2024 Book Review Series: Blind Faith in the Power of Focus

If I allowed myself to read whatever book I wanted, I would spend a fortune at the bookstore before ever reaching for the titles on my shelf. To prevent this, I put the books on my TBR list into a random spinner wheel app and let fate pick for me. This method has forced me to pick up books I wouldn't otherwise have, but it has also kept me away from the books I was dying to read. Finally, when it landed on this novel, the wheel showed some mercy.

Sam Lipsyte's Hark has been at the top of my anticipated reads list for months. The narrative follows a band of troubled people who subscribe to Hark Morner's concept of mental archery, which is intended to help people focus (but on what?). It most closely tracks Fraz Penzig, Hark's most devoted follower and right-hand man. Despite hardly grasping the concept himself, Fraz wants to showcase mental archery to the world. As he struggles to understand the real purpose of Hark's wisdom, he also attempts to salvage his broken marriage, hold down a job, and go a single day without messing up.

Hark is the first novel I've read this year that has made it difficult to tune into character in my writing. Lipsyte's prose is short and direct but so witty and observational that my tendency toward long, hyperbolic sentences almost seemed silly. I found myself wanting to mimic his techniques in my writing and it took me a few minutes to find my narrator's voice again. As much as I want to reach for another of his books, I'll have to steer clear until I finish my work in progress.

This text is a true work of literary fiction in that the plot is fragmented and heavily reliant on character, which is my favourite "genre" to read because of its depiction of human struggle. Fraz has dug himself into a hole and, like any person grasping for straws, has thrown his faith blindly into a man who doesn't even know the meaning of his philosophy. Mental archery is a commentary on - among so many other things - how desperation leads us to false idols, unwarranted trust, and quick fixes.

My largest criticism of Hark is that there is very little of the namesake character. While this is fitting for what is undoubtedly an ironic text, I would have found Fraz even more pathetic if I had known more about how unqualified Hark was for his stardom. Unwavering trust in an internet guru is pitiful enough, but knowing that said prophet has no idea how he got there makes it even better. I understand why Lipsyte left out much of Hark's perspective, but that doesn't mean l don't wish he hadn't.

I'm glad to say I got as much enjoyment out of this novel as I had anticipated. The prose was clever, the characters complex, and the morals true. I'm itching to pick up another of Lipsyte's books, so I guess I better get writing.