Ana V.

What would you say if you were to be born in our world today being conscious of all human history that there is, and you'd have to spill it out and tell the truth and give in to your emotions in order to create something else, something different, something bigger and better than what there already is? There's a name of a great book about that that I could give you. This one right here, Delusions of Grandeur.

Yeah, we have them. These delusions, these unstoppable thoughts about our world, the one we inhabit without a permit, oh yes, we know all the facts. But then comes a man that decides to write about this, to write the truth. And, what's even better about this, he does so in our time. This book wasn't written 50 years ago, when Kerouac was telling the truth. This book isn't created in the times of liberation. It's actually created when we are becoming more and more sure of our imprisonment. Jason Najum kind of reminds me of Palahniuk. Palahniuk is a phenomenal writer, but he goes a lot on the dark side, he chooses to gross people out and remind them of the beasts they are, acting like they are not. Kind of like gorillas dressed in ballerina gowns. Najum doesn't go there. He keeps it positive, he keeps it calm and decent and still delivers the same ideas: it's time for a fuckin' change.

There are moments in this book that I absolutely loved. Take these for example:

I knew that boy was still around. I could still hear his laugh. Problem was that I was beginning to feel he was someone I used to know rather than someone I used to be.

...;making me step back from the events in my life and feel dislocated, separated;looking back down at myself, as if I was not the one doing any of this. I ask myself - is this a test? I look around. It has to be.

I too have a secret identity. I too burn with an innate belief that I am meant for something more, for something big and beautiful. But I stop there. That is as far as I'll go with the comparison. Because no matter how epic I wish my story was, no matter how much I suffer and struggle and hope, I know that Superman was not this much of a pussy.

Peel the layers off until you get to its core. And you will find us. We live and suffer in a world of our own creation. The systems that cause so much harm are built by our hands. The structures that confine us sit on foundations that we have laid. The corrupt political systems, the greedy corporations, the empty culture, the wasted lives. All of it made of people, by people. Almost any part of our misery can be reduced down to us. Choose something, anything, and if you reduce it down far enough you will find us sitting there, blood on our hands and dumb looks on our faces.

See my point? These are beautiful parts, written from a deeply intellectual point of view, from up the hill where Najum is watching humanity. I'm not putting him on a pedestal; I have read books a thousand times more thrilling and a million times more enchanting, but this is very good on its own. It's so good I think it deserves to get out there and create a big fuss and change something.

The 4 star rating comes from my guilty but unchangeable idea that the writing must be more complex. I rarely like scarce sentencing, and this was not a rare case of those.

Still, a beautiful read, filled with amazing ideas and some damned good writing! Well done, sir, well done indeed!