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salbulga's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
myweereads's review against another edition
5.0
“Work will drive you crazy if you let it.”
Ablutions by Patrick Dewitt is story centred around a seedy Hollywood bar where a whiskey loving barman struggles to gather his notes for a novel. He draws upon several nights of serving every walk of life and soon realising that his only chance of survival is through an escape.
Patrick Dewitt writes his novel with heart and humour. When I originally read The Sister Brothers earlier this year I fell in love with his writing. It’s took me a while to pick up another book by this author and so I went for his debut. What I love about this book is that it has the same witty, grim, and hilarious content with an underlying moral message.
The character of the barman is one we have all come across and as messed up as his life is, he is relatable. His customers are familiar, their nocturnal encounters are told with grim and dark humour. The part they play in the barman’s life becomes evident and as the story progresses the reader cant help but like and loathe them at differing points. I do like to see human nature at work and there are those moments where it becomes very real.
What made this novel enjoyable for me was how easy it was to read. It’s not a long one and it really gets into the underbelly of Los Angeles. I am a fan of this author and if you are familiar with his work then I know you will enjoy this one too.
Ablutions by Patrick Dewitt is story centred around a seedy Hollywood bar where a whiskey loving barman struggles to gather his notes for a novel. He draws upon several nights of serving every walk of life and soon realising that his only chance of survival is through an escape.
Patrick Dewitt writes his novel with heart and humour. When I originally read The Sister Brothers earlier this year I fell in love with his writing. It’s took me a while to pick up another book by this author and so I went for his debut. What I love about this book is that it has the same witty, grim, and hilarious content with an underlying moral message.
The character of the barman is one we have all come across and as messed up as his life is, he is relatable. His customers are familiar, their nocturnal encounters are told with grim and dark humour. The part they play in the barman’s life becomes evident and as the story progresses the reader cant help but like and loathe them at differing points. I do like to see human nature at work and there are those moments where it becomes very real.
What made this novel enjoyable for me was how easy it was to read. It’s not a long one and it really gets into the underbelly of Los Angeles. I am a fan of this author and if you are familiar with his work then I know you will enjoy this one too.
nationalcarpark's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.5
africhmaurice's review against another edition
DNF. I usually love a story that breaks narrative convention, but this one was too sad and maybe a little too gross.
annienormal's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gracklefan's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jess_stetson's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.0
Discuss reading a novel written in second person and putting yourself in the well-worn shoes of an exhausted, dejected, alcoholic bar back as he slides ever further down an abyss of his own making.
From your safe, comfortable position in your favourite reading spot, you are virtually assaulted with the depravity and misery of the hopeless. They come alive from the pages on your lap and steep you in despair.
Your protagonist has no name but he introduces you to the parade of pathetic patrons that frequent his bar. You do not feel compassion or empathy so much as pity, some disgust, and a distinct and overwhelming impulse to distance yourself from these wretched creatures.
....
I can't say that I enjoyed reading 𝘈𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 because it's not an enjoyable experience. Depressing, vicariously embarrassing, disturbing, and occasionally funny (in that way where you feel so icky that all you can do is kind of laugh) was my experience of the novel.
When I began reading this I felt restless and had a nebulous anxiety. I thought maybe it was the second person POV but as I continued on I realised that it was because I not only 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 the protagonist, I knew him intimately; I 𝘸𝘢𝘴 him once upon a time. I worked graveyard shift at a pool hall and lived in dive bars for years during an active addiction. The parade of pathetic patrons in the book were the same degenerates who made my pool hall their second home. They were the same lost souls who shared bar stools and street corners with me on the Lower East Side. I loved and hated them. And just like our protagonist, the line between me and them got progressively thinner...
I got clean years ago but this novel brought those years back in quite a stark way. After reading Ablutions, I sincerely hope that Mr deWitt is in recovery, therapy (both?), or he has somehow managed to exorcise his demons. I'm assuming that he has because I became acquainted with his writing through his later work, the eccentric and acerbic, yet oddly charming, novel 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘌𝘹𝘪𝘵. While I started off disliking this, in the end I was impressed and maybe a bit enamoured.
From your safe, comfortable position in your favourite reading spot, you are virtually assaulted with the depravity and misery of the hopeless. They come alive from the pages on your lap and steep you in despair.
Your protagonist has no name but he introduces you to the parade of pathetic patrons that frequent his bar. You do not feel compassion or empathy so much as pity, some disgust, and a distinct and overwhelming impulse to distance yourself from these wretched creatures.
....
I can't say that I enjoyed reading 𝘈𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 because it's not an enjoyable experience. Depressing, vicariously embarrassing, disturbing, and occasionally funny (in that way where you feel so icky that all you can do is kind of laugh) was my experience of the novel.
When I began reading this I felt restless and had a nebulous anxiety. I thought maybe it was the second person POV but as I continued on I realised that it was because I not only 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 the protagonist, I knew him intimately; I 𝘸𝘢𝘴 him once upon a time. I worked graveyard shift at a pool hall and lived in dive bars for years during an active addiction. The parade of pathetic patrons in the book were the same degenerates who made my pool hall their second home. They were the same lost souls who shared bar stools and street corners with me on the Lower East Side. I loved and hated them. And just like our protagonist, the line between me and them got progressively thinner...
I got clean years ago but this novel brought those years back in quite a stark way. After reading Ablutions, I sincerely hope that Mr deWitt is in recovery, therapy (both?), or he has somehow managed to exorcise his demons. I'm assuming that he has because I became acquainted with his writing through his later work, the eccentric and acerbic, yet oddly charming, novel 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘌𝘹𝘪𝘵. While I started off disliking this, in the end I was impressed and maybe a bit enamoured.
xjjfkfi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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? Yes
3.0
brilliancee's review against another edition
Really enjoyed the first... 30 pages or so, but then felt like I'd seen all it had to offer. Finished the first chapter and thought I would come back to it later. It held no interest for me.
Will continue reading DeWitt as I've really enjoyed two of his other books so far, but this one isn't for me.
Will continue reading DeWitt as I've really enjoyed two of his other books so far, but this one isn't for me.
t_bone's review against another edition
5.0
I have fallen platonically in love with Patrick deWitt. Usually when I read a book I think to myself, I could have written this, if I wanted to. But I can't match de wit of deWitt (exhibit A). His powers of invention and quality of prose kept my smiling though every page. Maybe some of the appeal of this novel, about an alcoholic L.A. barman plying his trade, stemmed from the fact that it brought back fond memories of my own days working behind the jumps. All the characters made me nostalgic for the sad and crazy drunks I once served so poorly and for the coworkers who differed only from the punters by which side of the bar they stood. This novel, DeWitt's first I believe, is not as off-beat as the others, but should appeal to lovers of Bukowski for its revelling in alcohol, sex, and general seediness.