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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What. Did. I. Just. Read?!?!?!?
Goddamn the letter chapter in this novel is completely crazy. I’m not sure how I feel about Dennis Cooper but I think that’s what makes me want to keep working my way through the Myles cycle. These books apparently have a very strong artistic resonance for a lot of people and that’s becoming increasingly surprising to me the more I read. The one thing that’s obvious is that Cooper has a hell of a mind, even if it’s extremely obsessive and so girly focused.
The major criticism I have is the choice of perspective. It’s almost like a first person omniscient perspective. I understand why it would be used, to have the whole narrative be consumed by Dennis’ mind, even other people’s thoughts. But, I’m just not sure to always worked for me. Removing Dennis from some of the other storylines and sticking with maybe a 3rd person omniscient would have provided some welcome space. But I guess that wasn’t the point.
Anyway…I’m going to finish reading the cycle. I just hope there is a little less descriptions of the smells emanating from people’s buttholes and intense coprophilia—not really my jam. I say that jokingly but what I mean is that I hope some of his obsession extends beyond the body and sex. As interesting as it is to read and to live in that mind space, after a while the limitations of physicality feel shallow and I’m left wanting more. Also, I don’t know how much farther he can go than this one. I’m almost afraid to imagine it.
The major criticism I have is the choice of perspective. It’s almost like a first person omniscient perspective. I understand why it would be used, to have the whole narrative be consumed by Dennis’ mind, even other people’s thoughts. But, I’m just not sure to always worked for me. Removing Dennis from some of the other storylines and sticking with maybe a 3rd person omniscient would have provided some welcome space. But I guess that wasn’t the point.
Anyway…I’m going to finish reading the cycle. I just hope there is a little less descriptions of the smells emanating from people’s buttholes and intense coprophilia—not really my jam. I say that jokingly but what I mean is that I hope some of his obsession extends beyond the body and sex. As interesting as it is to read and to live in that mind space, after a while the limitations of physicality feel shallow and I’m left wanting more. Also, I don’t know how much farther he can go than this one. I’m almost afraid to imagine it.
You can't recommend this book without being judged to filth.
Repulsive and brilliant.
Repulsive and brilliant.
challenging
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
Candid, contemplative, and grizzly, as you'd expect of an ekphrastic novel about snuff porn.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Vomit
dark
I don't think I can rate this exactly. Everything except the 2nd to last chapter is really good - pretty fucking dark but a serious examination of fucked up fantasies, how we see The Body, male sexuality, the sick way young boys are fetishised, self destructive behaviour and passivity, the start of fetishes and fixations... it's clever and the fucked up ness is used judiciously. Then the 2nd to last chapter is just a long, incredibly graphic description of raping and murdering some boys. I could not do more than skim it after the first couple of pages. Regardless of artistic intent, it's unbearable and sickening. And I Get It! But I never want to read anything like that again, you know? I should have checked going in but I thought I'd at least try one "extreme" work before not reading them. And yeah, it's not for me. If that chapter was excised, at least 3.5 stars. But yeah.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Murder
Moderate: Incest
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
such interesting writing, the structure of it is really fantastic!
read tws as when i started reading it i thought ‘hm this is pretty tame for cooper!’ then it gets extremely graphic like his other work so. if you can get through it, i got a lot out of the ending
read tws as when i started reading it i thought ‘hm this is pretty tame for cooper!’ then it gets extremely graphic like his other work so. if you can get through it, i got a lot out of the ending
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit
Moderate: Incest
challenging
dark
tense
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
tense
fast-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
This novel gets DARK, many, many trigger warnings here. The second novel in the George Miles Cycle is narrated by Dennis, a twisted sadist who gets off on torture. The story is dense, while it is under 130 pages, it stretches over a decade and features great character development, or at least your perceptions of characters shift. If you enjoyed some of the twisted aspects of American Psycho and are looking for more commentary laced with extreme transgressive fiction, then this is for you. The prose style was different than Closer and some sections I had to reread to understand what was happening, but one I got used to it, this was an intriguing read. Really enjoyed the infinity sections at the beginning and end of the novel.
Extreme violence as a response to the slow violence of political homophobia. Frisk more explicitly contextualizes Cooper’s themes in terms of AIDS, and in terms of social disillusionment, sexual dissociation. Some of the lines, even individual words, were emotionally devastating.
dark
tense
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