You Shall Know Our Velocity

You Shall Know Our Velocity is a story about humanity more than it is a story about the world. Readers quickly get to know and relate to the characters, even before knowing their stories. Written with Egger's wonderfully fluid way of weaving a story and a person together. Incredibly enjoyable to read and travel through.

I happened across this novel at a book sale at a local retailer here in Cape Town and was drawn to it by the cover image - 2 people, half-naked, in free-fall. I'm not sure how I knew it, but the two people free-falling don't appear to be in any distress. Anyway, mindful of the old adage of not judging a book by its cover, I bought the novel. I was not disappointed. I was bemused, though; bewildered, definitely. I was also not quite comfortable with it for a long way, partly because I couldn't really tell which way it was heading, and partly because it is fairly brutal. It was definitely not put-downable, though; a credit to the author's capabilities. The story is that of Will and Justin - called "Hand" - and their frenetic trip to get rid of some money that Will has that he doesn't want. It all occurs in the aftermath of the death of their best friend, Jack, in a freak truck accident. Jack's death appears to have occurred fairly recently, and there has been another recent incident along the way where Will has been badly beaten up, which he blames Hand for. This recurring undertone simmers throughout the novel as Will is still black and blue on this frantic trip through Senegal, Morocco, Estonia and Latvia en route to Egypt, Greenland, Madagascar or Mongolia, depending on which flights are available. You'll have to read the novel to find out what I mean. The novel is raucously funny and touchingly poignant, often in the same paragraph as it recounts the tale of Will and Hand currently aged 26, and also Will and Hand when they were just kids, through fairly disrupted childhoods. While Will is the narrator, it is as much the story of Hand as that of Will, and contains remarkable insights nutshelling the human condition, as much in their deeds as in their thoughts. Both guys certainly seem to exist with a heavy measure of aftertaste, lives initially filled with promise which have petered out into a holding pattern of day-to-day drudgery and unfulfilled potential. The author manages to create an amazing sense of utter desperation in both characters - even though the trip is a spur of the moment decision, it becomes so monumental that one wonders in the end if they could have survived without it. The novel is simultaneously disturbing and wonderous, containing more twists and turns than a roller coaster. If anyone out there can even begin to guess what will happen as the novel progresses, fair play to them - I certainly could not. All in all, I ripped through the book in about 3 days, thoroughly enjoying every distressing page of it. The author's style is unique and the two characters are unexpectedly fresh. While the story itself is definitely well within the realm of extremely black comedy, the insights contained within and discovered by the reader are uplifting.

Eggers is a genius. Don't expect this to show up next to Da Vinci Code on a bestseller list though. Apparently nowadays people care quite a bit about plot, and while this book certainly has a plot, and a very good one at that, it is entertaining in a very very different way. This is real literature here, folks. If you like multiple layers of meaning, read this. But if you're stuck on books that read like action films, maybe this isn't for you. Then again, if you enjoy honest, sincere literature that celebrates life and makes tired and mundane things seem new again, maybe you should read this after all.

For those of you that have not seen the hardcover edition, it needs an explanation. The book starts right there on the cover. There is no title, no auther, nothing like that -- just text. Then you open the book and on the inside cover is more text. Never a coverpage or anything, YSKOV speeds right into story.The story itself is fast-paced and wonderful. Based on this and his previous work (Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius), I believe that Eggers may well prove to be one of the enduring authors in my generation. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen was heralded as a great American Novel. Don't let publicity fool you: YSKOV is easily its equal. Eggers' writing is extremely smart -- making it all the more enjoyable. Never is he dull.In YSKOV, the narrator fascinated me for his thought process. Eggers constructs a man who wants to find his place in the world, so he travels it. Yet for all of his travels, he doesn't seem to have any idea what to do when he gets there. As a result, the story is often humourous and often poignant.While I recommend it to a broad audience, as a gift YSKOV would certainly resonate with the armchair traveler longing for his own whirlwind tour or the young graduate ready to start out in the world. As a final note, if you are considering this as a gift, I strongly suggest the hardback edition. Its presentation aligns nicely with Eggers' draw-you-right-in style, as well as being unique. I believe that the hardback editions were only released to "independent" bookstores -- a fact that may be appreciated by a budding idealist/activist. However, please note that there have been changes between editions and the hardback and paperback aren't quite the same book. An interesting reason to buy your favorite booklover both editions.

In many ways, YSKOV is the polar opposite of AHWOSG. While Eggers' first book was angry and bustling with energy and chaos, here he takes a more leisurely pace, no less staggering, but in a more subtle and less fanfare way. The main character, Will, is diametrically different: he is melancholy and lonely, having recently lost his best friend and been physically beaten by a couple of anonymous attackers. So he decides to travel around the world handing out money to poor strangers with his friend Hand. They do it spontaneously, however, hoping that Providence will guide them to where they are supposed to be. So most of the places they decide to go to - Greenland, Siberia, Egypt, Mongolia, etc. - they never reach. Instead they end up in Senegal, Morocco, Estonia, and Latvia, and unlike most adventure stories, rather than finding adventure they find only a dead end. Their trip is a failure from start to finish - they never escape what they want to leave behind, and they never find where they want to be. They constantly abort their plans. Their philanthropy seems to help no one. Will tries to hop a horse buggy to hand the driver some cash, but falls on his face instead; they drive to the top of a mountain at night, looking for poor mountaindwellers, but find it empty and silent. This is a travel-adventure story made up of airport terminals, hotel rooms, empty beaches, vacant bars, desolate mountaintops and lonely woods. It is the 'fourth world', the desolate regions of the world where people rarely ever come and rarely ever stay.Yet the fact that Will and Hand don't succeed is really the success of the story. It is not about the destinations, or the journey there, but about the things that lie in the past. Will's rememberance of his childhood are the most beautiful passages. It is enjoyable just to be in the company of the characters and the antics they pull. Eggers' paints a beautiful picture, if less loudly innovative, at least as heartbreaking and emotional as his memoir. And even if it is a little modernistic or existentialistic, Eggers' combination of such with his own style of wit and irony make it genuine. It is definately a superbly crafted work.