Review: The Definitions

The Definitions by Matt Greene
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I finished this book a week ago and took some time thinking about it, because it’s not your typical short novel. It is reminiscent of I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. I started my review of Harpman’s book with “A dystopian book, without a lot of answers.” And that line fits well with this book as well, short and left with ambiguity and more questions in the end. Seems to also be not really my kind of book.

A virus has rendered people amnesiacs. They don’t remember anything, so are at this facility to learn how to behave in society, maybe regain their memories of who they were before. They take new names. The narrator, however is unnamed. They are unsure about the virus, there appears to be a new version that may reinfect or not.

There is a lot of focus on words. The narrator and a friend are focused on the meaning of a few, such as chair and bench. How to define exactly these words and what they represent.

It felt like the students at the center aren’t being told the full truth. Things are going on in the outside world they don’t know about, at least anymore, and are sheltered or given a new story. It’s hard to tell since we as readers never get the full story either.

This will likely work better for some people, while others who don’t like vagueness and obscurity, this may be a pass.

Book rating: 2.75

Thanks to Henry Holt and Co. and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.


View all my reviews