I Hate the Internet by Jarett Kobek is a fictional novel that follows the life of a character named Adeline in San Francisco. Adeline is a comic book artist, and first encounters the Internet after a video of her voicing controversial opinions is uploaded to the World Wide Web. After this incident, Adeline, along with her friends, attempt to make sense of the Internet by joining various media, such as Twitter, to reclaim her reputation.
Reading this book is equivalent to reading a book in a language I do not know, backwards. Jarett Kobek’s plot, if it can be called that, is so all over the place it was hard to even come up with a summary of the book. It feels as if he is ranting more than telling a story. While there are some witty and clever things to make note of, for the most part, the book is too confusing to enjoy. To give an example of a witty part of the book I enjoyed, here is a quote from I Hate the Internet, Chapter One. “The Internet was a wonderful invention. It was a computer network which people used to remind other people that they were awful pieces of shit.”
The main complaint I have about this book is the information and how it is presented. It seems as though Kobek decides to make a point, but then in the middle of his point decides to make another one and so on. There are too many main points to keep track of. The book then becomes an endless abyss of random ideas and do not make sense as a whole. I also dislike how much ranting he does. It seems as though he complains about everything under the sun. If I wanted to listen to ranting, I’d go on Facebook and listen to old people complain about how the Starbucks holiday cups say “Merry Coffee” instead of “Merry Christmas”
If you thought, like I did, that I Hate the Internet was going to be a fabulous and funny novel… don’t hold your breath. I hate the Internet sometimes, but I hate this book ten times more, and I’m not the only one. Goodreads, a well known book review website, has over five-hundred 5 star ratings, however closely following behind are the three-hundred 1 and 2 star ratings.
Literature & the Internet 