/lit/ - Literature

>>16855184
The Helmet of Horror - Victor Pelevin (2005)
This is a book that aside from the intro is entirely dialogue from beginning to end and takes place in a "thread". Yes, potentially a thread similar to the very one that I've posted this in.
The page count is deceptive for this reason as it's around 33k words. I haven't seen the physical version and I wonder how it must look. The page count itself is peculiar for the digital version as well.
The book is metafictional, metatextual, metaphysical, intertextual, self-referential, postmodern and whatever other terms are relevant. It doesn't play nice or fair and trying to understand it may be a misguided, if not futile misunderstanding. If it were to be called performance art, I wouldn't disagree.
I read almost every review on Goodreads and then some reviews elsewhere to see what others thought about it. I wasn't disappointed by the reactions.
This was the 4th book in the Canongate Myth Series "in which ancient myths from various cultures are reimagined and rewritten" and although I haven't read any of the other books, I can't imagine this is what most of the audience thought they would be getting. I suspect that by the time they reached the end they were thinking that they were being pranked and wondered why they had acquired the book, but didn't want to rate it too lowly to seem as if they didn't understand what was going on and to give it the benefit of the doubt. Based on the reviews some took their bafflement to mean it must be quite a superior work while freely admitting they hadn't the slightest idea of anything about it. This makes sense because I doubt the average member intended audience for this would have necessary background to properly engage with this. If this is what I think it is, as described in the later spoilered text, then I certainly can't fault them for feeling tricked.
I'm surprised the publisher allowed this, but that's probably only due to my prior assumptions and not anything specific about the publisher. In that way everyone involved in its writing and publication is complicit in this prank, which is to what it seems to be to me on several levels. A prank on the reader, the critic, the reviewer, and whomever else may be involved.
My personal interpretation of this Rorschach test is that (this may unduly bias how you perceive this work) none of this happens and none of the "characters" are human, maybe they're AI, or something more esoteric, and if they're human they are literally posting in something like a CYOA or /qst/ thread or a pen & paper game. Everything that is presented to the reader is exactly that, text on a screen. If the events do happen and the characters are what they say they are, then maybe it's something like VRCHAT. I'm not willing to believe these are physical people in the physical world.
My intentions and thoughts are best served by not rating this, so it'll remain unrated. Dear Fellow Minotaurs of Labyrinth 4chan, MOO!