Gary Shteyngart’s “Super Sad True Love Story” gives a premonition of things to come
In a world full of false advertising, “Super Sad True Love Story” delivers on all counts.
“Super Sad,” by Gary Shteyngart, depicts a dystopian New York City set about 20 years in the future. Everyone has an “äppärät” (think iPhone2), nobody reads and women wear see-through pants. Shteyngart—himself a Russian-American—tells the story partly through the diary entries of Lenny Abramov, a 39-year old Russian immigrant. Abramov’s nationality, however, does not have a substantial effect on the storyline. Shteyngart seems to have included it for the sake of continuity with his other books, “The Russian Debutante’s Handbook” and “Absurdistan,” which also feature Russian protagonists.
The rest of the book consists of email conversations between Lenny and his subdued, 24-year old Korean girlfriend, Eunice Park. “Super Sad” follows the ebbs and flows of their relationship and tracks the slow destruction of the United States.
The book’s title works: this is a super, sad, true love story.
This book is super. Book reviews tend to be harsh and “Super Sad” itself is depressing, but it proves to be a pleasure to read. Shteyngart draws his readers in with his clear writing, which feels natural despite the neologisms that come with a story set in the future.
This book is certainly sad. The main character is 39 years old and the story takes place 15 to 20 years from now. Do the math. Lenny Abramov represents us a couple decades down the road. Lenny lives in a world where the smell of books is considered foul, where normal women call each other “sluts” as a compliment and where a man hosts a popular political commentary show intermixed with hardcore gay sex videos. If Shteyngart is right, we will all be living there too.
In this book, the value of American dollars depends on the strength of the Chinese yuan; people speak in abbreviations (“’LPT,’ she said. ‘TIMATOV. ROFLAARP. PRGV. Totally PRGV.’”); corporations like AlliedWasteCVSCitigroup and ColgatePalmoliveYum!BrandViacomCredit control the country; people walk around attached to personal electronic devices; and everyone is obsessed with staying young, ingesting every available antioxidant. In a word, this satire is true. But this book does not mean to be a vision of the future. Elements of the world of “Super Sad” are scientifically and politically questionable, but it shows insight as an acerbic social commentary on our present society.
Despite its political and social messages, this novel functions—at its core—as a testament to the love between Lenny and Eunice. This love is real because it is imperfect. Both parties have ulterior motives: Lenny is a middle-aged man obsessed with youth who seeks gratification in a 24-year old Korean girl. Eunice, on the other hand, is a child of the future—obsessed with instant gratification and attracted to this weird, hairy old guy who likes to read books.
But in terms of the story, “Super Sad” falls short. The plot is basic and obvious: two lovers in a country so crazy that their relationship has no hopes of survival. The characters and the country both spiral down, down, down until… well, it does not end nicely. And while there is nothing wrong with having a book that is focuses more on characters and concepts than on storyline, when you put the word “story” in your title, readers might expect a stronger plot.
Other critics have lauded “Super Sad True Love Story” as one of the must-read books of this summer, and for good reason. For college students in particular, his description of the all-too-near future sounds chillingly like our present and reads more like a premonition of things to come than a harmless novel. I am still depressed.
334 pages
$26
Random House
