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How I Became Stupid (2001)

by Martin Page

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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7602329,274 (3.36)9
Ignorance is bliss, or so hopes Antoine, the lead character in Martin Page's stinging satire, How I Became Stupid--a modern day Candide with a Darwin Award like sensibility. A twenty-five-year-old Aramaic scholar, Antoine has had it with being brilliant and deeply self-aware in today's culture. So tortured is he by the depth of his perception and understanding of himself and the world around him that he vows to denounce his intelligence by any means necessary in order to become "stupid" enough to be a happy, functioning member of society. What follows is a dark and hilarious odyssey as Antoine tries everything from alcoholism to stock-trading in order to lighten the burden of his brain on his soul.… (more)
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» See also 9 mentions

English (17)  Finnish (2)  German (1)  French (1)  Portuguese (Brazil) (1)  Dutch (1)  All languages (23)
Showing 1-5 of 17 (next | show all)
With a title like this gracing the front cover, you might get the impression that this is a tale of wrong choices, longing for the good ole’ days and trying to figure out how it all got away.

You’d be mostly wrong…mostly.

How I Became Stupid is a tale about Antoine, who feels forever burdened by his astounding intelligence and natural curiosity about the world he inhabits. The weight of his knowledge is stifling and he longs to become one of the drooling, ignorant masses he sees around him every day. His goal by whatever means necessary is to dumb himself down into apparent nothingness in a crowd. Only then, he thinks, or deduces rather, can he find true happiness. He tries various methods and over-complicated ways to end up in places most people find themselves without thinking at all. This sarcastically comic journey follows these brave attempts to limit the reaches of his mind and the effects it has on those who know him, before and after his inclusion into the world of the stupid. Antoine is a wanderer, a rover, a vagabond of the mind, yearning for a place where his mind doesn’t run free because it sees nothing and nowhere to run to.

Martin Page, a French author, created Antoine almost as a reaction and retribution of the world of today. We cling to evolution and parade around preening in front of all other creatures, but not with our feathers or our fur, since we lost those long ago, but we preen with our minds and our reason. As a race we lord our cognitive thought over all other organisms, but Antoine shows us it comes with a hefty price tag. Martin’s novel gives us a glimpse into the mirror, a vision of someone we all hide deep in the closet who judges other people, overthinks each and every detail of the life before his eyes and who has a problem taking anything at face value. The eternal question posed by the book is whether there is a way to tone down that voice in our mind? Reel in the ego and superego and just become one with the mass consciousness, oh, and don’t forget to enjoy it as well.

This was a quick and enjoyable read, laced with wry wit, sarcasm and unique characters, people who would have to be incredibly singular just to stand hanging around Antoine in the first place. I felt the lesson I took away was you can never run away from who you really are and to be truly happy you need to start with acceptance of that fact. A tall tale indeed, but one that can be accomplished with a little time, energy and possibly a nice, creamy bar of dark chocolate. ( )
  LukeGoldstein | Aug 10, 2021 |
Wow, what an odd book! Antoine, a highly intelligent man who can't find happiness decides his intellect is in the way. He tries drinking, pills, stock trading, TV, everything. Slowly he loses his conscience and starts blending into the society around him.

Very funny at times, this book also touches upon some serious subjects such as a loss of a moral compass and what can happen when you walk blithely through life, completely unaware of how your actions affect others.

I loved the part with the suicidal woman in the hospital, btw. Hilarious. Yes, the humor is dark.

The end is bizarre.

(I've just read the other reviews. There is so much hate for this book! I loved reading the other reviews - they are clever and funny. Yes, the ending sucks!) ( )
  Chica3000 | Dec 11, 2020 |
I enjoyed this book.The poor guy that is the lead character feels that intelligence is a curse and begins a quest to be like everyone else. You will feel bad for him at how quickly his attempt to be an alcoholic fails. And you will laugh at the absurdity of the suicide class. And then he really gets serious about his quest for stupidity and the cheeky passages will make you cackle aloud. ( )
  AlexisLovesBooks | Jan 26, 2016 |

Parisian self-styled intellectual Antoine realizes his lifestyle is making him miserable, and decides to try anything that will make him better able to endure the tedium that is life. Abandoning his assortment of chicly weird friends, he tries alcoholism (a half-litre of beer lands him in ER), a career as a bonds-trader (he's a wild success), etc. Eventually, natch, he realizes his happiest state is when he allows himself just to be himself. I chuckled a lot in the first 30 pages or so, less often thereafter. There are some good lines:

"My life would improve if I were stupid."
"That's stupid."
"I'm on the right track, then. . . ."
(p73)

