Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart is not a typical dystopia. Probably everyone remembers that boom of dystopias about brave teenagers who want to change the unfair world order which were released in recent years. This novel has nothing to do with that. There are no “flawless” characters with big hearts and flaming souls. It is about usual people who try to adjust to a life in the world where everyone tries to find “a fountain of youth”, a good job and earn popularity. It is tragicomic, fascinating and might be even thought-provoking story about the future we might be able to see in several decades.
Lenny Abramov is a simple man who has never tried to swim against the current, for he has been always lucky enough to have the most difficult work done for him. His parents left the Soviet Union to give him a better life, his boss doesn’t fire him for his poor selling skills, even Eunice starts dating him not because he manages to gain her affection but because she needs his love, care and protection. So, Lenny Abramov is not a classic dystopian hero, but it makes him easy to understand. The younger readers are the more difficult it is going to be for them to compare their own experience with Lenny’s. The thing is that there are still many people for whom such an important role of the social networks is unclear. Even thirty-forty years ago, no one could imagine that someone would find it interesting to film their daily routine. No wonder that Lenny struggles to adjust! One more thing that should be said about Lenny is his naivety. His unrequited crush doesn’t irritate, it evokes only sadness, for it becomes clear that their relationship is doomed from the very beginning. It is not possible to build a healthy family life on one sided love.
Eunice Park seems to be a child of her time, the one who has no trouble to spark and be in the center of people’s attention, but it is just an illusion which is could be artificially maintained with the help of the social media. The woman struggles to find her own identity, a path to her own happiness. On the one hand, she can’t shake off a feeling that she let her family down. On the other hand, Eunice doesn’t want to live like her parents. It is not mentioned directly whether her father used to abuse her, but readers do know that the man is cruel to her mother.
This dystopia is definitely worth reading, for it doesn’t describe untrustworthy scenario. The events described in it can actually happen and it is up to us whether the world in which there is no place for thinking becomes our future. Let’s be reasonable and don’t put selling before thinking.
