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jean_belliveau's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Merci Bea
dunnadam's review
2.0
So many pages of glowing reviews for this book, but I just can't get on the train.
I found this quote that I liked:
“My heart to my mother, my cock to the whores, my head to the hangman.”
It was hard to find other quotes. They're just not relatable outside of the context of this book. The book is very well written but at the same time so personal it's like a journey inside Genet's head and it's so easy to get lost on the trip.
There is a very loose narrative accompanying the story that darts and weaves between poetry by Genet, the story is more a poem than a novel. I wanted to like it, I get that it changed the definition of writing structure, I get that it was subversive, I get that the way he writes flows beautifully and while reading the book I wished I understood French better to appreciate more the puns and plays on words. But, but, but... So often I wouldn't even be able to finish a sentence without Genet getting so far side-tracked on his own mental voyage that I lost the plot. The book is masturbatory but in that same way it's also very personal to Genet and very difficult for outsiders to appreciate. Also too much poop and farting.
The book reminds me of an abstract painting and while you can appreciate the talent in the artist, it just doesn't speak to me.
I found this quote that I liked:
“My heart to my mother, my cock to the whores, my head to the hangman.”
It was hard to find other quotes. They're just not relatable outside of the context of this book. The book is very well written but at the same time so personal it's like a journey inside Genet's head and it's so easy to get lost on the trip.
There is a very loose narrative accompanying the story that darts and weaves between poetry by Genet, the story is more a poem than a novel. I wanted to like it, I get that it changed the definition of writing structure, I get that it was subversive, I get that the way he writes flows beautifully and while reading the book I wished I understood French better to appreciate more the puns and plays on words. But, but, but... So often I wouldn't even be able to finish a sentence without Genet getting so far side-tracked on his own mental voyage that I lost the plot. The book is masturbatory but in that same way it's also very personal to Genet and very difficult for outsiders to appreciate. Also too much poop and farting.
The book reminds me of an abstract painting and while you can appreciate the talent in the artist, it just doesn't speak to me.
paulus_on_the_rocks's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Sans mentir j'ai eu beaucoup de mal à me concentrer à de très nombreux endroits et je l'ai souvent ouvert en râlant, mais pourtant, surtout les 100 première pages passées, j'ai trouvé le roman absolument fabuleux
Je recommande
Je recommande
planetnox's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
you can definitely see the inspiration of the beat generation in this book. also way more racist and orientalist than i expected like the author rly wants to fuck romani people. the description of the main black person in this book is especially off putting.... there are some beautiful passages at times tho
savaging's review against another edition
4.0
Jean Genet spent much of his early life behind bars for petty theft. He wrote this novel while in solitary confinement. The prisoners were given paper and forced to make bags with it, but instead Genet used it to write the wild lives of unrepentant queers and transwomen. The guard found the first draft and burned it. Genet wrote the book again.
In the introduction, Jean-Paul Sartre asks "Why? For whom? There was small chance of his keeping the work until his release, and even less of getting it printed. If, against all likelihood, he succeeded, the book was bound to be banned; it would be confiscated and scrapped. Yet he wrote on, he persisted in writing."
Sartre then says some nonsense reducing this novel to masturbation fantasies. So skip the intro and instead dive into the depth and humor and holiness of the story. Something about this book feels unconquerable. Not in the broad-chested-manly-hero sort of way, but in a way that is all subtle, impish, profane.
The one difficult part for me is Genet's treatment of the black characters. Surprising stereotypes for someone who would later be a stalwart supporter of black liberation movements.
In the introduction, Jean-Paul Sartre asks "Why? For whom? There was small chance of his keeping the work until his release, and even less of getting it printed. If, against all likelihood, he succeeded, the book was bound to be banned; it would be confiscated and scrapped. Yet he wrote on, he persisted in writing."
Sartre then says some nonsense reducing this novel to masturbation fantasies. So skip the intro and instead dive into the depth and humor and holiness of the story. Something about this book feels unconquerable. Not in the broad-chested-manly-hero sort of way, but in a way that is all subtle, impish, profane.
The one difficult part for me is Genet's treatment of the black characters. Surprising stereotypes for someone who would later be a stalwart supporter of black liberation movements.
belunes's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
hannahmatsu's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
casparb's review against another edition
Almost certainly the finest piece of gay erotica I've read this year this is an incredible incredible piece of literature and I'm glad it arrived today. Genet is brilliant, a natural - the first half of this novel is honestly some of the best prose writing I've found. I was comparing this to Miller as I was going along (something of the Parisian and the sordid I expect) and as I said of Miller - there is brilliance, perhaps even prose genius, but it comes in flashes. With Genet it doesn't flash so much as hum throughout the entire piece and yet seems entirely natural. He resists the temptation of prosaic flamboyance and instead gives us unrepentant filth, delicious.
I'll get to more JG. Our Lady exceeded the expectations which even then were high
I'll get to more JG. Our Lady exceeded the expectations which even then were high
ralowe's review
5.0
i'd want to say that it was hard for me to finish reading this because i couldn't stop masturbating but honestly i was masturbating because of something else. which is not to say that this book was a contributing factor. i think the spate of masturbation which coincided with the reading was because i was having anxiety about my neighbor screaming, which did make it very hard to read the book and really enjoy it. so you see i share something in common with genet"Уdisclosing too much information. i can see the roots of what we would one day call anti-relationalism in the description of farts, the joy of watching babies fall off balconies and ratting out your friends. i'm not saying that there's nothing here for other people to masturbate to. i really want to say that the beautiful masturbatory imagery just took me to this place, but maybe if i read it a bunch of years ago. this is the first piece of fiction i've read for a while. the last thing i read shares some similarities with genet"У120 days of sodom"Уboth french, incarcerated, perverted and canonical. please don't get the wrong idea about me. i want to find out what angela davis thinks about genet's writing.
monte1000000's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5