Bug

by Giacomo Sartori, Frederika Randall (Translator)

In the singular world of the young, deaf narrator of Bug, there are just a handful of people who try to understand him when he gets into trouble at school. His father, a data analyst for Nutella whose real job is to pinpoint terrorists, is clueless about humans in real life. His brilliant brother, called IQ in public and Robin Hood in the hackersphere, has his back but is ever busier training his robot. His grandfather, a retired anarchist-guerilla-turned-nematologist, chides him for misbehaving when he takes him hunting for worms. Meanwhile, his Buddhist beekeeper mother, ordinarily his closest confidante, has been in a coma ever since a terrible car accident.

Just when the family’s survival in their converted chicken coop seems most precarious, someone—or something—new enters his life: Bug. This self-declared “fast friend” seems to know all about his family and has some creative, if not strictly legal, ideas about how to help....

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Italy, Audiobook, Novels, Disability

320 pages, Paperback

First published November 7, 2019

Reviews

[Carmel Hanes · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an unusual book! And one I enjoyed thoroughly! One that's almost impossible to capture or describe adequately.

Told from the perspective of a somewhat precocious, but challenged, boy of ten, we meet an eclectic family constellation: Buddhist beekeeping mother in a coma, a very young father who works for Nutella and searches corporate terrorists, a genius older brother computer nerd who creates AI, a nearby grandfather who studies worms, and dead grandmother represented by a lemon tree and container of ashes. They live in a "chicken coop" with "cells". The unnamed boy has a hearing impairment and behavioral challenges and is assisted at times within the home and at school due to his difficulties by other adults.

One might think this story would bring all manner of sad episodes, given that synopsis, but it was one of the funnier books I've read in a while. Sartori drowns his prose in amusing metaphors, and the observations of others through the eyes of a ten-year-old regularly made me giggle (and I don't giggle). Even when something "bad" is happening, it's told in such a way as to avoid the reader being horrified by it.

Always amusing, at times touching, at times enlightening, the story touches on the potential dangers of AI as it "learns" at an exponential rate (if one can believe the AI was "real" and not a figment of the protagonist's vivid imagination--a question throughout the story), as well as the difficulties imposed by being "different" and parental absence.

A wild ride offered by the vivid imagination of the author as we lurch from one odd situation to another, wondering how it will all turn out. It was the "voice" of the protagonist I most enjoyed, as he shares life events with his comatose mother (his adult helper writing what he dictates); those metaphors a continuous tickle to my admittedly odd funny bone. There were a few times it seemed over the top, but mostly it enhanced the more minimal plot lines and kept me wanting to go back for more. I can't help but think this narrator is much like the author was as a child.

[Betsy Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wild and completely original novel. Sometime in the future, when bees are being poisoned even more than they are right now, an unnamed deaf 10-year-old dictates this story to his helper, Logo, about living with his family in a renovated chicken coop with his genius 12-year-old brother, IQ, a grandmother who is a lemon plant, Grandpa, and Mamma in a coma and Papa who works for Nutella. There is an AI character who wreaks havoc and is a real character. That alone will make you think about a lot of stuff.

I have no idea how Sartori came up with this book, but it was a fascinating adventure.

Thanks to Phyllis Mann for her review of this book. What would I do without Goodreads friends?

[Stacia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pell-mell, strange, & wonderful story.

Told from the viewpoint of a 10-year-old deaf boy who has ADHD (or something similar, it's never specified; he has a lot of trouble in school not only because of his hearing disability but also because he has a very hard time staying still &/or concentrating; plus, he tends to act out aggressively on occasion), this has almost a manic, breathless style of storytelling & a bit of an unreliable narrator feel.

Since the 10-year-old is telling the story, it's never quite clear whether the AI is real or if the AI is really a product of his imagination as he tries to cope with school, his mom being in a coma, a distracted dad, etc.... Is it magical realism, an unreliable narrator, a set of "real" events, or some combo? I think there's enough wiggle room that different readers will come to different conclusions.

The author does a good job of showing some of the challenges the protagonist faces, being deaf in a hearing world, the difference a good aide can be at school vs. a bad one, a teacher who is accommodating (or not), the ennui of hospitals, & more. There's also an intriguing alignment/parallel of the protagonist & "Bug" (the AI) as both feel like "the other" in this strange world we inhabit, not always taken seriously, approached with caution by others, even while there's more to both of them than may be apparent on the surface.

