The Closer We Get

by Robert Pantano

From the writer and creator of the YouTube channel Pursuit of Wonder and the author of the Amazon best sellers Notes from the End of Everything and The Art of Living a Meaningless Existence comes this timely, heartfelt novella that cuts to the core of love’s challenges without any sugarcoating.

Adam has spent the last couple of years focusing on himself, trying to get his life and career in order. Now, entering his thirties, he’s painfully alone, struggling to meet and date anyone.

After a series of unusual encounters with a woman whom Adam feels an attraction to unlike anyone he has before, he begins to experience strange problems, and he finds himself in deeply unsettling situations. Adam must discover what it means to love and be loved, and what he's willing to endure and sacrifice to truly be with someone.

The Closer We Get combines a timeless exploration of the intricacies and struggles of relationships with the backdrop of an increasingly surreal and mind-bending near-future world.

Genres: Philosophy, Fiction

100 pages, Paperback

Published September 7, 2023

Reviews

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 2024 version of I, Robot based on Will Smith’s actual life

[Jonas · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,25/5 - Lediglich 100 Seiten, aber gefüllt mit vielen Inhalten. Viele philosophische Themen wurden angeschnitten, welche mich durchaus zum Nachdenken bringen werden und das Buch dadurch auch im Nachgang wirken lassen.
Es gibt viele Eindrücke aus dem Absurdismus, was mir als Camus Fan natürlich gefällt.
Das Ende fand ich interessant, allerdings war es viel zu hektisch und man hätte sich ruhig etwas mehr Zeit dafür lassen können.
An sich also solide.

[Thomas Heuijerjans · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is an interesting perspective on “true love”. We often think that love is something that can only be experienced by two individuals and this book solely underlines that in a way that will be clear in the end. The pace went a little bit fast in the end so a longer story would have been better.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a few months ago, and I couldn't even leave the library, once it was in my hands, without reading it.
It only took me about an hour start-to-finish and it has its own space in my mind, where I keep the select few writings that stick with me.

If you are looking for a book that is like: This Is The Meaning Of Life or This Is The Only True Way To Live Properly, this is definitely not it.

It has an intriguing plot line, and the ending was unexpected to me and made the whole thing tie up quite nicely, while also leaving me with a whole head full of questions and wonderment.

I am very particular about the books I read; I almost never finish a book, if I even start reading in the first place. However, I had to read this entire book in one sitting.

The way Pantano conveys concepts–which I have been unable to articulate for myself, despite writing many dozens of poems with eccentric and unique analogies to convey the peculiarities of how I feel regarding strange aspects of existence–impressed me greatly. I had to take note of several quotes from this book to add to my 'jar of quotes and poems'¹ I find leaving their mark on me.

¹ (Tiny pieces of paper i write very small on, and fold up. Every few years, I unfold them one by one and I'm reminded of things which have inspired or impacted me over the years. None of my own poems go in this)

I will update this review with a few quotes I felt to be the most jarring.

[Bird · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really really liked Notes from the End of Everything and have re-read it. I also read Millions of Little Threads but didn't like it as much. The Closer We Get gave me the same feeling.

The Closer We Get feels like a really long script for a really long Pursuit of Wonder video on Youtube. I know it's a novella so Pantano has limited word counts to include a lot of different things. It's very much so a novella where Pantano tells us things instead of showing us what's happening. I get the messages Pantano is trying to deliver but it feels rushed and the writing is very average.

Having read it once is enough.

[Mia B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and quick read. I found this book through the author’s Youtube channel. There were a few grammatical errors and the storytelling wasn’t amazing, but there were a lot of great psychological and philosophical discussions in here that certainly make you think. I think I’m going to have to sit on this one for a bit to fully understand everything, though. The story itself was a bit odd, but I’m sure once I think about everything and get a chance to digest it all, I’ll be able to make more sense of it.

[Kyle Bartsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Robert Pantano. He has a real talent for breaking down philosophical subjects and thinkers in a way that feels approachable for someone who isn’t deeply philosophical. He does have a tendency to fall into existential tantrums over the illusory nature of, mostly everything, but especially love, life, existence, and consciousness, but if you can cringe through the whining a bit there is some real value in his writing. I really liked this little book.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would not be a bad YouTube video, but does not make a good enough book: reading it cringes me (not exactly sure why) - it feels like reading one's own work from years ago. Not sure if it's worth the money, but his YouTube videos are amazing and worth supporting.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not too sure how else to put it, but he put a philosophical twist and argument in the midst of a dangerous and sometimes hard to follow quest of love. It was a romance novel that didn’t skip out on the hard stuff, and definitely didn’t speed past all the softness of a relationship. It was real.

[Jappie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book contains a mediocre story about love, the final chapter put me off but the final two pages contained a gem that made it worth it for me. I also find the main characters to be painfully human, which is pretty funny.
The book really contains some solid points which make me really like it.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an easy, fast, and really good read! I recommend everything by this author/creator and absolutely love his YouTube channel Pursuit of Wonder.

[Monteiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me it's okay like a good youtube video but little more to fast paced too little engagement it's good and familiar.

[Satya Shiv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful and intriguing book. A beautiful story of an AGI and Adam. It is a rollercoaster by knowing about our own personality

[Jimena Olivares :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The storytelling feels slightly stiff and is mostly fast-paced, but this is great for reading in one sitting!

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Didn’t resonate with me. Predictable.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unexpected take on love and the mundanity of it.

I guess love can be found in the daily ordinary interactions with someone extraordinary.

[Shanaya Carvalho · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will be honest, I was not expecting the book to go in the direction it did. Initially, the setting and the conversations were cute. Then the big reveal left me dumbfounded. And I kinda resonated with the last paragraph.

The connection between humans and technology is a frequently occurring theme in Pantano's works and this one was no different. It reminded me of the ongoing narrative in popular media of using ChatGPT for therapy. While I don't completely disregard the idea, I still have my doubts. Are we, as a species, voluntarily abandoning our own for the sake of convenience? Is connecting with real humans becoming a constant challenge? If the answer is yes, then what are we gaining and what might we end up losing?

We might gain connection, efficiency, and even a form of emotional satisfaction through hyper-personalized artificial systems. But that gain could come with a price: overdependence on predictability, and a gradual erosion of our resilience in the face of uncertainty. We may lose the ability to effectively deal with randomness and the spontaneous, messy, and often irrational aspects of real human interaction.

I like Pantano's work for many reasons including the fact that it encourages deliberate thought and dialogue. The story in this one was alright, not very original, there's several movies that touch on similar themes. Regardless, it is a short book and you won't be wasting a crazy amount of time reading it.