The Raw Shark Texts by Steven HallMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Eric Sanderson has lost his memory, but he's got a few clues as to where he can find it, as long as he isn't overtaken by those terrors that lurk below his own consciousness. The Raw Shark Texts pulls you down a rabbit hole of complete nonsense in the best possible way. While reading, I often found myself trying to understand what the hell was going on early in the book only to be confounded over and over again. Eventually, and only after I'd stopped struggling, everything just sort of fell into place.
The comparisons that have been made for this book (Jaws, House of Leaves, Fight Club, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) are all apt, but Raw Shark shoulders up and takes its own place alongside these giants instead of attaching to them like so many other remora-books. It is mind-fuckingly great. It is a gasp of fresh air. It's a conceptual animal all its own.
I would guess that it takes a certain type of reader to appreciate this book, but I can definitively say, and without hesitation, that I am that exact type of reader. The prose was terrific, deftly guiding me at breakneck speed without ever tripping over its own feet. I don't often reread, but I may dip my toes in for this one again.
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Amazon Link: The Raw Shark Texts: A Novel
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