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No Limit
It's December 2012, Ash's connecting flight out of Auckland has been grounded by a volcanic eruption, and there's a serious apocalypse vibe in the air. But at the airport she spots a girl. Hyperreal, getting pinged from one stranger to the next, what else can she do but hope to run into her again?
And all the while the volcano haze in the air is getting thicker. Life in the cloud. Everyone's having trouble connecting. Is it the world that's ending, or just the internet?
Told in sugar-rush prose, No Limit everyone who's ever been delayed, half-alive, grounded with no place to sleep. Ash is restless, searching, flashing between disaster movies, warehouse raves, internet cafés, disaster movies, Tazos, vegan junk food, guided meditations on smartphone, the countryside. For her the question isn't how to live in the age of the internet, it's who's going to be there when it all falls apart.
"Brash, inventive and unapologetically strange. There's nothing else quite like it." —Benjamin Law
"A real, weird, wired, 3G dream. No Limit might just tenderly reprogram your brain." —Penny Modra
http://www.hologrambooks.com.au/nolimit
And all the while the volcano haze in the air is getting thicker. Life in the cloud. Everyone's having trouble connecting. Is it the world that's ending, or just the internet?
Told in sugar-rush prose, No Limit everyone who's ever been delayed, half-alive, grounded with no place to sleep. Ash is restless, searching, flashing between disaster movies, warehouse raves, internet cafés, disaster movies, Tazos, vegan junk food, guided meditations on smartphone, the countryside. For her the question isn't how to live in the age of the internet, it's who's going to be there when it all falls apart.
"Brash, inventive and unapologetically strange. There's nothing else quite like it." —Benjamin Law
"A real, weird, wired, 3G dream. No Limit might just tenderly reprogram your brain." —Penny Modra
http://www.hologrambooks.com.au/nolimit
- GenresFiction
85 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
1 person is currently reading
83 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 7, 2014
:-))) Very Happy
(:-( Very Unhappy
@:-) Wavy Hair
[:-) Wearing a Walkman
B-) Wearing Glasses
]-I Wearing Sunglasses
:-1 Whatever
(:-( Very Unhappy
@:-) Wavy Hair
[:-) Wearing a Walkman
B-) Wearing Glasses
]-I Wearing Sunglasses
:-1 Whatever
April 15, 2014
Pro: I'm really into the failure/missed connections/glitch/stuckness vibe here, it's a motif at all levels of the text, sometimes overtly, sometimes very subtly, and it's politically and aesthetically compelling to me. Con: rave scenes always kind of make my teeth hurt.
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March 31, 2014**cross-posted on literaryminded.com.au**
Hologram is a new venture publishing novellas by writers under 30. Hologram is associated with Express Media, a fantastic organisation that provides support and development opportunities for young Australians in writing and media.
The first book to be published by Hologram is No Limit, by Holly Childs. It’s about Ash, who is stuck in Auckland due to a volcano, or the apocalypse—she’s not sure. Ash is seeking her cousin Haydn but then is dragged in aimless directions, encountering people and places. This book is all detachment, surfaces and excess: pop culture references, superficial nostalgia, technology, and falling quickly for one another. There’s a dissociative aspect, between the characters’ experiences and reality: one character Skypes her sister while the sister simultaneously uploads screenshots from the conversation to tumblr, without using her hands. The characters rave during the apocalypse, making comments about clothes and shoes, movies, tech. This could be symbolic of a detached interplay of online and offline worlds, connected and disconnected selves.
The action in No Limit is quite banal, there’s no ‘plot’ per se, and the characters’ motivations are faddish, shifting (no doubt deliberate and conceptual, though as a reader it takes effort to care about what might happen). The novel’s strength lies in Holly Childs’ intense novel-world (reflective of contemporary Gen Y and Millennial experience), which is completely self-contained. All metaphors and similes are relevant:
Haydn is looking right into her eyes, ‘When I came, my cum was green. Like bright green.’ His lip trembles. ‘Like Gak.’
The language is at times overwhelming, in the sense that excess information is overwhelming, like having too many tabs open. And so I think this, too, is deliberate—this onslaught—though it could alienate some readers.
Texts that are name-checked reflect the tone of the novella (retro-futurish), such as Tank Girl and Hackers, and if you like William Gibson or Bret Easton Ellis you might also want to pick this up.
Hologram is a new venture publishing novellas by writers under 30. Hologram is associated with Express Media, a fantastic organisation that provides support and development opportunities for young Australians in writing and media.
