Thank you for taking the time to read and consider the book as carefully as you have. It's a privilege to have your work read closely by others. Your feedback is well taken as well - while I leaned into maximalism with this book, my next novel will likely be more stripped down.
Thank you for this review. I enjoyed the book very much. I found the characters, including Jason, to be believable. I wonder to what extent the world has changed for young men who have this challenge 13 years later. My guess is that it’s worse now, but I can’t really tell.
Yeah, that was my thought too. I didn't mention it, but Anon had a lot of courage and agency (fueled by his paranoia) in order to end his drought. Eventually - just by pure statistics - it had to end. I guess most average Incels lack both of these traits. I know they're supposed to be 'involuntary', but for some proportion of them, that cannot be true.
A very interesting analysis! I had not heard of the book, but will have to add it to my reading list. I really think the incel problem is a real one, and the opposite (Tate-like reaction) is an equally upsetting problem because both achieve the same things for society: less kids and less families to raise them well. Thank you for the commentary. It’s a really odd and surprising issue, and it needs to be addressed. Plus, the intrinsic desires that might be responsible for proper and improper function of men need study and recognition.
You're right. I cannot go into detail, but someone close to me is suffering deeply and sharing the same fundamental issue that the narrator does. So it hits home.
Several things need to be done to fix it I believe, but - as I will probably outline in a later post - the best way we can fix is to re-promote Monogamy (as in the Christian tradition). Monogamy matches up men with women, and grates against women's natural desire for hypergamy (dating up, the top 10% of men). In most ancient societies (and many today), the the King or Chief would have hundreds of women, his advisors multiples of ten, and the aristocracy 1-1. But below that, and many men would be without a sexual partner most of their lives, and the bottom 40% of men were essentially, Incels. That is why almost all women pass their genes on, whereas only half of men do. Also, with almost half the male population without a woman, they are incredibly rogue and violent, causing much crime and harm.
Christianity in particular was so powerful because it solved this problem, by giving a far greater proportion of the male population a wife and a family, essentially weaponizing the production of all men for the wider society, and making it far more efficient. Of course, part of the reason it was able to do so, was because it is the moral thing to do, and it required elite men to forgo having a lot of women (that they usually had access to). Today. all these powerful and positive effects of Christianity are unravelling. It is no surprise then that the rise of Incels coincides with the rise in crime.
Thank you for taking the time to read and consider the book as carefully as you have. It's a privilege to have your work read closely by others. Your feedback is well taken as well - while I leaned into maximalism with this book, my next novel will likely be more stripped down.
A lot to chew on here - I'll be adding it to my list of reviews at https://www.decentralizedfiction.com/p/incel-a-novel!
I loved it. Have been recommending it to all my in-person friends and fellow psyc students. It's one I'll likely return to in the future.
Awesome, thanks for that - and commenting. Appreciate it.
Intriguing write-up.
Thank you for this review. I enjoyed the book very much. I found the characters, including Jason, to be believable. I wonder to what extent the world has changed for young men who have this challenge 13 years later. My guess is that it’s worse now, but I can’t really tell.
No worries thanks for reading.
Might have just been me with Jason.
Yeah, that was my thought too. I didn't mention it, but Anon had a lot of courage and agency (fueled by his paranoia) in order to end his drought. Eventually - just by pure statistics - it had to end. I guess most average Incels lack both of these traits. I know they're supposed to be 'involuntary', but for some proportion of them, that cannot be true.
A very interesting analysis! I had not heard of the book, but will have to add it to my reading list. I really think the incel problem is a real one, and the opposite (Tate-like reaction) is an equally upsetting problem because both achieve the same things for society: less kids and less families to raise them well. Thank you for the commentary. It’s a really odd and surprising issue, and it needs to be addressed. Plus, the intrinsic desires that might be responsible for proper and improper function of men need study and recognition.
Thanks
Thank you Jay!
You're right. I cannot go into detail, but someone close to me is suffering deeply and sharing the same fundamental issue that the narrator does. So it hits home.
Several things need to be done to fix it I believe, but - as I will probably outline in a later post - the best way we can fix is to re-promote Monogamy (as in the Christian tradition). Monogamy matches up men with women, and grates against women's natural desire for hypergamy (dating up, the top 10% of men). In most ancient societies (and many today), the the King or Chief would have hundreds of women, his advisors multiples of ten, and the aristocracy 1-1. But below that, and many men would be without a sexual partner most of their lives, and the bottom 40% of men were essentially, Incels. That is why almost all women pass their genes on, whereas only half of men do. Also, with almost half the male population without a woman, they are incredibly rogue and violent, causing much crime and harm.
Christianity in particular was so powerful because it solved this problem, by giving a far greater proportion of the male population a wife and a family, essentially weaponizing the production of all men for the wider society, and making it far more efficient. Of course, part of the reason it was able to do so, was because it is the moral thing to do, and it required elite men to forgo having a lot of women (that they usually had access to). Today. all these powerful and positive effects of Christianity are unravelling. It is no surprise then that the rise of Incels coincides with the rise in crime.