The Red Pill: A Novel

I thought this novel would be satire, or at least have something worthwhile to say about how gender relations have changed since the 2016 election. Blake Nelson wrote Girl, which was one of my favorite books when I was a teenager. But the main character of this book is a whiny, mediocre middle-aged straight white dude who lacks any self-awareness about his role in society. Seriously, the way it unfolds— the guy’s boring internal life, his dirty-feeling forays into manosphere blogs, his eventual descent into actually agreeing with the gender stereotyping those blogs encourage (and implicitly supporting their racist and anti-Semitic undertones by accepting them as just an unfortunate but inevitable side effect of internet culture) all feels so cliche that you keep assuming it’s going to go in some extremely weird but interesting direction, like the only reason to write a character this bland and self-pitying is to blow their life up (See, e.g., Fight Club or Dietland) But it never does, and by the end of the book there’s just this nauseating realization that the main character is a mouthpiece for the author’s own views, and that you’ve just spent hours of your life reading about another straight white man acting like a giant baby because suddenly it’s not ok to sexually harass your employees. Honestly, the best thing Martin (the “protagonist”) contributes to the world is producing carbon dioxide for plants to breath. There are lots of descriptions of the various beverages he drinks, and conversations where Martin recounts to some unfortunate woman the exact same thing we just read as it unfolded while she gives one- or two-word responses, because Martin doesn’t want an exchange of ideas, he just wants someone to listen to him monologue. Sometimes he goes on Tinder dates with women he clearly doesn’t find attractive, then says ignorant, inflammatory things to them, and is always surprised by the results (a couple of times he meets someone who hates herself enough to sleep with him, sometimes he gets rebuffed— doesn’t matter how it plays out, Martin is taken aback by it, because Martin is a dullard). Martin muses about how probably women really ARE happiest when they’re moms and wives, drives around in his Audi and buys expensive groceries, and isn’t even particularly nice to the people he supposedly likes. He’s possibly the least interesting character I’ve ever spent 350+ pages with, and now I just feel embarrassed that I read this book at all. Literally, I have so much contempt for Martin and this entire story that finding out someone actually enjoyed it would be enough to make me think they’re a moron or a misogynist or both.

This is one of my favorite novels. An interesting main character caught between the Right and the Left as they divide up the country after the election of Trump. Also it shows how the relationships between men and women in the USA have been negatively affected by the media and the liberal agenda in our country.

I read this book in two sittings. A well written, highly entertaining novel, humorous at times, spelling out in rational terms the angst generated by our not-so-friendly feminists and our angry liberal friends in reaction to the election of Donald Trump and to the rise of the conservative movement. Come, read excerpts from the manoshere, and share in the fun.

Pretty easy read. Any controversy is way overblown. I was living in the Portland metro during this time & enjoyed the little local touches. But, hey, Oregon has all mail in voting so that election day scene...

This book was hard to put down, you finish one chapter and want to jump into the next to find out what happens. I would highly recommend this book, particularly if you are looking for a novel that explores current political and social themes.

I really enjoyed this book, it was funny and easy to read, and it was a very interesting dose of reality. A journey into conservative thought through relationships with the opposite sex.

I really enjoyed this novel. It's about someone trying to figure out relationships (and himself) during a time of considerable social, cultural, and political realignment. The main character confronts diametrically opposed ways of looking at the world and human nature. We see the hypocrisies of those who see themselves on the side of virtue, but also the sometimes-cruelty of those who dissent.

A novel is a good way to convey such information.

Red Pillers prefer the gritty, painful, ugly truth; and a popular theme with this crowd is the idea that men who want sex should “just go for it” set against a world of resistance and ‘me-too’. The red pill sector tends to be more radically right. Don't expect a nuanced view from them on male/female relationships! That's not what they are about.The central character in 'The Red Pill', Martin, falls deeper and deeper into the manosphere where he makes gains (at least) sexually by employing their techniques for dating and leans ever further toward right-wing views taken from the predominantly male blogging community. Juxtaposed with this is the radical left-liberal feminism of the young women, he is attempting to connect with, particularly predominant in a place like hipster Portland (where the novel is set).There is no doubt that this separation between some men and women is an issue worthy of exploration. Blake Nelson has been criticised for examining this topic but it should be a matter of public discussion. This novel could be a starting point for that.

The Red Pill is a five-star read thanks to:*Crisp prose*Dark humour*Believable characters*Fine storytelling*Relevant subject matter