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biblio_mom's review
4.0
This author's work is so underrated. I had fun reading this and about to start the vol 2.
My thoughts for each parts :
Part 1 : Author introduced all and each one of the characters very well. This does not happened only in part 1, but the rest as well. The story lines, plots, settings and characters has been written structurely.
Part 2 : I laughed at a point, where Zebulon tries to say his first word after his resurrection. Let me tell you. I think this is the first time I actually laugh while reading! And also, this is the part where the his violence continues on from the last pages of part 1. But its not really violent. So it can be read by the youngsters.
Part 3 : Now. I am really desperate to know how did he got resurrectes? By who? Barker? Im confused!
Part 4 : from desperate to know how he got resurrected, i got distracted completely by this part
My thoughts for each parts :
Part 1 : Author introduced all and each one of the characters very well. This does not happened only in part 1, but the rest as well. The story lines, plots, settings and characters has been written structurely.
Part 2 : I laughed at a point, where Zebulon tries to say his first word after his resurrection. Let me tell you. I think this is the first time I actually laugh while reading! And also, this is the part where the his violence continues on from the last pages of part 1. But its not really violent. So it can be read by the youngsters.
Part 3 : Now. I am really desperate to know how did he got resurrectes? By who? Barker? Im confused!
Part 4 : from desperate to know how he got resurrected, i got distracted completely by this part
bookish_magpie's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
This book is absolutely NOT for 14 year olds- I don't know who said it was ok to print that on the bottom of the back cover, but clearly they didn't read it.
This book is meant to make you uncomfortable. If you read it and recoiled, then Kraus did his job as an author. There were many instances where I found myself shaking my head in horror and/or disbelief. "The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Vol. 1" is not a pretty book. It's a tragic, gory story about a dead teen walking through life, passing through the centuries.
I give it a 4/5. It was a masterclass in abjection, but I'll need a few days before reading the sequel. This one stays on the shelf.
Content Warnings (in no particular order): Gore, Death, Sex, Derogatory Language (aka slurs), Self Harm, Suicide, War, Murder, Violence
This book is meant to make you uncomfortable. If you read it and recoiled, then Kraus did his job as an author. There were many instances where I found myself shaking my head in horror and/or disbelief. "The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Vol. 1" is not a pretty book. It's a tragic, gory story about a dead teen walking through life, passing through the centuries.
I give it a 4/5. It was a masterclass in abjection, but I'll need a few days before reading the sequel. This one stays on the shelf.
Content Warnings (in no particular order): Gore, Death, Sex, Derogatory Language (aka slurs), Self Harm, Suicide, War, Murder, Violence
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Torture, War, and Child death
Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Racism, Child death, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug use and Fire/Fire injury
clivemeister's review against another edition
4.0
Zebulon Finch is shot and killed at the start of this book, aged 17. But the book does not end, oh no! Instead, the book follows the life of the dead - but entirely animated and up and about, walking and talking, all the while perpetually 17 - Zebulon as he wends his way through the first half of the twentieth century. It's a novel conceit, and very well executed. Written in the first person, narrated by Zebulon as he is writing his life story sometime in the 1980's, the prose style tends to the florid simply because that's how Zebulon himself was educated. Here he is, describing the lab of, well, a mad scientist:
The style works pretty well, though, so definite compliments to Daniel Kraus for the execution. In its more maudlin moments - of which there are many, he is dead after all - it somewhat reminded me of the narration in Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" series (see [b:The Bad Beginning|78411|The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #1)|Lemony Snicket|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436737029l/78411._SX50_.jpg|1069597] for example), and there are also hints of that sort of majestic grand opera feel in [b:The Shape of Water|36521316|The Shape of Water|Guillermo del Toro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1509709054l/36521316._SY75_.jpg|58244054], which he co-authored and which I read recently - see this, from late on in that book, for example:
I won't spoil the plot by detailing some of the situations that Zebulon gets himself into, but if you come up with a list of the top ten important events in the first half of the 20th century, chances are, Z was there.
If I had a couple of reservations about this work, they would be (a) that it's very long, and it's only volume one of the two-volume book, and (b) the coincidences sometimes stretch a little thin. I appreciate it's long because it covers 50 years plus, and a bunch happens in it, but at the end, I didn't feel compelled to rush into the sequel. I may get there, but in terms of value-per-page, it didn't quite deliver for me. The coincidences thing is about quite how often a character from decades before will turn up in Zebulon's life in some entirely relevant way. Now it's entirely possible, I suppose, for this to happen once or twice, but by the end my suspension of belief was stretched a little taut.
Four stars for an enjoyable read and a great premise, despite these reservations.
The laboratory was chockablock with breakables. Fragile pieces of glassware and dainty pipettes in racks, atembic and ampoule vessels fastidiously stoppered, innumerable jars of biologic matter stacked atop cabinets.
The style works pretty well, though, so definite compliments to Daniel Kraus for the execution. In its more maudlin moments - of which there are many, he is dead after all - it somewhat reminded me of the narration in Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" series (see [b:The Bad Beginning|78411|The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #1)|Lemony Snicket|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436737029l/78411._SX50_.jpg|1069597] for example), and there are also hints of that sort of majestic grand opera feel in [b:The Shape of Water|36521316|The Shape of Water|Guillermo del Toro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1509709054l/36521316._SY75_.jpg|58244054], which he co-authored and which I read recently - see this, from late on in that book, for example:
She holds him, he holds her, they hold each other, and all is dark, all is light, all is ugliness, all is beauty, all is pain, all is grief, all is never, all is forever.
I won't spoil the plot by detailing some of the situations that Zebulon gets himself into, but if you come up with a list of the top ten important events in the first half of the 20th century, chances are, Z was there.
