Review by Shrivani -- The Nobel Prize by Mois benarroch
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Shrivani
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- Latest Review: "The Nobel Prize" by Mois benarroch
Review by Shrivani -- The Nobel Prize by Mois benarroch
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Nobel Prize" by Mois benarroch.]
2 out of 4 stars
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Are you tired of reading books where the main character is an author? It’s a tired method for an even more tired writer to find a way to connect with their protagonist. I’ve reached the saturation point from reading Stephen King alone. Where many others have succumbed to standard cliché writers’ stories, The Nobel Prize is full of inconsequential surprises, dreamlike passages, and confusing meta-inclusions.
The story follows an unnamed narrator, who has spent his life as a prolific writer of controversial novels. Throughout his life he has found no monetary success in his craft, even after publishing twenty books. This failure, coupled with many of his peers believing him to be wealthy from his writings, has left him self-conscious and bitter toward other writers. He has also found himself lost in a marriage on the rocks after years of his wife taking on the family’s financial responsibilities as he struggles to gain notoriety in his writings.
The narrator learns from local writer—who has spent thirty years writing his only novel—that another of their peers has been hospitalized for mental health issues. He had been exhibiting signs of schizophrenia. While not precisely remembering this former colleague, the narrator decides to visit on several occasions throughout the story with the intention of helping. It is discovered very quickly by the narrator that the afflicted writer believes himself to be a different character each day in stories that he had written previously. The narrator, perplexed by the symptoms, begins an investigation into the mentally unstable writer’s body of work to attempt to find a cure to his ailments. Along the way, this exploration falls off the rails in an unpredictable fashion as the story progresses.
The strongest parts of this story are found in the absurd developments that tear apart the few strands of reason able to be held at the beginning. As the story progresses, the rules between the reader and the typically written narrator melt away into a meta-puddle that is difficult to fish for the intended message. Interest is kept throughout with humorous dialogue and brief chapters that keep the plot tumbling forward in whichever direction it decides to go.
The Nobel Prize is a unique story told in an unconventional style. Having read it, I’m still not entirely sure what it was. The characters are diverse and confusing—including a thousand-year-old alien—but at the same time remain flat and unchanging throughout the story. I rate it a 2 out of 4 stars, and would not recommend this story to most people, unless you are in the mood for unresolved meta-humor.
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The Nobel Prize
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2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Are you tired of reading books where the main character is an author? It’s a tired method for an even more tired writer to find a way to connect with their protagonist. I’ve reached the saturation point from reading Stephen King alone. Where many others have succumbed to standard cliché writers’ stories, The Nobel Prize is full of inconsequential surprises, dreamlike passages, and confusing meta-inclusions.
The story follows an unnamed narrator, who has spent his life as a prolific writer of controversial novels. Throughout his life he has found no monetary success in his craft, even after publishing twenty books. This failure, coupled with many of his peers believing him to be wealthy from his writings, has left him self-conscious and bitter toward other writers. He has also found himself lost in a marriage on the rocks after years of his wife taking on the family’s financial responsibilities as he struggles to gain notoriety in his writings.
The narrator learns from local writer—who has spent thirty years writing his only novel—that another of their peers has been hospitalized for mental health issues. He had been exhibiting signs of schizophrenia. While not precisely remembering this former colleague, the narrator decides to visit on several occasions throughout the story with the intention of helping. It is discovered very quickly by the narrator that the afflicted writer believes himself to be a different character each day in stories that he had written previously. The narrator, perplexed by the symptoms, begins an investigation into the mentally unstable writer’s body of work to attempt to find a cure to his ailments. Along the way, this exploration falls off the rails in an unpredictable fashion as the story progresses.
The strongest parts of this story are found in the absurd developments that tear apart the few strands of reason able to be held at the beginning. As the story progresses, the rules between the reader and the typically written narrator melt away into a meta-puddle that is difficult to fish for the intended message. Interest is kept throughout with humorous dialogue and brief chapters that keep the plot tumbling forward in whichever direction it decides to go.
The Nobel Prize is a unique story told in an unconventional style. Having read it, I’m still not entirely sure what it was. The characters are diverse and confusing—including a thousand-year-old alien—but at the same time remain flat and unchanging throughout the story. I rate it a 2 out of 4 stars, and would not recommend this story to most people, unless you are in the mood for unresolved meta-humor.
******
The Nobel Prize
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Shrivani's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "The Nobel Prize" by Mois benarroch
