivots a bit more to gallows humour, away from the absurdist humour that has plagued previous entries in the series that have turned many readers away from it. And it is definitely leaps and bounds better than the initial teenager-centric, chronically-online vast majority at the start of the series. While there are glimpses of this humour through the book, they are done tastefully and with a great deal of self-aware irony which adds a nice complexity to the characters.

The Bads: (minor spoilers ahead!)

• The glaring issue of this book that has left critics divided is the controversial decision to pull a “bait-and-switch” with the romance arc. A common criticism has been the idea that the book sets up the protagonist to appear to have a chance after about 3 entries worth of romantic drought – only to pull back and reveal to the audience that the past 2 or 3 chapters were written out of delusion instead of actual concrete experience. I found myself truly disliking this decision because it felt like a colossal waste of my time. However, I think by re-reading the text you gain a deeper appreciation for the text and understand the writer’s point a bit better. If you’re looking for a book with romantic payoff, 2024 is not for you. However, if you’re a big fan of the “hopeless, doomed romance” or rather, a lack thereof entirely despite the fact that you see glimpses here and there, which reminded me strongly of Kawabata’s Snow Country – then perhaps this might be up your alley. 

• Characters sometimes take relatively unrealistic approaches to conflict, which takes away the immersion and the general verisimilitude of the text. Again, I don’t wish to spoil too much of the text; but one of the main recurring conflicts in this text, which involves the protagonist and one of his friends seem to come out each time from such a perplexing immediacy that you question whether this felt like the writer trying to flesh out his book with conflict for conflict’s sake. While most characters are mostly well fleshed out, some decisions taken in the book are baffling to say the least which contributes to sometimes rather clumsy writing in portions of the text. However, this isn’t to diminish the quality of writing of the text overall. 

All in all, this was an enjoyable read – but it is quite the investment, emotionally and time-wise. I would recommend most people to pick up this book, because it toes the line of being a fun-time buddy-cop comedy and much heavier philosophical points at the same time. It’s a strong entry point for the series for people looking to get on board because this is undeniably where the protagonist seems more put together, in terms of emotional state and characterisation. There are call-backs to previous entries, but most of these are done by the writer out of fanservice rather than genuine plot points. If you’re looking to get into this, I recommend finding one of those “Iceberg” videos of the series and a simple plot summary, then start with this book. Set aside a few days to chew through it. 2024 is certainly not a masterpiece, but it has established a firm foundation for future entries. I look forward to reading more from this writer. 

31 December 2024