The Return of Eeeee Eee Eeee

[sub_divided]

Don't read Tao Lin before bed. Repeat after me! Don't read Tao Lin before bed. Though you know, (re)reading Ellen's sections (and stopping when her nice but clueless but nice Mom dies in a plane crash) doesn't get at your brain in quite the same way that (re)reading Andrew's sections does. Ellen's narration is fragmented in its own way but she is trying harder to really capture her experiences using her full vocabulary. Andrew's thoughts are repetitive and distilled.

I do think that even in Ellen's sections, you see her attempts to be truthful and clear-sighted occasionally interrupted by kinds of repetitions and themes you find in Andrew's sections, a kind of premonition of what's to come. (Or alternately the author was just feeling particularly exhausted and uninspired on those days, but made himself push through, retreating to simple sentences and absurd events until the feeling went away.)

My fuller, more critical review of the book is here.