If I had a couple of reservations about this work, they would be (a) that it's very long, and it's only volume one of the two-volume book, and (b) the coincidences sometimes stretch a little thin. I appreciate it's long because it covers 50 years plus, and a bunch happens in it, but at the end, I didn't feel compelled to rush into the sequel. I may get there, but in terms of value-per-page, it didn't quite deliver for me. The coincidences thing is about quite how often a character from decades before will turn up in Zebulon's life in some entirely relevant way. Now it's entirely possible, I suppose, for this to happen once or twice, but by the end my suspension of belief was stretched a little taut.
Four stars for an enjoyable read and a great premise, despite these reservations.
xtine's review
5.0
I just... I'm going to have to read that again. Simply because I'm sure I missed things in this "massive piece of insanity," but also because it is incredibly intriguing. Can I have volume 2 now please?
rabbitandtree's review
4.0
oh my. how do i say this?
reading this is like browsing through an autobiography of a madman (a sophisticated one, that is) that grew even more morbid yet amusing by the minute.
this book has been a journey through a lifetime. wait, it hasn’t even been a lifetime yet cause it was only half of his lifetime (volume one out of two). YET SOOOO MUCH HAPPENED IN A SPAN OF FIFTY YEARS. FIFTY YEARS OF THIS SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOY-CORPSE.
This one hell of a story is grotesque, full of action, emotional trainwreck, amusing and f*cked up in so many ways.
and i must say, i did enjoy the story. but this one is for sure a book that’s not to be rushed through.
(TW: graphic violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse, suicide, suicidal thoughts, racial slurs, profanity)
reading this is like browsing through an autobiography of a madman (a sophisticated one, that is) that grew even more morbid yet amusing by the minute.
this book has been a journey through a lifetime. wait, it hasn’t even been a lifetime yet cause it was only half of his lifetime (volume one out of two). YET SOOOO MUCH HAPPENED IN A SPAN OF FIFTY YEARS. FIFTY YEARS OF THIS SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOY-CORPSE.
This one hell of a story is grotesque, full of action, emotional trainwreck, amusing and f*cked up in so many ways.
and i must say, i did enjoy the story. but this one is for sure a book that’s not to be rushed through.
(TW: graphic violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse, suicide, suicidal thoughts, racial slurs, profanity)
cford04's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
3.5
rebecca_maybe's review
5.0
★★★★★
It's odd to rate a book five stars and not neccessarily recommend it. The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Vol. 1 was excellent, though I'd never re-read it, and I think many (if not most) readers would find it particularly unenjoyable.
Kraus' writing is stunning. His use of language made the novel vivid and, at times, violently disturbing. Categorically, this books leans toward historical horror, though it's written as a memoir. The main character is unlikable, sometimes detestable, but unfailing human. I found myself rooting for Finch despite never actually believing in his ability to be good.
The novel is bleak, and it's long, and it has no discernable path save the general direction of one man's disturbingly long life. It isn't happy. It's barely hopeful. But the brushes of goodness and joy feel earned and the reader finds themself clinging to them like Finch does. Perhaps that's the most bizarre thing about this book--it makes the reader empathize with an awful, 19th century gangster who lives forever at 17.
Anyone wishing to read this book should download a sample or grab it from the library--you'll know fairly quickly if it's something you want to look at for 600+ pages.
It's odd to rate a book five stars and not neccessarily recommend it. The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Vol. 1 was excellent, though I'd never re-read it, and I think many (if not most) readers would find it particularly unenjoyable.
Kraus' writing is stunning. His use of language made the novel vivid and, at times, violently disturbing. Categorically, this books leans toward historical horror, though it's written as a memoir. The main character is unlikable, sometimes detestable, but unfailing human. I found myself rooting for Finch despite never actually believing in his ability to be good.
The novel is bleak, and it's long, and it has no discernable path save the general direction of one man's disturbingly long life. It isn't happy. It's barely hopeful. But the brushes of goodness and joy feel earned and the reader finds themself clinging to them like Finch does. Perhaps that's the most bizarre thing about this book--it makes the reader empathize with an awful, 19th century gangster who lives forever at 17.
Anyone wishing to read this book should download a sample or grab it from the library--you'll know fairly quickly if it's something you want to look at for 600+ pages.
sydthekyd31's review
4.0
A great way to be entertained by a new idea and story while brushing up on your history. I will definitely read volume 2!
acej8's review
5.0
A great expansive book with an astounding narration in my opinion! I love Kirby Heyborn's narrations, his character voices make whatever he's reading so much more enjoyable! Having listened to Rotters previously, I jumped at the possiblity to listen to another of Kraus' books narrated by Kirby! As soon I as I finished Edge of Empire, I immediately used another audible credit to buy Empire Decayed! I'm already three hours in! Funny thing is I own all of Daniel Kraus' physical books including those with Guillermo Del Toro, but in edition to those I have the audio c.d. of Rotters and now the audible editions of Vols. 1-2 of The Death and Life Zebulon Finch.
But I digress. The only qualms I've had with Vol. 1, were mainly that it wasn't set earlier in U.S. history, say starting around the early colonization/Revolutionary beginnings. I would have loved to see how Finch interacted during the revolution, and The Civil War. However Kraus' writing, whatever shortfalls may be, mixed with Heyborn's narration are enthralling, descriptive, and entertaining. Couldn't ask for much more!
But I digress. The only qualms I've had with Vol. 1, were mainly that it wasn't set earlier in U.S. history, say starting around the early colonization/Revolutionary beginnings. I would have loved to see how Finch interacted during the revolution, and The Civil War. However Kraus' writing, whatever shortfalls may be, mixed with Heyborn's narration are enthralling, descriptive, and entertaining. Couldn't ask for much more!