Overall, though, I was very disappointed; an excellent premise seemed very poorly exploited.
( )
  JohnGrant1 | Aug 11, 2013 |
Shallow. Pompous. Self-indulgent. The author hints at the idea that we are each responsible for developing a worthwhile self, but never develops it in a meaningful or engaging way. Raising the point got the book a second star; exploring it might have earned it a third. I agree with lucasmurtinho's review (2006), that this would have been more fruitful material for a strongly-written essay. As it is, a quick read, and still not worth the time. ( )
  liagiba | May 20, 2012 |
Showing 1-5 of 17 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (6 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Martin Pageprimary authorall editionscalculated
Hunter, AdrianaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Schon immer hatte Antoine den Eindruck, steinalt zu sein.
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Ignorance is bliss, or so hopes Antoine, the lead character in Martin Page's stinging satire, How I Became Stupid--a modern day Candide with a Darwin Award like sensibility. A twenty-five-year-old Aramaic scholar, Antoine has had it with being brilliant and deeply self-aware in today's culture. So tortured is he by the depth of his perception and understanding of himself and the world around him that he vows to denounce his intelligence by any means necessary in order to become "stupid" enough to be a happy, functioning member of society. What follows is a dark and hilarious odyssey as Antoine tries everything from alcoholism to stock-trading in order to lighten the burden of his brain on his soul.

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Book description
Oavsett vem du är som läser detta kan jag slå vad om att du då och då tänkt tanken. Inte bara att världen tycks befolkas till övervägande del av idioter, utan också att idioterna verkar vara betydligt lyckligare.

Det är utgångspunkten i Martin Pages "Om konsten att bli dum". Antoine är en malplacerad grubblare som kommer till insikt om att hans olycka och oförmåga att slå sig till ro i livet beror på hans intelligens. Därför beslutar han sig för att bli dum.

Och hur blir man dum? Tja, det står inte så himla klart för Antoine heller. Någon brist på idéer lider han inte. Alkohol är ju fördummande, så det första han ger sig på är att bli alkoholist. Han går mycket grundligt till väga, läser allt han kan få tag på i ämnet och skaffar sig en imponerande mentor på en sunkig kvarterskrog. Trots det lyckas han med konststycket att misslyckas kapitalt på fem minuter.

Han försöker ta livet av sig. Han bönfaller sin läkare att lobotomera honom. Men lösningen är både enklare och mer komplex. Antoine skaffar sig ett jobb. Antoine handlar med aktier. Antoine slänger sina böcker, samlar prylar och kollar på TV. Det fungerar. Över förväntan. Snart uppkommer frågan om man inte trots allt kan bli för dum och vad egentligen poängen med att vara lycklig är om det faktiskt inte finns något att vara lycklig över?

"Om konsten att bli dum" väcker en hel del frågor och slår åt två håll. Mest uppenbart mot mediabilden av lycka, kapitalismen, materialismen, et cetera, et cetera. Men också mot hela föreställningen om intelligens. Vad är det över huvud taget? Vilket förhållande råder mellan förmågan till abstrakt tänkande, filosoferande över världen, förändring och lycka? Det är onekligen tankeväckande.

Men framför allt är det roligt. Jävligt roligt faktiskt. Antoine är en verklig hjälte för det 21:a århundradet, eller snarare en klockren antihjälte. Kanske är han faktiskt deprimerad, kanske bara uttråkad. Skillnaden kan vara hårfin. Martin Page har lyckats skapa en huvudkaraktär som är både lätt att identifiera sig med och att skratta åt. Gärna på en gång. Och det är nyttigt.

Handlingen är vardagligt bisarr. Allt är extremt på ett mycket småtrevligt sätt. Om ingen gjort en film än vill jag skarpt rekommendera det. Vissa scener skulle till och med passa bättre som filmscenerier än som läsning (på vissa stället bli knasigheterna en smula tröttsamma). Jag tänker mig ungefär en kombination av Jean-Pierre Jeunet och hm… The Office? Många coola skådespelare kommer att ställa upp i de skruvade smårollerna. Dialogen är inte särskilt realistisk men kvasifilosoferande störtskön. Det blir skitbra.

Fast det skulle verkligen gälla att fånga tonen i boken. Allting är på en gång väldigt överdrivet och nedtonat, en utsökt väv av ironier. Och så, naturligtvis, en riktigt bra och lyckad berättarröst. För allvetande berättare växer inte på träd nu för tiden, och den här vill vi inte missa. Så mycket mer underhållande än den gamla vanliga individcentrerade subjektiviteten. Jag hoppas stort på en renässans.

Så: ignorera det trista omslaget, läs, skratta, känn igen dig och rannsaka. Och så skratta lite till. Jag är säker på att du förtjänar det. För after all, livet är inte alltid lätt för alla oss missförstådda genier.

Ella Andrén
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