There are some genuinely funny & sweet moments, along with a "life is a crazy ride" mentality. I enjoyed falling into this wild tale headfirst (but the pell-mell feeling of narration from the spinning brain of a 10-year-old's mind might not be a style everyone is going to like).

Kudos to translator Frederika Randall (who passed away in 2020: A Tribute to Frederika Randall, "Translator of the Unsaid") as I think she captured the wonder, fun, charm, & strangeness of this unique story.

[Allison Hurd · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an interesting story!

Told from the perspective of a neuro-atypical boy who is deaf to his mother as she lays in a coma, we're presented with a very unreliable and perhaps fantastical recounting of his life, his family, the mounting ecological and interpersonal strife in his world, and of course, the imaginary (?) AI friend
friend he makes.

CONTENT WARNING: discussion of bugs, bee stings, coma, poverty, ecological disaster

Things to love:

-Child's perspective. This does not feel like a grown man saying they are 10. It sounds like the story of a precocious, slightly troubled kid who sees more than he says (until now).

-Moods. It's funny and heartbreaking, quirky and introspective.

-Baby AI. This AI is new and is learning how to be a human from its "family." What ensues feels...plausible.

Things that kept it from 5 stars:

-A bit plot light. It's mostly a journal to his mom, and is filled with the things that seem important to children, but the big things that we can glean from his writing are not brought out fully--things like stopping ecological collapse, poverty etc. are not really shown in a way that makes them feel very oppressive except for the childish acceptance of a situation.

-A bit abrupt. I found the end a bit too neat.

I came across this somewhat out of the blue, but I'm super glad to have read it.

[Rachel Cordasco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review on SFinTranslation.com

[Phyllis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The deeper I got into this story, the faster I read, because I wanted so badly for everything to turn out okay in the life of the 10-year-old child narrator. He refers to the home he lives in as a "chicken coop" and to his room as a "cell," but eventually it becomes clear that his word choices are not always exact, because he is deaf and did not learn to sign until well into his childhood, and he is dictating (as he learns to speak aloud) to what seems to be a home-health social worker whom he refers to as "Logo."

The unnamed child narrator has an intriguing family, full of prodigies and scientists and also full of love that is expressed in its own unique ways. His 13-year-old brother "IQ" has an I.Q. of 185 and has a side-hustle creating software applications, among them an intelligent AI named "BUG." Their mom, who is a beekeeper, at the very start of the novel is in a horrible accident that leaves her in a coma. That necessitates the narrator's dad, who was just 16 when the narrator was born and now purportedly works for Nutella but actually hunts down corporate terrorists, moving in with the boys to care for them, even though he and their mom are divorced. Grandpa is a recovering Communist and an earthworm expert who lives nearby and with whom the narrator collects earthworms to document the extent of the ecological effects on them. Grandma (or actually her ashes) resides in the narrator's house.

I loved this family and I rooted for them, and especially for the child narrator, from page 1 all the way to the end. I read this story in the English language translation published in 2021, from the original Italian 2019 publication. I need all of Sartori's books to be translated into English, please -- I just don't think I'll be able to learn Italian fast enough to catch up with his backlist!

[Jude Rizzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story that is a cautionary tale on AI controlling the lives of a family juxtaposed with the grandfather who is much more grounded in a life dedicated to classifying worms. The story is narrated by an autistic deaf ten year old who straddles these two ways of life.

[Verónica Fleitas Solich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite how much the premise promised, despite how excited I was to read it, the truth is that I couldn't finish connecting with the story or with our protagonist.
I expected the spark of I am God but that did not happen.

[Kai Wiesner-Hanks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly I would give this book a ?/5 if I could.

We follow a young deaf boy who also struggles with a number of behavioral issues and his strange family. A super genius older brother, anarchist worm scientist grandfather, immature tech worker father, and bee-keeping Buddhist mother. A car accident in the first 10 pages ends with the mother in a Coma, which places incredible strain on the family and our narrator.

Eventually the titular 'Bug' shows up; a super advanced AI created by the narrator's older brother that starts to grow and eventually cause some mischief and havoc for the family and around the world.

