3/18/2024 0 Comments Diary of an oxygen thief seriesThe writing style is terse, exquisite, and frequently humorous. Again, this is why its publication is so shocking (more on that later). This is the premise of Diary of an Oxygen Thief. Then imagine if it were quite conscious and deliberate–and amplified. Lurking within us too– maybe–is this perverse desire somewhere tucked away. In his wake is a trail of jilted and stunned women. It is male desire in all its darkness, personified in a wretched, nihilistic persona whose sustenance is alcohol. The voice of the narrator is the unadulterated male id, speaking what is normally unspoken, and what is below the radar of consciousness. Because the novel changes so drastically, the narrative is given a heart which is lacking in the madmen scenes of the opening pages (which at any rate made you keep on reading). The reckless tone set in the beginning of the novel is not sustained. In that sense, the novel is thematically reminiscent of another nihilistic novel, Fight Club.ĭiary of an Oxygen Thief continues with his outrageous exploits, yet then the mood shifts unexpectedly. Naturally, the mirror image of giving pain is receiving it, and he desires both. This gluttony for punishment extends to males he provokes other men of more imposing stature to physically attack him. It was flattering” (28), he says after provoking one of his female victims. Just as inexplicably as the narrator enjoys hurting these girls, he intentionally provokes them to take revenge on him: “I’d never had beer thrown in my face before. …the break up precipitates a downward spiral of pointless cruelty and alcoholism. At any rate, the break up precipitates a downward spiral of pointless cruelty and alcoholism. Yet his ruminations after the break up suggest that he did indeed love her. He was simply bored of her sexually and otherwise. His four year relationship with his girlfriend Penelope ends in bizarre fashion the narrator enjoys drawing out a confrontational break-up conversation after meeting her in a bar. And if this occurs on a college campus due to a malicious interpretation of Title IX, there wouldn’t even be the benefit of a jury. Because nowadays, it very well could be a crime, should a girl allege rape. “The pain involved in a premeditated broken heart would easily compare with a case of assault, and yet no court of law would recognize it as a crime” (33). Fortunately for him, the novel was published in 2006. This level of womanizing simply could not survive the me-too era. Ironically, these antics in the present day would likely get the narrator accused and possibly convicted of rape (which is perhaps the one transgression which he is not guilty of). To be clear, he did not rape her yet nonetheless he left her feeling abandoned and emotionally abused. Part of the pain is his, part is the pain that he gives.Īfter one such sexual encounter, he writes, “Later, she left a message on my machine saying I’d raped her” (24). The only emotions this book made me feel were irritation at the main character, for a multitude of reasons, and nauseated from the second hand embarrassment at his humiliation.The narrator of Diary of an Oxygen Thief is a ribald madman who thrives on loving and leaving unsuspecting women. It had a desperate "feel bad for me, feel bad for me" hope for pity the entire time, and it just made the author look continuously more stupid. But even then, this was such a self-pitying book that I could barely take anything the author was saying seriously. I suppose the only "message" that was even remotely meaningful was about how men AND women just use each other to move up in life in different ways. It was nowhere near an insightful read, honestly. Even when he was sober and "better" he still constantly objectified women. Bro referred to women as FEMALES several times. There was pretty much nothing concrete or even likeable about his personality, and almost nothing relatable about him either. Sometimes the main character didn't seem to realize that he was the problem, yet other times he knew he was. I was hoping for character development and found close to none. My first impression was that it was about a misogynist, and was stupid to the point where I wanted to put it down, but I didn't solely for the purpose of seeing how much worse it could get. If I had to describe this book in one sentence it would be: Sociopathic incel who enjoys hurting women because daddy didn't love him finally meets his match and gets his heart broken.
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