This is a review of A Greater Monster by David David Katz.
A Greater Monster is an experience that I was really looking forward to. As a fan of Homestuck and House of Leaves, I am always looking for reading experiences that go beyond the traditional prose of the literary world. I like the idea that storytelling standards can be uprooted, especially if it means that these new mechanics can further immerse the reader into the specific themes of the story.
Yet, when I read A Greater Monster, I did not get the same satisfaction that I got from the previously mentioned works. It ultimately feels too loose. It feels like a grand experiment that ultimately doesn’t come off as satisfying as the writer is too caught up in the concept that it forgets the fundamentals of what makes a great story.
The story, or what I can understand of it, is about a nameless protagonist who works at a job that they hate. This protagonist is a misogynistic and cynical individual. They end up taking a mysterious drug from a homeless and man and transports the narrator into a strange world. Here, he spends the rest of the story traveling through this psychedelic, nightmarish Wonderland.
There is a lot happening in this book but I can’t say I always know what is happening. A good middle third of the story has the perspective shift from character to character and I am not sure I even know who these characters are. I feel as if I am meeting them as the primary character but also I can’t be too sure. Many of the characters are given fantastical descriptions but they are also given such a hodgepodge of details that it ends up being hard to track all of these fantastical characters we meet.
The tone is all over the place as well. Sometimes it can be downright funny and other times it can become an outright nightmare. Sometimes it seems to have some sort of plot and other times it becomes a psychedelic rant about the way our world is a false reality.
All of the hallmarks of what I want out of an ergodic novel are here. Experimentations with text, including, font, size, style. There is a hundred-page comic sequence depicted on a black page. There are words that are depicted in shapes as opposed to typical lines. There are changes in tense and point of view. In many ways, I should really enjoy this.
But the fact is I don’t. A Greater Monster tries very hard to make the concept work that it forgets the foundations of what makes a good story. I don’t like the prose. It is ugly and sometimes even immature. The main character is unlikeable. This isn’t usually a problem for me but it has the trappings of an “edgy” writer. This on top of the highly experimental style makes for a deadly combination that at worst feels embarrassing.
If I had to pinpoint a diagnosis when compared to other ergodic works, I would say that those other works did a great job using more of the conventions of traditional works before throwing the reader into their experimental unknown. Katzman doesn’t do that here. It is unapologetic from start to finish that this experience is a psychedelic, apocalyptic nightmare.
I have such a hard time getting my views out of this because reading the book really feels like taking bad drugs at times. It might sound like I am being sarcastic but I mean this genuinely. As a simulation of that experience, I guess this is good. For those of you that want that, I think you actually might have a good time with this novel. In fact, a lot of people reviewing this seemed to enjoy it. I’m glad they got something out of it. After all, I think if A Greater Monster has anything going for it, it is ambitious. It is unapologetically itself and I can honestly say that I haven’t read anything like it in quite some time.
I would say that if this interests you, give it a read. If you can’t get past the first 50 pages, I can’t blame you. If you read it from start to finish in a single session, I can’t blame you either.
Danger Wonka 