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gwit's review against another edition
5.0
Both stories 5 star. Both incredibly dark. Their comment on society as appropriate today as when they were published. Because my edition contains both works in a single book, I read them one after the other. I wish I had left a multi week gap between reading them.
pfwhitman's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Miss Lonely Hearts
Maybe it's just not my style of writing or topic but I didn't really enjoy this. It's about a love column writer in the '30s who realizes his job has ruined him and tries anything to feel something.
Day of the Locust
Starting slow, I came to like it more and more and found it to be a really great read. A look into early 30s Hollywood and the vagrants that filled the city and everyone else who fled to a California that only exists in their dreams.
"Their boredom becomes more and more terrible. They realize that they've been tricked and burn with resentment. Every day of their lives they read the newspapers and went to the movies. Both fed them on lynchings, murder, sex crimes, explosions, wrecks, love nests, fires, miracles, revolutions, wars. This daily diet made sophisticates of them. The sun is a joke. Oranges can't titillate their jaded palates. Nothing can ever be violent enough to make taut their slack minds and bodies. They have been cheated and betrayed. They have slaved and saved for nothing."
Maybe it's just not my style of writing or topic but I didn't really enjoy this. It's about a love column writer in the '30s who realizes his job has ruined him and tries anything to feel something.
Day of the Locust
Starting slow, I came to like it more and more and found it to be a really great read. A look into early 30s Hollywood and the vagrants that filled the city and everyone else who fled to a California that only exists in their dreams.
"Their boredom becomes more and more terrible. They realize that they've been tricked and burn with resentment. Every day of their lives they read the newspapers and went to the movies. Both fed them on lynchings, murder, sex crimes, explosions, wrecks, love nests, fires, miracles, revolutions, wars. This daily diet made sophisticates of them. The sun is a joke. Oranges can't titillate their jaded palates. Nothing can ever be violent enough to make taut their slack minds and bodies. They have been cheated and betrayed. They have slaved and saved for nothing."
kdog's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
fromsalom's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.25
x_tora's review
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
Minor: Rape and Child death
brandonadaniels's review against another edition
4.0
Lives up to its reputation for the most part. Leaves you wanting more.
spadeano's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
stuporfly's review against another edition
5.0
Two stunning pieces of work in one slender volume. It's got all the hallmarks of deep, dark prose - Morose insights into the human condition, filthy landscapes beneath false chrome...Plus 'Day of the Locust' is where Matt Groening culled the name for Homer Simpson!
West died young in spectactularly gruesome fashion at a young age (one day after Fitzgerald), an end lending him nearly as much street credibility in the age of cynicism as his writing.
West died young in spectactularly gruesome fashion at a young age (one day after Fitzgerald), an end lending him nearly as much street credibility in the age of cynicism as his writing.
james_j_igoe's review against another edition
5.0
I read Miss Lonelyhearts a few years ago, after reading a recommendation from Harold Bloom, and only just finished The Day of the Locust. The first I read too long ago to provide commentary; the second is a bit slow to start, eventually rising to a crescendo, its metaphorical 'day of the locust', a gratifying, dense and highly emotional end.