Hi, it’s me again with another novel to discuss. Let’s go!
As the title says it, I’m writing about the novel called The Fuck-Up by Arthur Nersesian. The unlikely discovery I made during my vacation in the mountains. I decided to take a break from Ulysses and instead read something different. That’s when Everand came to the rescue and suggested The Fuck-Up.
Marked as a dark comedy about life, I felt that it was right down my alley. I started to read it and couldn’t stop reading it till I finished. Somehow the isolation of the mountains and forrest, the terrible weather, and physical exhaustion on the verge of being miserable combined with feeling alive as never before added to the fact that I enjoyed this novel more than I expected to.
We’re following the journeys of the nameless hero, who reminded me a lot of Arturo Bandini by the mindset, the way he described his surroundings, and the way he behaved. As a true hero of the novel titled as it is, the hero is a fuck-up.
He’s rude, narcissistic, greedy, and opportunistic, yet somehow still charming and intelligent fellow. We find him at the moment when he’s working on the minimal-wage job at the movie theater, lives with his girlfriend who studies, and also tries to get underskirt of the pop-corn girl (I think she was pop-corn girl) who blue-balls him to no end. At once, we know that the character isn’t a good guy.
Eventually his girlfriend finds out about his attempts of cheating and dumps him, he gets fired from the job, while the hero also finds out that the girl he tried to fuck isn’t all this nice and innocent, but an experienced gold digger with taste for ugly but successful men. That’s the point where the downfall of our hero starts.
Being kicked out of the flat he lived in and with no job to support himself, he finds no better idea but to crash the couch of his friend who is philosopher, poet, scholar, and also a guy who really loves collecting rare books. With no money and his heart broken, he starts from the bottom. Applies for the jobs, but has no luck until he eavesdrops a guy and a girl on the train about a lead for the job in the cinema.
He acts upon it and lands a place in the gay cinema as a manager. He works with a rather spiritual dude by the name Miguel, who is his boss, and a few other interesting characters who have very peculiar views of the world they live in. Oh, and also the hero pretends to be gay so he could keep the job, since Miguel is also gay and has trust issues with straight guys.
Fairly quickly hero finds out about alternative ways to earn money in the cinema, also meets pretty rich business-lady during the unsuccessful hold-up, and gets acquainted with the middle-aged punk-girlfriend of his scholar-friend. All while lying, dodging the truth, coming up with excuses, making promises he can’t keep, pretending to be someone else, and jumping into one lucrative direction after the other in search of quick gains and instant gratification in the atmosphere of the late 80s New-York from the perspective of a man who fits too well and doesn’t fit anywhere at the same time.
I could go on with the plot, but I don’t want to spoil it. I know that the novel was published back in 1997 (or so), I still believe it is better to keep the plot spoilers to the minimum in case someone might want to read it. After all, it is a captivating journey into the world of people who live not so glamorous lives, we usually get to see on the TV. What I gave you here is just a brief summary of the beginning before all the hell lets loose and the hero finds himself in the journey of his life.
What I should mention, though, is that the novel was written very fluently, and has a rich language that sometimes goes into occasional streams of consciousness that reminded me a lot of American Psycho. In fact, at times I caught myself on the thought that the hero of the novel is like a fusion of Arturo Bandini and Patrick Bateman. He is childish and pompous at one instance, and then suddenly cold and sociopathic at the other. In one moment he insists on his identity, while in the other swiftly morphs and assumes the role of someone he isn’t just to fit in.
The entire novel also constantly balances on the edge of humor and tragedy. Hero becomes part of macabre situations, and at times does terrible things, but the way he describes it, and the way dialogues are written makes everything seem surrealistic. Like you understand that what’s going on there isn’t alright, but you can’t stop grinning because the hero and people around him just can’t stop reacting not the way one might expect it.
That’s actually another reason why I liked the novel. It feels like a movie, but without typical movie tropes. The revelations are expected, just like you expect them to happen in real life, and the reasoning behind people’s actions also very lifelike, and people in general act the way they can act in real life. At times the way they talk and act can get cartoonish and hyperbolized, but it only adds to the overall surrealism of the situations pictured on the pages of the novel.
But what actually impressed me the most was the train of thoughts of the hero. As I said, he reminded me a lot of Arturo Bandini and Patrick Bateman, and what he does is him basically balancing between those two opposites, yet his thoughts are always clear and differ from his actions no matter what role he assumes at the moment. The hero understands when he’s in the wrong, he also can admit when what he did was bad, but at the same time, while he admits and understands it, he does nothing to stop his behavior or contain his impulses. Right to a point where he doesn’t even blame anyone for his own downfall and shortcomings. This sober rationality of the hero just adds another layer of surrealism to what happens on the pages. It’s like you’re following the story of three heroes at once, and everyone gets his own resolution in the end.
All in all, I can say that it was a while since I read something that impressed me this much. I still can’t say whether I liked this book or not, but what I know for sure is that it left a lasting impression on me. I keep returning to some of the episodes, and think of actions and words said. Also, I must say that the last 1/4 of the novel just hits differently, and that’s actually where the dark comedy reaches its peak, like when you just not sure how you should react anymore. You’re not grinning, but you’re not frowning either, you want to laugh, but you can’t because of how real it all is. And that’s what makes it memorable at least for me.
Thank you for reading and see you tomorrow. Bye!