The first book to be published by Hologram is No Limit, by Holly Childs. It’s about Ash, who is stuck in Auckland due to a volcano, or the apocalypse—she’s not sure. Ash is seeking her cousin Haydn but then is dragged in aimless directions, encountering people and places. This book is all detachment, surfaces and excess: pop culture references, superficial nostalgia, technology, and falling quickly for one another. There’s a dissociative aspect, between the characters’ experiences and reality: one character Skypes her sister while the sister simultaneously uploads screenshots from the conversation to tumblr, without using her hands. The characters rave during the apocalypse, making comments about clothes and shoes, movies, tech. This could be symbolic of a detached interplay of online and offline worlds, connected and disconnected selves.
The action in No Limit is quite banal, there’s no ‘plot’ per se, and the characters’ motivations are faddish, shifting (no doubt deliberate and conceptual, though as a reader it takes effort to care about what might happen). The novel’s strength lies in Holly Childs’ intense novel-world (reflective of contemporary Gen Y and Millennial experience), which is completely self-contained. All metaphors and similes are relevant:
Haydn is looking right into her eyes, ‘When I came, my cum was green. Like bright green.’ His lip trembles. ‘Like Gak.’
The language is at times overwhelming, in the sense that excess information is overwhelming, like having too many tabs open. And so I think this, too, is deliberate—this onslaught—though it could alienate some readers.
Texts that are name-checked reflect the tone of the novella (retro-futurish), such as Tank Girl and Hackers, and if you like William Gibson or Bret Easton Ellis you might also want to pick this up.
August 5, 2014
Ice-blue and gradient, No Limit is a No Exit for the cyber future. The looping narrative starts in an airport but spends the whole story grounded, swerving thru a dystopic, pear-shaped New Zealand the day of the Mayan New Millennium. If this is how the world ends, I'm ready for the end-up.
June 9, 2014
I read it while waiting for a train from Sydney to Melbourne. Drink: diet coke. Eating: sweet chili & sour cream chips.
A good book that I liked more than most books.
A good book that I liked more than most books.
June 6, 2014
i read this as an ebook cuz i’m cool. i wanna go to the rave. :’)
November 29, 2015
I get it, but I could not care less about these Nike buying, pill popping, iphone holding, apocalypse referencing characters. I'm probably too old for this
March 31, 2016
This short story was like scrolling through a tumblr feed full of queer fashion, 90's pop culture references, and vaporwave glitch art - a fairytale of the fallout from information overload.
September 16, 2024
No Limit is a book about hip young things doing hip things and wanting the world to know about their hipness via social media.
The novella is set in Auckland, New Zealand, in December 2012, which is important because the world was supposed to end then due to the Mayan calendar running out. To add to the apocalyptic feel of the novella, a volcano is erupting. Its ash causes the cancellation of Ash’s plane to Australia. With no idea how long she will have to wait, Ash decides to look up a cousin in Auckland. She spends much of the novella searching for him, meeting a few strange people along the way.
The novel is full of references to pop culture. For example, Tom, everyone’s first Myspace friend, makes an appearance. Many words are spent describing the clothes the characters wear—labels everywhere.
The characters all seem to suffer from attention deficit disorder. Their thoughts flick from observations of the world around them to desires, to how they are going to get to where they want to be, and then to wanting to be somewhere else immediately after they get there. Their lives seem jaded by too many unlived and unanalysed experiences.
All along the way, they want to record everything they do and say, but the internet keeps on dropping out. Perhaps the end of the world is really happening. The novella emphasises a youth culture that can’t see the point in doing anything if they can’t take pictures of it and then share them on social media.
This is Holly Childs' first published longer work of fiction. She is a writer and artist who, according to her bio, creates work around digital semiotics, transformations of language, obscurities, fashion, aberration and corruption.
She uses many short sentences in No Limit, as if to emphasise the characters' quickly passing thoughts. The novella is also very humorous.
This is a novella for those who enjoy watching the slightly deluded lurch from one unfulfilled fantasy to another.
The novella is set in Auckland, New Zealand, in December 2012, which is important because the world was supposed to end then due to the Mayan calendar running out. To add to the apocalyptic feel of the novella, a volcano is erupting. Its ash causes the cancellation of Ash’s plane to Australia. With no idea how long she will have to wait, Ash decides to look up a cousin in Auckland. She spends much of the novella searching for him, meeting a few strange people along the way.
The novel is full of references to pop culture. For example, Tom, everyone’s first Myspace friend, makes an appearance. Many words are spent describing the clothes the characters wear—labels everywhere.
