Review: 'The Quantity Theory of Insanity' by Will Self

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

'The Quantity Theory of Insanity' by Will Self, 211 pages - Instagram @c_reads_books

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The Quantity Theory of Insanity by Will Self consists of six short stories. In 'The North London Book of the Dead,' the afterlife is revealed to be nothing more than a London suburb where the dead get new lives. 'Ward 9' describes what happens when a new art therapist comes to work in a mental hospital. In 'Understanding the Ur-Bororo,' a mysterious tribe in the Amazon rainforest reveals itself to consist of the most boring people on earth. 'The Quantity Theory of Insanity' explores the theory that there is only a limited amount of sanity in the world. In 'Mono-Cellular,' someone waits for a call, which may or may not arrive. Lastly, 'Waiting' reveals what happens when someone gets tired of waiting.

I really liked this collection of stories. In particular, my favorites were 'The North London Book of the Dead,' 'Ward 9,' and 'Waiting.' Some of the stories were rather long, with the longest being 56 pages long, and the shortest being only 15 pages. With the longer stories, they could at times seem a bit more drawn out than I maybe would have liked them to be. I really enjoyed the ideas and possibilities Self explores in this collection, with basically every story surrounding a “what if” question regarding humanity, sanity / madness, and / or time, among other things. Overall, I really enjoyed this collection of short stories and recommend it to anyone who, like me, loves a good short story!