The writing style can be overwhelming; the narrator struggles to communicate with others due to his deafness and other problems, but his inner monologue is a tidal wave of imagery and metaphors that can be a little much at times.

Thematically I think the book is about communication; the narrator struggles to communicate with anyone until BUG shows up and he finds a compatriot also struggling to learn how to interact with the outside world. The narrator and BUG are parallels; they're both stuck not being to interact with the outside world and face intense pressure from others to control their actions; the narrator from his family and school and BUG from the narrator.

Again, a very weird book and I'm still not sure if I like it or not, but I do think it will grow on me.

[Eule Luftschloss · Rating 4 out of 5]

trigger warning
child neglect, grief, mental illness, self harm

While his mother is in coma, her deaf son compiles descriptions of what has been going on, partly told her through sign language he's sure she'll understand even with her eyes closed, and partly written down.

There is a lot of the last topic mentioned in the trigger warnings going on when our protagonist gets overwhelmed. He has ADHD, and might even fall on the autistic spectrum. I am not the right person to diagnose this.
We see everything through his lens, which means that if he's not aware of something, you have to piece together hints of what you're getting.

This family is weird. His mother is an activist because the concern Bayer is killing bees, and she's a beekeeper. His father officially sells Nutella but secretly is involved in an anti spy program. His grandfather is a hippie with opinions and finally, his brother is a child prodigy and hacker, acting under the name Robin Hood.

Bug is a slow paced and characterdriven book, and this is one example of where it works for me. Once I got in I had fun, and getting in only took time because I was sooo tired. Nothing I can fault the book for.

I am not sure if I would reach for other books by the same author, to be honest, but this was fun.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

[Michael Howley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book promised "wicked humor" but I never laughed. Terrible.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute, it had me smiling the entire time I was reading. The story itself was so inventive, like nothing else I have ever read or will ever read again. The worst part is that it ended.

[Annie Yotova · Rating 4 out of 5]

We don't know the exact age of the narrator of this novel until almost the end of the book. But the clues to narrow it down enough for the story to work are there early on - his older brother IQ had just turned 13 and the helmet, which IQ made for him when the narrator was in third grade is already too small for his head. We also know that he is deaf, relying on sign language for almost anything, hyperactive and unable to use cochlear implants due to a malformation. And as the novel starts, his mother gets hit by a Russian semi driven by a tipsy Ukrainian and ends up in the hospital in a comma. Add to that a father working at Nutella (but really working for an agency which tracks terrorists apparently) and who is too young to be a father (16 when IQ was born) and living away from the family because the mother kicked him out, a grandfather who is a specialist in worms and always works on something worm related, a grandmother who is always in the kitchen (well, where else would you keep ashes?) and the converted chicken coup they call home.

Despite some slips that make it sounds like that's not the case, the novel is really the narrator talking to the mother who is in comma - narrating his life while she is missing - from the school where noone cares about him (and they even want to kick him out - nothing to do with his biting of course) to the father coming back in the house; from the landlord who wants to evict the family out to the brother who is a genius (well... he also not a very practical one). And somewhere in the middle of the story there are the two friends our narrator makes - one of them, a young woman, Logo, who was hired to help with his lessons and end up almost becoming his substitute mother and the other one who he meets online and ends up being the robot IQ had been working on for a long time - an AI that had managed to escape (mostly). Both the friends are trying their best to help - Logo with the boys' words and lessons (including typing his thoughts - the novel we are reading) and Bug, his virtual friend, with pretty much anything. Except that an AI that has no morality compass can do a lot of weird things when it tries to help - sometimes he is helpful and sometimes things backfire... spectacularly. Noone dies at least - not until the end of the novel and that is not Bug's fault - but there is arson, the police raids the chicken coup (on an unrelated charge), there is quite a lot of hacking and cracking. And our narrator can be as bad as Bug given a chance - especially with Bug working on him...

The novel is hilarious in places and very serious in others. The voice of the narrator sounds believable and you care both for him and for the poor AI - because in some ways they are at the same place in their lives - trying to find out what they are and how to deal with the world. And despite its narrator's age, it is not a novel for children in any way or form. And I feel like having some Nutella now... when your narrator is obsessed with it, it gets into your head as that melody you woke up hearing in your mind... and which you cannot stop hearing (or recognize).

[Gianni · Rating 5 out of 5]

”Cara mamma, questo è un messaggio che non ti spedirò, perché certe frasi non possono viaggiare nelle fibre ottiche, farebbero troppi danni. […] Certi accadimenti accettano di essere intrappolati nelle parole solo a patto che le frasi restino murate in un archivio elettronico criptato […] Ci siamo insomma messi d’accordo che lei scriverà come sempre quello che dètto con i segni, ma poi parcheggeremo la lettera nel mio computer, dove rimarrà in clausura per la notte dei tempi.”
È il limite intrinseco del linguaggio, che deve spesso utilizzare termini coniati in contesti diversi e far ricorso a immagini e analogie per consentire una comunicazione più o meno adeguata, e che si porta dietro i nodi irrisolti della unicità della verità e della credibilità, ”Hanno preteso che incontrassi un tipo con gli occhiali colorati da bambino, il quale ha cominciato a farmi domande appiccicose come trappole adesive per prendere le mosche. Mi parlava dando per scontato che fossi microcefalo, come succedeva ai vecchi tempi, e non si rendeva conto che se c’era uno che non capiva niente di quello che diceva l’altro, quel qualcuno era lui”.
Questo limite vale, a maggior ragione, per un ragazzino sensibile e difficile di dieci anni, sordo profondo, ipercinetico, con deficit di attenzione e con comportamenti che sfociano nell’aggressività verso di sé e verso gli altri; un ragazzino che viene iniziato tardi alla lingua dei segni e che quindi deve recuperare molto in termini di comunicazione e che si trova a dettare alla logopedista, non senza frequenti mercanteggiamenti, delle lunghe missive rivolte alla madre in coma per un incidente d’auto.
Il contesto ambientale è quello di un anonimo paese di provincia e di una famiglia inusuale e creativa: la madre è un’apicoltrice molto materna, il nonno ex anarchico studioso ed esperto di lombrichi, il fratello, di poco più grande, è un hacker esperto di computer e in grado di progettare un algoritmo basato sulle reti neurali capace di autoapprendimento, e il padre, giovanissimo, forse un po’ infantile, è un esperto informatico.
È proprio il background dell’intelligenza artificiale, di cui tutto il romanzo è permeato, a porre in modo rilevante domande su linguaggio, comunicazione ed etica, sulle verità alternative e sul loro rapporto con finzione e immaginazione, sul contrasto tra natura e tecnologia, e fa di QI185, il fratello hacker, e del ragazzino, dei novelli Frankenstein.
È un romanzo scritto molto bene e di lettura estremamente piacevole, ci si immerge facilmente.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story follows a young Deaf boy through his life as he is trying to cope with the fact that his mother is in a coma and that he is unable to participate in class as expected due to what to me reads as so far undiagnosed adhd and/or autism. His life changes when he makes a new friend at a forum, who turns out to be an intelligent AI that his brother programmed.
The thing I enjoyed most about this story is how it shows that what to everybody else is considered to be an unruly kid acting out maliciously are understandable frustrations born from existing in a Hearing world without being allowed to take part in Deaf culture and be offered necessary accessability. Our Deaf character who was unable to receive Cochlear Implants as a child due to medical reasons was only allowed to learn a limited amount of sign language and is forced to communicate vocally and follow along in class with hearing aids that don't fit. Only one teacher offers him minimal amounts of accomodation there (by speaking a bit slower), whereas everybody else in the school tries their hardest to get him reassigned to a special school as he obviously was just too stupid to follow along (internalized ableism our protagonist reproduces at some points in the novel, which was heartbreaking to read). At points I felt frustrated at how much everybody was ignoring how hard it can be to follow along with a class where you are only able to understand bits and pieces of and how much attention is required if you are not communicated with properly. And while I know that even today some children are still educated with a Speech-First approach it made me really sad seeing how much work went into forcing our protagonist into vocal speech, while we are simultanously told that his father forbid him from learning sign language when he was younger (he has been allowed to learn in the mean time thankfully). I just found this book a really interesting look at how ableism hinders and harms us. However, our protagonist thankfully is allowed a happy end, when the protagonist is finally given fitting support at school (in his case an assistant who translates the coursework into sign and uses humor to keep him engaged) and I was just very glad to read that.
The rest of the plot is also interesting and something I enjoyed. It deals with grief and the environment and of course AI and I think it did so in a very intruiging manner. Another thing I particularly appreciated that the protagonist truly read like a 10 year old although a somewhat precocious one.
There is not a lot of plot and unfortunately the end wraps up pretty fast and while it is nice I found myself missing something, so this is only a four star read, but otherwise I quite enjoyed this book.