The characters all seem to suffer from attention deficit disorder. Their thoughts flick from observations of the world around them to desires, to how they are going to get to where they want to be, and then to wanting to be somewhere else immediately after they get there. Their lives seem jaded by too many unlived and unanalysed experiences.
All along the way, they want to record everything they do and say, but the internet keeps on dropping out. Perhaps the end of the world is really happening. The novella emphasises a youth culture that can’t see the point in doing anything if they can’t take pictures of it and then share them on social media.
This is Holly Childs' first published longer work of fiction. She is a writer and artist who, according to her bio, creates work around digital semiotics, transformations of language, obscurities, fashion, aberration and corruption.
She uses many short sentences in No Limit, as if to emphasise the characters' quickly passing thoughts. The novella is also very humorous.
This is a novella for those who enjoy watching the slightly deluded lurch from one unfulfilled fantasy to another.
February 4, 2016
Wow. This punchy novella totally blew me away. My head's still reeling from it days later. The promo calls it "sugar-rush prose" - which may be a big understatement - each page feels like another line of no-doz. This is dense, fast writing. Every sentence is manicured and processed for maximum impact, but it retains a strong sense of "flow". There's so much here that you could read it several times in succession without getting tired.
The story recounts the farcical adventures of a group of international internet addicts who go to a squat party in Auckland. Flights are grounded due to a volcanic eruption that cleverly parallels the disruptions of 2010 (when ash drifted into Europe from Iceland). The leading character is a girl who is actually named Ash. There's also Haydn, Misty, Dick, Mack, Fidget and Bassy. Narrative highlights include ridiculous sex scenes at the underground party, and two visists to an absurd internet cafe called "Ne Plus Ultra".
The defining feature of No Limit is however the prose. The sentence structure, content and composition are superb. There's a lot of name-dropping, hat-doffing to other artists, self-reflection and elements of postmodernism. There's also a lot of internet culture here, more than I can remember finding in any other novel. Other themes include bisexuality and fashion (as in clothes). The writing wanders through a lot of esoteric territory but it remains accessible and has a great sense of humour.
My main criticism is that the narrative disintegrates somewhat in the second half. It becomes exhausted like a raver on the morning after and abandons whole characters and plot concepts. What happened to Misty and the green cosmetic? Is the book purposely being left open to a second installment?
I put a link to the bookseller up there to the left. You are doing yourself a disservice if you don't check this out.
review first appeared at: http://bench-press.blogspot.com.au/
The story recounts the farcical adventures of a group of international internet addicts who go to a squat party in Auckland. Flights are grounded due to a volcanic eruption that cleverly parallels the disruptions of 2010 (when ash drifted into Europe from Iceland). The leading character is a girl who is actually named Ash. There's also Haydn, Misty, Dick, Mack, Fidget and Bassy. Narrative highlights include ridiculous sex scenes at the underground party, and two visists to an absurd internet cafe called "Ne Plus Ultra".
The defining feature of No Limit is however the prose. The sentence structure, content and composition are superb. There's a lot of name-dropping, hat-doffing to other artists, self-reflection and elements of postmodernism. There's also a lot of internet culture here, more than I can remember finding in any other novel. Other themes include bisexuality and fashion (as in clothes). The writing wanders through a lot of esoteric territory but it remains accessible and has a great sense of humour.
My main criticism is that the narrative disintegrates somewhat in the second half. It becomes exhausted like a raver on the morning after and abandons whole characters and plot concepts. What happened to Misty and the green cosmetic? Is the book purposely being left open to a second installment?
I put a link to the bookseller up there to the left. You are doing yourself a disservice if you don't check this out.
review first appeared at: http://bench-press.blogspot.com.au/
May 1, 2014
Bret Easton Ellis writing about tumblr, full of disassociated imagery and characters who talk around what's happening. I'm not a fan of the whole disassociated youth angst vibe, but I could handle it in No Limit because 1. It's a novella and 2. There is some seriously funny imagery and wit sprinkled in with the references and musing. My biggest biggest issue is that the dialogue was really forced, even when discounting the more 'symbolic' characters. I felt like the dialogue was probably the place to bring things a bit down to earth, to provide a place of reality amongst the acid trip rave twitter feed, but because it didn't quite get there, they all felt like make believe fairies. But super cool, enjoyable, weird and wonderful. The scenes with Dick, the steampunk guy were hilarious.
June 1, 2014
I love it when a book has me wanting to write a review. Stay tuned.
July 26, 2014
well that was just an adventure from start to finish!!!
January 20, 2015
this was really funny and evocative of auckland to me
hilarious way of encapsulating characters and tropes of 'modern life'
hilarious way of encapsulating characters and tropes of 'modern life'
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews