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A fun, zany, existential adventure
“"The Raw Shark Texts" is a ridiculously fun book. The premise, though clever, is not particularly unique: a man wakes up to find he is without memory: he has no idea who he is, where he is, or what he's doing there. He manages to figure out some details, including his name (Eric Sanderson). And then things get weirder. Eric gets a strange letter in the mail... a letter from "The first Eric Sanderson." And then things get really nutty.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-11-07.
Eric gets swept into an insane adventure involving more cryptic letters from himself, and a world of words and meanings and "conceptual beings", including a "conceptual shark" that seems to be posing a serious threat to Eric's wellbeing, both physical and mental. Author Steven Hall paces the book well, explaining the bizarre concepts the book introduces, and moving fast enough that the reader doesn't stop and question them too deeply. There's also plenty of fun wordplay, and even font-play as Hall uses clusters of symbols and varying typefaces to represent the shark in question.
This book is difficult to classify because it has it all--action, adventure, mystery, intrigue, humor... and an underlying love story to tie it all together. It's a bold and crazy adventure that includes jokes, riddles, and pop-culture references (the third act of the book runs bizarrely parallel to a certain classic film). In many ways the story gets way out there, and the narrative becomes arguably incomprehensible at parts. But it always gets back on track, and the adventure and characters are just so zany and fun that you forgive the book its logical departures. You don't read "The Raw Shark Texts" for its logic. It is, after all, a story about a man who's being pursued out of water by an invisible shark made of symbols and letters and ideas--what did you expect?
"The Raw Shark Texts" is a rollicking fun adventure that is wildly ambitious and unapologetically zany in every way. It shows great promise for Steven Hall as an author and I eagerly await whatever inane adventure he might take us on next.” -
Whatever you do - DO NOT browse inside the book !
“When I grabbed the book from it's pile and asked the salesman in the bookstore about it, he compared it to the idea of the film "Matrix" and advised me, and sort of warned me, that this is kind of a science fiction book.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-11-03.
It is quite difficult to tell what is inside this extremely fresh and imaginative book without giving out any spoilers.
They way it was published and edited in Israel, there where no hints at the back of the book (unlike the back cover of this book here at AMAZON) of what I will find inside - just Eric Sanderson's first letter to himself.
Maybe there will be other books like it again, but there weren't like it before!
Take a sit and go into this reach and imaginative head and perspective of the main character, be open minded and you will experience a book like you've never did and seen before.
Steven Hall is making the best from the book's structure to fit his novel....So do yourself a favor: Whatever you do - DO NOT browse inside the book !
Enjoy it, as no one has reached the perceptions as Hall did about the form of writing and the words and letters to use on a print....
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its alright
“i bought this book based on what i read in the review section and the fact that it came up in the House of Leaves category. it starts out good, then kinda steadies out and at times i wondered why i was reading. the more i thought a "thought shark" the more it turned me off. good story, a man suffering from amenistic fugue and cant remember his past and works to uncover it but the shark was too much for me, it you are looking for another house of leaves this isnt it.”
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-10-23. -
Awesome book
“Awesome book! Very interesting story, left me breathless. Couldn't put it down and bought multiple copies as gifts for other people. ”
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-10-23. -
An interesting read
“A very strange book but very interesting. It's highly conceptual, so it takes a little while to kind of understand what Hall is getting at, but it's very exciting and quite action-packed. I usually found myself reading in bed and once I finished a chapter I'd have to say to myself: "Well, maybe just one more chapter." A couple of late nights were had with this book! If you liked the movies "The Matrix" and "Memento" then you will love this book.”
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-10-20.
