Craig's Blog of Destiny

In Eeeee Eee Eeee Tao Lin quotes Portuguese poet Pessoa:  “Pessoa said art was fun and beautiful because it was useless and had no meaning.”  If that is so, Tao Lin’s book strikes me as being successful as art.  It was fun and beautiful – but in a useless, meaningless kind of way.

The narrative of Eeeee Eee Eeee is simple, underlying the simplicity of the plot.  There is a plot, though there’s not much to it.  I found myself more drawn to the sections following Ellen, a secondary character, than those of the main character, Andrew.  In retrospect, that may be because I got tired of the repetition and uselessness Andrew continually demonstrates.  The main emotional flavor of the novel can be summed up by the title of Tao Lin’s previous work, a collection of poetry titled “You Are a Little Bit Happier Than I Am.”

Eeeee Eee Eeee is the type of book that while I’m reading it I keep thinking it’s a waste, but once I’ve finished it look back on as a pleasant, unique and probably memorable experience (“The Life of Pi” produced similar feelings).  Most reviews mention the section wherein the president waxes philosophical, which was very good, but I thought the comments by the talking dolphins, bears and aliens were also very interesting and poignant.  The bears are particularly blessed and sad, with the ability to grant wishes and teleport, yet living in a state of grief.  The dolphins come across as pompous, the bears, just sad.