TW for child neglect, ableism (particularly regarding mental disabilities and forms of communication outside of grammatically correct spoken language), mental illness, self harm (especially during meltdowns/overstimulating moments).

[Peggy Hults · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a translated work. The translation uses American English quirks, which is not surprising given the translator's background. Because it is translated, it is not this author's first work, which you will notice as it does not read like a first work. It also means some of the subtleties of the Italian culture may have gotten lost, for example I had a hard time envisioning the teaching environment, which is often includes somewhat freaky visuals by the narrator. The overarching plotline is good and the narrator is consistent in his view of the world and his actions within it. Once you get used to the manner of narration, it's a good story and a relatively quick read.

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't quite know what to make of this book when I first started, but it drew me in after a rocky first third and kept my attention through the end. Somewhere between literary fiction and science fiction, it had that certain kind of feel that reminded me of movies like "Beasts of the Southern Wild" or "Tree of Life" where it's almost realistic, bordering on the fantastical, and none of the logic is quite where we're used to it being. It isn't exactly surreal, but it has its toes in those waters.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bug's unreliable narrator of a kid who wants to be reliable, while confessing to his mom the weird goings on of his life while she's in a coma, is a fun trick! But I feel like it got confused, sometimes he would tell her everything and sometimes he held back in ways that didn't seem narratively consistent, then sometimes he himself wouldn't understand that he'd done something that he had. It got a bit distracting to keep up with on a meta level. Also, I found the writing to be a bit reliant on weird analogies.

Overall it was interesting and unique, but lost its appeal quickly for me.

[Dexter R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the metaphors and references to modern tech, along with the frustrations of communication across the board. The behavioral issues were a bit intense, and not well explained. Also felt the ending could have been stronger, but appreciated the story overall. Entertaining read!

[Frederick Gault · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young boy who is autistic (?) develops a friendship with an AI his brother created, and communicates with his bee-keeping Buddhist mother who is in a coma. This strange family lives in a converted chicken coop. An ultimately cheerful and uplifting tale.

[Kat Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three stars for the story and another star for the excellent translation. Strange tale narrated by a 10 year old deaf child with impulse control issues. The family is on the brink—threatened with eviction and the mother in a coma, the narrator discovers a new friend, BUG.

[Cade · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a certain zany unreality that reminded me of the feel of Hundred Years of Solitude although all the particulars of the way in which it was zany were different. It was just a little too weird for my tastes.

[Sara Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a really unique and great book that made me chuckle throughout! it’s about a deaf child and his brother’s AI invention named “Bug” who becomes too involved in trying to help solve their numerous family problems and ends up wreaking havoc on their lives

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally written in Italian. Complex but not overly complex family drama with intriguing characters, most of them human begins with a variety of Doo les and phenomenal characteristics, one AI, and a hive of bees in the supporting cast. Glad I read this book.

[Betty Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A silly tale on imaginary technological devices that behave in human like follies and cause chaos with their extra human abilities. A deaf robotic boy, an invisible supercomputer, robotic bees are only some of the characters in this imaginative book

[Lea Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

a wild story, not really any plot, but still a solid read. i don’t know how to explain it, but it felt like there’s a metaphor that i’m too stupid to understand that’s lying there under the surface of a child who’s best friend is someone named BUG.

[Nadine in California]

I only made it through 30 pages, but not through any fault of the author or translator. Just my mood, possibly influenced by the opening, of a child going through hard times. The tone is quirky and light, the child apparently resilient, but still depressing to me.

[Karen Benedetto · Rating 1 out of 5]

No words for this one. :-O

[Adina · Rating 4 out of 5]

An odd but intriguing book. The voice is really unique, as is the story. Picked it up at random but enjoyed the read.

[Jelani Stowers · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The book is enjoyable, and it gives a lot for your brain to chew on. I think it's worth a read. However, I don't think it's GREAT.
It's a good book!