Because You Want to Book Club #8: "The Raw Shark Texts"

Have you ever picked up a book based solely on the cover? Have you ever read the book without realizing that it had become a sort of literary phenomenon? Well, that is exactly what happened to me when I picked up Steven Hall’s book “The Raw Shark Texts.” The design of the book caused me to flip through the pages and then to add it to my already large pile of books to read.

To classify “Raw Shark” in any sort of genre would be impossible. Actually, to break down the plot of the novel without spoiling anything is also next to impossible, but here is the basic story:

A young man in his early 30’s, who may or may not be named Eric Sanderson, wakes up on the floor of his apartment with no idea who or where he is. Eric is suffering from a form of amnesia where he can remember basic daily skills and random facts, but nothing of who he once was. According to his doctor, the start of the book marks his eleventh relapse. Also, Eric is receiving packages from his former self that his doctor tells him not to open and he is being stalked by a shark. Not just a shark, mind you; it is a conceptual shark made up of memories and text. That is all I can tell you without ruining any of the book’s numerous twists and details.

In truth, this book makes me feel like I am writing a book report in elementary school. While I enjoyed large parts of the book, it pretty much defies any sort of analysis. The best I can say is that it reads like “Being John Malcovich” grafted onto “Jaws” by way of “The Notebook” with a brief stop in “Baron Munchausen” territory with someone who may or may not be a zombie type thing thrown in for good measure just to make sure it has every possible literary base covered. The book has its own wiki. If you want to know more, I suggest you start there.

Hall’s biggest strengths aside from creating one of the most visually stunning works in the vein of “House of Leaves” or “Breakfast of Champions,” lie in the creativity of his story and his characters. Hall plays the ridiculous plot just straight enough to avoid falling into self parody and his characters are genuinely likable and invoke a real emotional response.

The main reason this book only gets a borderline grade is because the book is needlessly complex. Hall has enough material for eight books and in the first few chapters you are inundated with details upon details that end up going nowhere. While the book ends on a satisfying note, it is so abrupt, unbelievable, and tidy that it ends up weighing down the whole book like a lead anchor. It gives us the happiest ending possible, but it still feels like the wrong ending given all that came before it.

Grade: C+