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A review by screamdogreads
College Novel by Blake Middleton
4.0
"I watched the greatest minds of my generation do whip-its in a Big Lots parking lot. In all seriousness though, the alternatives to not being bohemians seem stupid."
College Novel is one real bleak, entirely crushing, absolutely nihilistic mindfuck of a book. It's both at once something really very ordinary and something very unique and special. There's really no words to describe what experiencing this book is like - It's kind of like hurtling through a nightmarish version of your own life, it's also kind of like being forced to watch the decay of a loved one, or watching roadkill rot at the side of a freeway, it's gross and makes you feel extremely sad and empty but, there's something shocking and brilliant about it too. There's a real artfulness to this, a surrealistic quality that somehow makes the mundane seem riveting.
It's an entirely low stakes novel, but, it's a low stakes novel of drug fueled regret. It's all very sad, and completely depressing, College Novel offers little to smile about. Despite there being next to nothing that actually happens, it's all so harrowing and horrific that it transforms monotony into something wonderful. This will be a piece of literature talked about till time ends. It's also so very nostalgic, conjuring images of the days of crappy house parties and shitty friendship groups. College Novel has a rare authenticity about it, so difficult is it to find a book that really captures this specific feeling. And, that's because it's damn near impossible to ascertain what this feeling even is. Is it melancholy, depression, nihilistic ideation? Whatever it is, College Novel nails it.
College Novel is one real bleak, entirely crushing, absolutely nihilistic mindfuck of a book. It's both at once something really very ordinary and something very unique and special. There's really no words to describe what experiencing this book is like - It's kind of like hurtling through a nightmarish version of your own life, it's also kind of like being forced to watch the decay of a loved one, or watching roadkill rot at the side of a freeway, it's gross and makes you feel extremely sad and empty but, there's something shocking and brilliant about it too. There's a real artfulness to this, a surrealistic quality that somehow makes the mundane seem riveting.
It's an entirely low stakes novel, but, it's a low stakes novel of drug fueled regret. It's all very sad, and completely depressing, College Novel offers little to smile about. Despite there being next to nothing that actually happens, it's all so harrowing and horrific that it transforms monotony into something wonderful. This will be a piece of literature talked about till time ends. It's also so very nostalgic, conjuring images of the days of crappy house parties and shitty friendship groups. College Novel has a rare authenticity about it, so difficult is it to find a book that really captures this specific feeling. And, that's because it's damn near impossible to ascertain what this feeling even is. Is it melancholy, depression, nihilistic ideation? Whatever it is, College Novel nails it.
"Eric said he thought about driving into a tree while listening to emo music on the drive over. They sat and talked. They shared drug stories. Robert talked about snorting hydrocodone when he was in high school. Jordan said he accidentally took one of his dachshund's hydrocodones in the eighth grade instead of taking one of his grandma's hydrocodones. Aubrey said she took three gravity bong hits of spice in high school and got naked in the shower and thought about her parents finding her dead. "
College Novel is just so god-damn real. It's so amazingly raw and authentic and brutal. It's depressing as all hell. Blake Middleton has created a cataclysmic event of a novel, one that'll fool you with how safe and comforting it all feels, and then, when you're at your most vulnerable, it'll eviscerate you by peeling away the shiny, perfect coating of modern life to expose its rotting innards. It's essentially, at its core, a book about a bunch of kids who decided that drugs were the only worthwhile part of the college lives. It's built entirely around being a novel of dialogue, and it's one of the better offerings in this style. It's a total mind-warp, even now, I'm not quite sure what to say about this book, other than, I loved it.
"I wanna get shot in the back of the head with no warning, Eric said. He drank some beer from the Dough Mahoney glass. I'll shoot you, Olivia said. No, don't. I wanna die from a brain aneurysm."