Reviews

Our Ecstatic Days by Steve Erickson

dllman05's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

karp76's review against another edition

3.0

Erickson with this work has become master of the surreal. All of his works have been working, building towards this moment and, in effect, make an appearance in some fashion within the narrative. As surrealist as the novel is, it is also an experimental work, one that is not always successful, not in terms of its power or necessity but its sustainability. In the hands of lesser artist, this would have been a complete mess. Erickson's ability and confidence in both his words, characters and narrative make this a good work, hinting at a possible greatness not yet realized.

scheu's review against another edition

2.0

I figured out why I struggled to finish this book over and over despite loving, or at least really enjoying, all of Erickson's other novels.

I just didn't like it.

It felt like "too much". Just too clever. I had a similar reaction to Danielewski's Only Revolutions - maybe I just dislike goofing around with structure. (and yet The Raw Shark Texts was great!)

I don't have to worry about being an Erickson completist now, or a slavish fan. Kind of a relief.

swingdingaling's review

Well, that was something

I choose to believe this novel was more of a tone poem than a narrative. It definitely is not a traditional novel in terms of plot and characters, and is confusing thematically, structurally and verbally. But there are passages of high intrigue and emotional depth that make it worthwhile.

sisteray's review against another edition

5.0

Flat out beautiful. This is a deep examination into grief without the intention of just being depressing. An insightful look at feeling lost to the world.

Surreal and magical. Despite being overly indulgent it never drags and keep a quick lilt pulling the reader farther into this "world".

If you are into dreamy postmodern fiction, this is as good as it gets.

shawcrit's review against another edition

3.0

The ending - that is , the point at which the long sentence running throughout merges with the "main" text - is absolutely gorgeous. Although I enjoyed this, I think the metaphors should have been reined in a little bit; I can only deal with so much magic realism centered around creepy lakes as birth canals, red and blue juxtaposed to represent either gender, emotional states or menstrual flows, etc. I love all of those things, but I find it slightly irritating when male writers especially over-use images like menstrual blood and birth canals and lesbianism, etc. to produce a text that feels like its trying way too hard to be a feminist text. That said, Erickson is a great writer and I love how the different stories and characters intertwined. So many heart-breaking emotional missed connections.

deadwolfbones's review against another edition

3.0

Alternately brilliant and frustrating. Erickson does some amazing stuff in this novel, both narratively and textually, including a stunning 230 page-long single-line sentence that completes and mirrors the text that surrounds it. But on the other hand, his writing is occasionally completely over the top and self-indulgent and he really needs to get a better rein on his metaphors (or needed to, anyway--Zeroville doesn't have this problem). I really loved the way he's able to abruptly shift viewpoints and introduce important new characters without regard to conventional narrative techniques. As close to a 4th-person writing style as I've ever encountered. Worth reading, for sure.

sethsam's review against another edition

3.0

A woman rows to the center of a mysterious lake which envelopes Los Angeles and leaves her child behind in a gondola. Or does she? Is she a woman? What woman is she? Does she also have a daughter? Is her son God? Is the father of her son a hero? Does this book have a point? No. No it does not. Save yourself from this pointless, maddening (yet compelling enough to finish) book.

5wamp_creature's review against another edition

3.0

Set aside the time to pay attention to this book.

strawberrylane's review against another edition

4.0

Mesmerizing and strange. It reminded me of a David Lynch movie - spiraling realities, dreamlike cadence, and stories with flexible interpretations. There was a chunk of pages towards the end that floundered, but mostly it's tightly and beautifully written. If you like literature that experiments a bit, both in narrative and structure, I'd definitely recommend this book.