Review of Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash by Eka Kurniawan.

My review on Bookwyrm:

This a story about violence and masculine trauma and impotence. About the allure of the open road to pull us out of the restricting communities where we grow up. About being too fucking stupid and stubborn to be with the person we love.

You make mistakes when you are young. When you get older you think you have gotten wiser but in fact you’re just as dumb, you’re just a little better at hiding it. Maybe you can talk someone out of making the same mistake you did, but probably not. You misunderstand what they want, they lie to you about what they can do.

None of this gets tied up neatly, no one achieves integration or resolution or happiness.

This book is vicious and brutal, but extremely funny. The kind of book where an unsuspecting teenager might start to idolize the characters for acting tough or being cool, but this hits you completely over the head with how shitty and pathetic they are.

I enjoyed it quite a lot.