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Until You Continue to Behave
Until You Continue To Behave is a super maximalist tragicomedy about guilt and disconnection in a cartoonishly warped world, filled with illustrations, animations, and original music. I wrote/programmed it to transform my fear and disillusionment into something silly and beautiful.
250 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2019
7 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 24, 2023
A really great book if you want to feel like living is impossible. You can't really root for anyone — at best there are people to pity. At first it's just funny but then a sense of dread and loneliness slowly starts to strangle you. The verbage is weird and fun. The imagery is lurid and psychological. The author is incredibly good at describing the abstract and existential, but also constantly grounds you in the physical with reminders of how the protagonist's body is feeling and functioning. You can't help but feel involved in every scene, no matter how repulsive or confusing. The book forcibly grabs you by the head and drags you into its world. The fact that the book describes literally every single moment that the protagonist experiences after the point at which the story begins, with no pausing or skipping ahead, really helps to engender the sense of being trapped on a sickening rollercoaster.
The world of this story sort of contorts around its themes. An example is the way all of the characters are extremely honest at all times. They're always confidently verbalizing their thoroughly formulated worldviews. This is obviously completely unrealistic but it didn't bother me because it feels like part of a broader decision to prioritize the conversation the author is having with the reader rather than treating the narrative as an end unto itself. It also helps push the sense of loneliness and helplessness to the forefront — it's very disheartening to imagine that even in a world where everyone is wildly vulnerable and straightforward, it can still be impossible for some people to find sympathy and connection. Also also, it just generally creates a great uncanny atmosphere.
It's really bizarre and all over the place, especially near the end, but since everything functions in service of such well-established and earnestly explored themes, the story never loses its sense of cohesion. A fantastic book, an awesome exibit of creativity and artistic skill in various mediums, and a very fun read a lot of the time, although again, it will make you feel bad about your real human life.
The world of this story sort of contorts around its themes. An example is the way all of the characters are extremely honest at all times. They're always confidently verbalizing their thoroughly formulated worldviews. This is obviously completely unrealistic but it didn't bother me because it feels like part of a broader decision to prioritize the conversation the author is having with the reader rather than treating the narrative as an end unto itself. It also helps push the sense of loneliness and helplessness to the forefront — it's very disheartening to imagine that even in a world where everyone is wildly vulnerable and straightforward, it can still be impossible for some people to find sympathy and connection. Also also, it just generally creates a great uncanny atmosphere.
It's really bizarre and all over the place, especially near the end, but since everything functions in service of such well-established and earnestly explored themes, the story never loses its sense of cohesion. A fantastic book, an awesome exibit of creativity and artistic skill in various mediums, and a very fun read a lot of the time, although again, it will make you feel bad about your real human life.
March 16, 2022
This is the best programming textbook I've ever read.
September 6, 2020
UYCTB grabbed my brain instantly and wouldn't let me go for a second until I finished it. It's a terrifying, stark, naked look at an all-too-imaginable corporate hellscape of infinite filth and suffering. The art and music are a wonderful touch that add atmosphere and much-needed levity. I don't know if the way I'm writing this makes it clear, but I loved this repulsive book and highly recommend it.
June 5, 2021
[9/10]
Beautiful and Hideous. I was grabbed in a moment and it didn't let me go until I finished. A well-done work of world building and setting that drenches you in it's depravity and makes you feel like a selfish rat for the bubble you've built around yourself.
Though the cast of characters is quite small and none are very throughly developed, and the world itself does not much to show off places apart from the two primary locations of the story, this could easily be chalked up to the narrow-minded perspective of our lead Man. Not to mention, it's a fairly short read.
On the world and characters- anything and everything in culture has been made brandified. From the slang, to the style and fashion sense, to even thoughts and biological functions. Everything of the world of Tier 2 feels soulless and fake and profitable. The way the residents of Tier 2, engrossed in their own consumption, talk to each other feels like they speak their mind regardless of any other ego, and yet have no room in their minds for listening. They talk At one another and listen not at all to each other.
The added artwork is a fantastic fit for the world- rounded and smooth; unnerving and fau-friendly. It feels like a corporate artstyle that's been gelatenized and made viewable for the sensorly-overloaded consumer. The included music as well is a charmless future-capitalist interpretation of modern profit-motive pop styles. Both are beautifully fitting.
Beautiful and Hideous. I was grabbed in a moment and it didn't let me go until I finished. A well-done work of world building and setting that drenches you in it's depravity and makes you feel like a selfish rat for the bubble you've built around yourself.
Though the cast of characters is quite small and none are very throughly developed, and the world itself does not much to show off places apart from the two primary locations of the story, this could easily be chalked up to the narrow-minded perspective of our lead Man. Not to mention, it's a fairly short read.
On the world and characters- anything and everything in culture has been made brandified. From the slang, to the style and fashion sense, to even thoughts and biological functions. Everything of the world of Tier 2 feels soulless and fake and profitable. The way the residents of Tier 2, engrossed in their own consumption, talk to each other feels like they speak their mind regardless of any other ego, and yet have no room in their minds for listening. They talk At one another and listen not at all to each other.
The added artwork is a fantastic fit for the world- rounded and smooth; unnerving and fau-friendly. It feels like a corporate artstyle that's been gelatenized and made viewable for the sensorly-overloaded consumer. The included music as well is a charmless future-capitalist interpretation of modern profit-motive pop styles. Both are beautifully fitting.
December 8, 2022
It was nice. I liked the premise and the main character's internal conflict, but I felt the middle get really slow before the end got spicy again. It's been a while since I read it though.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews