This volume set up a lot for the next one, but I still had a blast. I loved watching Chu Wanning and Mo Ran interact through the challenges that arose. I also spent a lot of time enthralled, trying to parse all the little bits being laid down and what they might mean.

I’m continually surprised by how Meatbun balances incredibly fucked-up, heavy events with crass humor in a way that feels so effortless.

I have so many questions.

This book is a labor of love to read. It’s meant to be confusing and tedious as well as surreal. There are passages that sound pseudo-academic, complete with nonsensical citations. At one point just as your eyes glaze over, the text begins talking about boredom and what purpose it serves. So it’s self-aware and playful, deliberately messing with you.

The structure at times mimics the labyrinthine house: impossible to decipher and constantly changing. There are footnotes within footnotes that lead nowhere, multiple narrators spiraling into obsessions losing their minds on the page, and a house that keeps shifting in ways that defy physics. I had to set aside 60-90 minutes every time I picked this up, but I enjoyed how disorienting it was.

At its core is the same story echoed across the narrators: trying to map something that cannot be ever be fully explored or understood, searching for meaning in chaos and darkness, working through trauma, and seeking connection by documenting their findings. Whether I was reading Johhny’s rabid ramblings, Pelafina’s letters, or Zampano’s research, grief and loneliness kept seeping through.

This is the most unique reading experience I’ve had. I respect the effort it took to make this book, and the effort it demands of its reader. It’s not for everyone, but it was for me!

I really appreciated the nuance and complexity of the characters and the topics presented. But I found myself disappointed by the ending. Namely that there are themes it vaguely gestures at rather than fully explore. The whole book builds to one specific scene which is glossed over. The epilogue then waves it off in a way that while realistic, was disappointing.

i really enjoyed the voice of Max as the narrator and her observations about the world and relationships. i think that was the biggest highlight.

the ending, however, fell flat for me. it was anticlimactic and vague kind of desperate on Vincent's part in a way that felt a little disingenuous.

another part that kind of bothered me throughout the book is how Max is just surrounded by shitty people. it sounds like such a miserable existence. Simone's emails and hypocritical feminism and Max's disappointment with her is never fully addressed and completely glossed over. Simone in general is just such an insufferable person, which is fine on its own because i do enjoy unlikable characters. but it's strange to have Max just not care that her closest friend is kind of wack.

idk maybe my thoughts are still too fresh on this book and i'll end up liking it more in retrospect but i didn't love it as much as i thought i would when i initially picked it up.