What do You think about O Homem Visível (2013)?
I can't say that I particularly liked this book as much as I enjoyed reading it and how I had to sit for a very long time thinking about the story itself. The premise is pretty straight forward, basically was it says on the book jacket, but I was surprised to find it a bit more insidious than that. There's a lot of themes and ideas floating around in this story, told for the point of view of the psychiatrist Victoria attempting to treat Y____. We understand the narrator isn't dumb, or that she lacks personal insight, despite Y___'s ideas to the contrary, but she never can quite telegraph what's right on the edge of understanding. The whole book made me feel as if I could just barely see the theme, and then it was gone, mostly because the damned things kept overlapping themselves.I've read a few other reviews that Visible Man is basically a prop for Klosterman to wax on about voyeurism, guilt and social reactions (and the intrinsic popularity of the Beatles). I wouldn't necessarily disagree, as nothing really happens until the last 20% of the book, but there is a bit of story telling going on. There's Victoria's infatuation and awe, which I found pretty conflicting personally. I understood the transformation of the character, having been awed like this before, but I didn't like it. For all hindsight of Victoria, she can't properly explain herself, which makes her justifications are paltry and weak. The only other true character is Y__, who, while interesting and intriguing, is pretty shitty at the same time. The jacket doesn't lie- the guy is unlikable. There's admiration for his socially deviant behavior and equal parts frustration for his lack of sociopathic tendencies due to his social ineptitude (not address the end of the book), which makes for an uninteresting, if not incompetent fictional villain this day and age. And really, the only time Y___ is likable is when he's being a passive character by narrating to Victoria.So, you, as the reader, are stuck between two people you don't actually care too much for, particularly when they interact. One is mean and the other passive. I guess you could call this a story of two unlikeable people (?), but I know just enough about writing that the characters are the ones which lead the reader through the plot, and here, you don't really want to follow either of them.Again, it's the themes which make me say that I enjoyed reading the book. The spelled out idea that no one is truly themselves unless they're alone without outside pressures is something I hadn't heard anyone else discuss. There was also the relationship of Y___ and Victoria, which was dynamic and slowly forming if not ridiculously traditional in their gender roles. It's the gender theme which caused me the most amount of consideration to be honest. Was Klosterman trying to say something, or lazy dick-lit writing? I can't decide as this is the first book I've read by him, so I took what I could get from either possibility and called it a day.I suppose if you like Palhunick's early writings, you'd probably like this book, though it's more cerebral and less visceral.
—PurpleSullivan
I read this on a flight and it was a great flight read: compelling, not particularly dense, and easy to look up from and say "yes, cranberry juice please."That said, even though it had tension and was fun, it fell a little flat.The novel is structured as a manuscript of different transcriptions and anecdotes of Vicky and her therapy sessions with Y___. In these accounts, Klosterman weaves in some great observations of culture as well as even fiction, but at times it's so topical that I found that it got itself caught up in details (similar to Y__'s erratic storytelling) and became a bit jumbled. That said, fun and interesting to read.
—seona
Kind of twisted.
—Jen
