Book Review: “Antkind” by Charlie Kaufman

Antkind by Charlie Kaufman

I guess I’m supposed to know Kaufman’s movies, but I really have no idea.  And this book is really deeply interested in cinema and film criticism.  Which I’m not into.

So, it is clear that I’m missing a ton of context for this novel.  If it even is a novel.

For me, this is a long (700 pages!), rambling, exercise in first person absurdism.  And a lot of it is random thoughts, unconnected and not pursued.  A LOT of random thoughts. There is no conventional plot, and it’s difficult to know about the characters.

From this point of view, the main question is, out of this absurd pile of short thoughts, did I find anything interesting, entertaining, educational, or whatever. 

Well, sure.  I mean, I kept reading, flitting from incomprehensible event to incomprehensible event.  On and on.

Maybe I was expecting some sort of resolution (nope) or explanation (nope) or whatever.

OK, out of thousands of random, absurd, scenes;  at least a few should appeal by chance alone, right?

Here is one image that really stuck with me:

At one point, the narrator muses on a dark twisted version of the old echo principle of love; the ancient notion that each of us is separated at birth from our perfect love match, the one person that is an exact fit for our personality.  We go through life searching for this one, perfect love.  Most of the time, we are not satisfied, because nothing is exactly what we are looking for.

In a twist on this idea, the narrator comments that he feels like he is half of a vaudeville comedy duo; and he has never met the other half.  Specifically, he’s the fall guy in the duo, the dunce who doesn’t understand anything, the guy getting pies in the face and falling on his rear.  With only one half the act, nothing makes sense. He’s searching for the straight man of the act who will make it all make sense; to give his life meaning and perhaps make all the pain funny.

This is a charming image, and as good a summary of the book as anything.

Would I recommend this book?  Not necessarily.  But, as already noted, it’s really aimed at film snobs and academic film theorists and New York cinema enthusiasts.  So, yay for you guys, and have fun.

---

1. Charlie Kaufman, Antkind, New York, Random House, 2020.

Sunday Book Reviews