You Shall Know Our Velocity
Encyclopedia
You Shall Know Our Velocity! is a 2002
novel
by Dave Eggers
. It was Eggers's debut novel
, following the success of his memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
(2000).
The plot follows Will and Hand, two childhood friends who set out on a week-long, around-the-world odyssey, ostensibly to give away a large sum of money.
", and another creating a treasue map for Estonian children. While on the journey the two friends do many wild and spontaneous things including practicing rolling over cars and jumping from tree to tree while twenty feet in the air. However without a solid set of criteria, or a definitive direction in their plan, this proves surprisingly difficult, and they experience much awkward confusion and moral uncertainty. They often fear being robbed and killed. Will becomes unstable and begins to lose his composure. The plot is both a log of the journey, but more so a look into the mind of the narrator, Will.
A pseudo-sequel entitled '"The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water" follows Hand and the minor character Pilar in Central America
. This short story
is featured in the collection How We Are Hungry: Stories
.
, excludes this new material. The addition, narrated by Hand, calls into question the reliability of the narrator
, and, depending on which version is read, You Shall Know Our Velocity can be viewed as two different stories. In Hand's version, their third friend, Jack, never actually existed. Instead, he is a metaphorical representation of Will's mother, a device he used to cope with the loss that apparently occurred several years before the trip (rather than alive and in contact with Will as in his version). Hand also corrects one of the most startling scenes in Will's version, in which he breaks down emotionally, claiming that Will was too shy to do such a thing. Hand does say that the Will's version was 85% true, though he did hate the title, renaming it "Sacrament."
The original version was narrated entirely by Will. In the world of the revised version, Will's memoir
s were published six years earlier, and Hand has taken it upon himself to insert his own perspective immediately after the climax of the story. Hand's meta-narrative is entirely self-contained, and it is as much a personal digression as it is a relevant critique of the story as presented by Will.
For the hardcover version of You Shall Know Our Velocity, the opening paragraph of the novel was printed directly on the front cover. In Sacrament, Hand alludes to the opening paragraph being written by a ghostwriter.
is attached to direct.
2002 in literature
The year 2002 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*March 16: Authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested and jailed poet Abdul Mohsen Musalam and fired a newspaper editor following the publication of Musalam's poem The Corrupt on Earth that criticized the state's Islamic...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He is known for the best-selling memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and for his more recent work as a screenwriter. He is also the co-founder of the literacy project 826 Valencia.-Life:Eggers was born in Boston, Massachusetts,...
. It was Eggers's debut novel
Debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...
, following the success of his memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is a memoir by Dave Eggers released in 2000. It chronicles his stewardship of younger brother Christopher "Toph" Eggers following the cancer-related deaths of his parents....
(2000).
The plot follows Will and Hand, two childhood friends who set out on a week-long, around-the-world odyssey, ostensibly to give away a large sum of money.
Plot summary
Will has surprisingly come into a large amount of money, around $40,000. His photograph screwing in a lightbulb has been made a silhouette and is being used as a picture for the company's lightbulb boxes. He is uncomfortable having this money, as he feels he did nothing to earn it, and is left with a sense of guilt and purposelessness. Shortly after receiving the sum, Will and Hand's mutual childhood friend, Jack, was involved in a car accident. The pair had delusional ambitions to use the money to save his life, but to no avail. After Jack's death, Will and Hand are asked to help go through Jack's possessions in a storage facility, where Hand decides to wander around and leaves Will. During Hand's absence, Will is brutally beaten by 3 men. Will and Hand agree that it is best not to go to the hospital, in case the attackers attempt to track them. As a result of his confusion due to a conglomerate of issues such as the large sum of money, Jack's death, and the beating, and other personal issues, Will and Hand plan to travel around the world visiting obscure countries and giving away all the money, bit by bit, to people who they arbitrarily decide are most deserving. According to Hand, they gave to people for the benefit of both parties, as a sacrament with the purpose of restoring a faith in humanity. The two come up with many creative ways of distributing the unwanted money. One plan involves taping money to a donkey in a graph paper pouch that reads "HERE I AM ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANERock You Like a Hurricane
"Rock You Like a Hurricane" a song by the German heavy metal band Scorpions. The song was released as the second track of their 1984 album Love at First Sting.-Description:...
", and another creating a treasue map for Estonian children. While on the journey the two friends do many wild and spontaneous things including practicing rolling over cars and jumping from tree to tree while twenty feet in the air. However without a solid set of criteria, or a definitive direction in their plan, this proves surprisingly difficult, and they experience much awkward confusion and moral uncertainty. They often fear being robbed and killed. Will becomes unstable and begins to lose his composure. The plot is both a log of the journey, but more so a look into the mind of the narrator, Will.
A pseudo-sequel entitled '"The Only Meaning of the Oil-Wet Water" follows Hand and the minor character Pilar in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
. This short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
is featured in the collection How We Are Hungry: Stories
How We Are Hungry: Stories
How We Are Hungry is a collection of short stories by Dave Eggers, originally published by McSweeney's in 2004. The hardcover first edition includes the following pieces:-Stories:*"Another"...
.
Different editions
In February 2003 Eggers and McSweeney's published Sacrament, a retitled hardcover edition of You Shall Know Our Velocity that included a new 49-page section inserted into the middle of the story. The U.S. trade-paperback edition of You Shall Know Our Velocity! (with an exclamation point added to the title), released later that year by VintageVintage (publisher)
Vintage Books is a publishing imprint founded in 1954 by Alfred A. Knopf. Its publishing list includes world literature, fiction, and non-fiction...
, excludes this new material. The addition, narrated by Hand, calls into question the reliability of the narrator
Unreliable narrator
An unreliable narrator is a narrator, whether in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in The Rhetoric of Fiction. This narrative mode is one that can be developed by an author for a number of reasons, usually...
, and, depending on which version is read, You Shall Know Our Velocity can be viewed as two different stories. In Hand's version, their third friend, Jack, never actually existed. Instead, he is a metaphorical representation of Will's mother, a device he used to cope with the loss that apparently occurred several years before the trip (rather than alive and in contact with Will as in his version). Hand also corrects one of the most startling scenes in Will's version, in which he breaks down emotionally, claiming that Will was too shy to do such a thing. Hand does say that the Will's version was 85% true, though he did hate the title, renaming it "Sacrament."
The original version was narrated entirely by Will. In the world of the revised version, Will's memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
s were published six years earlier, and Hand has taken it upon himself to insert his own perspective immediately after the climax of the story. Hand's meta-narrative is entirely self-contained, and it is as much a personal digression as it is a relevant critique of the story as presented by Will.
For the hardcover version of You Shall Know Our Velocity, the opening paragraph of the novel was printed directly on the front cover. In Sacrament, Hand alludes to the opening paragraph being written by a ghostwriter.
Film adaptation
The book has been optioned by Process Productions, and Miguel ArtetaMiguel Arteta
Miguel Arteta is a Puerto Rican director of film and television, known for his independent film Chuck & Buck , for which he received the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award.-Early life:...
is attached to direct.
External links
- Additional section from Sacrament and some paperback editions (downloadable in PDF format)