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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
funny
dark
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
AGH my absolute weakness is stories where hollywood is like. an entity a character in itself i eat them up every single time.... oh god this book was so visceral it was so terrible it was so GOOD. like it was dirty and grimy and horrible just like hollywood it felt so raw but at the same time the writing style was so mesmerizingly beautiful in its own way. god. i kind of hated tod which i suspect was the point. my heart broke for faye. im rambling and my brain is all over the place rn but i need a david lynch movie adaptation of this book STAT!!!!!
challenging
dark
fast-paced
so fast paced, first time finishing a school required book in a day or two.
honestly reminds me of american pyscho bc they both explore toxic masculinity and reality vs illusion but theyre still extremely dark, chaotic, uncomfortable, physically and sexually violent, twisted ...
also out of curiousity I added all the trigger warnings i thought applicable and WTF i used basically ALL of them -- thats insane, was it all rlly necessary ?? no i dont think so
honestly reminds me of american pyscho bc they both explore toxic masculinity and reality vs illusion but theyre still extremely dark, chaotic, uncomfortable, physically and sexually violent, twisted ...
also out of curiousity I added all the trigger warnings i thought applicable and WTF i used basically ALL of them -- thats insane, was it all rlly necessary ?? no i dont think so
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Between this and Mrs. Lonelyhearts, I’m left with the feeling that Nathanael West was a superlative writer of great imagery and wonderful stock characters (who harbor within them all the characteristics of real people), but a shaky if not nonexistent storyteller. To be sure, he writes good scenes, but there is very little in terms of an overarching structure—his novels are naked and bare in a way that seems to be skipping plotting and text in order to deal only with the subtext. But without a pretext or artifice or any propelling force his novels lack in any connective tissue, and come across as loose vignettes. Still, this is a pretty stellar picture of the outskirts of Hollywood as the place where people go to die (Eucalyptus trees as a recurring symbol of its population as a transplanted, extraneous species), and there is something fascinating about West’s grotesque and casually depraved characters. Both the aforementioned novels are so rich in symbolic imagery that I can only assume that a second read will eventually illuminate some blindspots.
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A book I read for uni, having never read West before I didn't know what to expect. Deeply disturbing in parts but an incredible LA novel of the great depression which paints a harrowing and vibrant portrait of Hollywood life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Violence
The blurb mentioned Fitzgerald and it's a fitting comparison to make, both authors are concerned with peeling back the shiny veneer of the American dream to reveal something altogether more squalid and desolate.
It struck me as a story about how mundane the human experience is; Hollywood is the exciting epicentre of celebrity and glamour, yet it is not a story about celebrity but the people who arrive in LA with aspirations and fanciful dreams and are doomed to remain insignificant in terms of their bizarrely imagined set of values. It is as much a tale for the instagram age as it was for the golden age of Hollywood.
Enjoyed it muchly.
It struck me as a story about how mundane the human experience is; Hollywood is the exciting epicentre of celebrity and glamour, yet it is not a story about celebrity but the people who arrive in LA with aspirations and fanciful dreams and are doomed to remain insignificant in terms of their bizarrely imagined set of values. It is as much a tale for the instagram age as it was for the golden age of Hollywood.
Enjoyed it muchly.