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sisteray's review against another edition
4.0
I have now read this weirdo horror novel twice and I think I know what this book is about, or at least I feel comfortable deciding what I want the book to be. Perhaps the author intended something totally different, but at this point it is irrelevant to my enjoyment.
This book is a puzzle. Ideas and concepts of story have been shattered into their smallest components and the fragments compressed abutting each other like a collage. It’s a haunting abstract non-linear collection of intertwined pieces of prose-poem nano-fictions. It’s a piece that spans two generations and, I think, multiple characters, so it’s up to you to put it together.
The story itself revolves around at least three perspectives using First Person (the “I” character), Second Person (the “you” character), and Third Person (Phillip) to describe the story of children deeply scarred by their mother’s involvement with the occult. There is also a “he” which may or may not be Philip. Or maybe they are all Philip, unclear.
If you are looking for anything like a solution to the puzzle, I am not sure you are going to find it in the book. The vagaries that successfully make this book unsettling are ultimately going to interfere with potential artist intent. But, it’s a super compelling brain teaser, and a unique way to explore characters coping with abuse.
If you like Danielewski, Calvino, Pavic, and Burroughs but also want creepy family horror, check this out.
FYI, there is no sexual violence in this.
This book is a puzzle. Ideas and concepts of story have been shattered into their smallest components and the fragments compressed abutting each other like a collage. It’s a haunting abstract non-linear collection of intertwined pieces of prose-poem nano-fictions. It’s a piece that spans two generations and, I think, multiple characters, so it’s up to you to put it together.
The story itself revolves around at least three perspectives using First Person (the “I” character), Second Person (the “you” character), and Third Person (Phillip) to describe the story of children deeply scarred by their mother’s involvement with the occult. There is also a “he” which may or may not be Philip. Or maybe they are all Philip, unclear.
If you are looking for anything like a solution to the puzzle, I am not sure you are going to find it in the book. The vagaries that successfully make this book unsettling are ultimately going to interfere with potential artist intent. But, it’s a super compelling brain teaser, and a unique way to explore characters coping with abuse.
If you like Danielewski, Calvino, Pavic, and Burroughs but also want creepy family horror, check this out.
FYI, there is no sexual violence in this.
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