Super Sad True Love Story and Freud

Going back to Super Sad True Love Story, written by Gary Shteyngart, I believe that it can easily be read through a psychoanalytical lens.  Specifically, I believe that Freud’s essay, The Uncanny, really relates to Shteyngart’s book in many ways.

In this piece by Freud, he discusses the “uncanny.”  He also discusses his definition of “unheimlich,” and he defines it in many different ways.  The most common definition meaning: “unfamiliar.”  Unfamiliar is a great way to describe many of the events that happen within and the culture of the characters within Super Sad True Love Story.

One point that I would like to bring up is Lenny’s location in the beginning of the book.  He originally lived in New York City, but then moved to Rome for “work.”  He was here for a while, spending a lot of his time reading and writing.  When he returns home to New York, everything is different, especially regarding the new technology.  Lenny’s apparat was severely outdated, and to be frank, so was Lenny.
 
       Regarding his job in “life extension services,” Lenny looked old and unfamiliar from the rest of the new employees.  When Lenny first returns he is looking for Joshie, and the majority of the employees he once knew were gone, with the exception of a couple of people.  At one point in the book, the young man who took Lenny’s desk, has a confrontation with Lenny, where he basically tells him that he’s old and shouldn’t be working there.  Lenny knows that this is a place that he doesn’t belong.  He knows that even though these people are unfamiliar to him, he is just as unfamiliar to them.  He is something that they are not used to – he is old.
 
       Another aspect of unfamiliar-ness within the book would have to do with the culture.  The culture of the people within the novel very much differs from the culture of the United States today, but there are also many similarities.  One similarity would be the heavy use of technology.  In regards to technology, we are not completely where the people in Super Sad True Love Story are, but I believe this book is a reminder that this is where we are headed.  A difference however would be the fact that reading and writing have almost become obsolete.  Lenny, once again, acts as the unfamiliar person in the sense that he still reads and writes frequently, which characters within the book, like Eunice, finds weird and strange.

     Lenny is constantly seen as that “unfamiliar,” or “unheimlich” throughout the book, Super Sad True Love Story.  As much as Lenny tries to fit in, he still loves reading, writing, and many other things that set him apart from everyone else.  His technology in the beginning of the book was outdated, and he becomes estranged from his job and his friends and family.  Also, the culture of this society within the book, though it may seem very different, there are surprisingly more similarities than we may think.