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futurama1979's review against another edition
4.0
there's so much about the craft of this book that fascinates me. if it wasn't a very defined and carefully constructed part in a larger structure, if it was just a standalone, guide wouldn't have done it for me, i don't think. i'm hesitant to say even that, because it does have obvious merit, and a ton of it. but it's definitely the 'furthest' book in cycle from its subjects, if you will. cooper keeps the audience very separate from the story. in the context of its place in the cycle, though, guide becomes totally integral. it counterbalances [b:Frisk|856165|Frisk|Dennis Cooper|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327937428l/856165._SY75_.jpg|50337], and we have, suddenly, another unreliable narrator named dennis. i found guide's dennis endlessly and grimly fascinating. where the dennis in frisk overelaborated, fabricated, this dennis is holding truths back. you're left with a deep feeling of unease upon finishing: what he told us was dark, yes, but what actually happens must be bleaker, darker. he admits to us himself that he's writing a story to protect luke's character. it just makes you think and think.
i've sort of more or less been tracking the storylines and portrayal of the george characters that appear throughout the cycle, and this book was a doozy for that. while on one hand, there seems to be the least defined presence of george in this book, his many representations fading in and out of the narrative and never getting much time or focus. he occupies bit parts that are killed off or become irrelevant, he stays at the outskirts and fringes of the book, for the most part. but at the same time, there's a very short, fragmented story dennis tells at the end, about a boy named george miles. he narrates a quick interaction, a memory of an interaction. this, to me, was the clearest and least obscured representation of george in the entire cycle so far. it just put me in this place where no matter how [b:Period|51589|Period|Dennis Cooper|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386926706l/51589._SY75_.jpg|50336] goes, i'm on the brink of understanding what he means. george, not cooper. and if period discloses nothing more, i genuinely believe cooper's level of craft is so high that the feeling of cusping on understanding george is what he means.
i've sort of more or less been tracking the storylines and portrayal of the george characters that appear throughout the cycle, and this book was a doozy for that. while on one hand, there seems to be the least defined presence of george in this book, his many representations fading in and out of the narrative and never getting much time or focus. he occupies bit parts that are killed off or become irrelevant, he stays at the outskirts and fringes of the book, for the most part. but at the same time, there's a very short, fragmented story dennis tells at the end, about a boy named george miles. he narrates a quick interaction, a memory of an interaction. this, to me, was the clearest and least obscured representation of george in the entire cycle so far. it just put me in this place where no matter how [b:Period|51589|Period|Dennis Cooper|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386926706l/51589._SY75_.jpg|50336] goes, i'm on the brink of understanding what he means. george, not cooper. and if period discloses nothing more, i genuinely believe cooper's level of craft is so high that the feeling of cusping on understanding george is what he means.
tendermarimo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
fast-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
4.25
ezrasupremacy's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 ⭐️ rounded up?
this was very interesting. our narrator is cooper himself, or some version of him. as someone who as of right now doesn’t know much about cooper’s history, you could’ve told me this was autobiographical and i would’ve almost believed you.
as someone who lives on a whole other continent and was born approximately one to two decades after the time period this is set in, the world described in this book could not be further from my personal reality, or even my understanding. exactly that is what makes it’s so tantalising — this world of tragedy and depravity, of art and drugs, of music i have never heard before and will likely never attempt to find.
especially the fact that this book is narrated by cooper or a character wearing his name makes it so intriguing. how much of what he’s written here is real? how much of it reflects his personal thoughts, opinions, feelings, memories? especially towards the end it almost feels like an increasing blur between the author and the character, and the bits describing his supposed experiences and relationship with george miles was particularly noteworthy, to me at least.
in the context in the rest of the series, i’d say this book is by far the least graphic, in reference to sexual and non-sexual violence, and the most artistic in its language and stylistic aspects. i had a bit of a hard time finding my way around the narrative and the characters at first, but once you’ve gotten over this all-knowing-but-not-really central character, it’s quite easy to follow, and definitely draws you in until you can’t put it down anymore.
i think i could say more, but i’m not pretentious enough yet to write a fleshed out analysis in the goodreads review section, so i’ll leave it at that.
only one book left in the george miles cycle, and i’m already kind of grieving the end of this reading experience. i’ll most certainly be going through as much of cooper’s bibliography as i can over the next few weeks.
this was very interesting. our narrator is cooper himself, or some version of him. as someone who as of right now doesn’t know much about cooper’s history, you could’ve told me this was autobiographical and i would’ve almost believed you.
as someone who lives on a whole other continent and was born approximately one to two decades after the time period this is set in, the world described in this book could not be further from my personal reality, or even my understanding. exactly that is what makes it’s so tantalising — this world of tragedy and depravity, of art and drugs, of music i have never heard before and will likely never attempt to find.
especially the fact that this book is narrated by cooper or a character wearing his name makes it so intriguing. how much of what he’s written here is real? how much of it reflects his personal thoughts, opinions, feelings, memories? especially towards the end it almost feels like an increasing blur between the author and the character, and the bits describing his supposed experiences and relationship with george miles was particularly noteworthy, to me at least.
in the context in the rest of the series, i’d say this book is by far the least graphic, in reference to sexual and non-sexual violence, and the most artistic in its language and stylistic aspects. i had a bit of a hard time finding my way around the narrative and the characters at first, but once you’ve gotten over this all-knowing-but-not-really central character, it’s quite easy to follow, and definitely draws you in until you can’t put it down anymore.
i think i could say more, but i’m not pretentious enough yet to write a fleshed out analysis in the goodreads review section, so i’ll leave it at that.
only one book left in the george miles cycle, and i’m already kind of grieving the end of this reading experience. i’ll most certainly be going through as much of cooper’s bibliography as i can over the next few weeks.
loki_the_gnome's review against another edition
5.0
Somehow, maybe Dennis Cooper's least articulate and most haunting work to date. No idea how to quantify any of this, and honestly this one didn't come together for me until that last chapter; said chapter gutted me more than maybe half of Cooper's full novels have managed.
If Frisk was an exploration of the (non)limits of fantasy, defining the strict difference between fantasy and reality, then Guide is a blurring of those lines; the real invades the fictitious and the fictitious is without any real reprieve. No real distinction is given even by the very end, rather than Frisk's brutal but necessary closure about its own unreality, Guide leaves itself entirely open. The novella equivalent of a wound that will never heal, a loss that will never return, a lie that will never be corrected. Absolutely crushing. "You can basically forget us."
If Frisk was an exploration of the (non)limits of fantasy, defining the strict difference between fantasy and reality, then Guide is a blurring of those lines; the real invades the fictitious and the fictitious is without any real reprieve. No real distinction is given even by the very end, rather than Frisk's brutal but necessary closure about its own unreality, Guide leaves itself entirely open. The novella equivalent of a wound that will never heal, a loss that will never return, a lie that will never be corrected. Absolutely crushing. "You can basically forget us."
boomlight's review against another edition
5.0
Hazy, prose that slowlt deconstructs and falls apart. Concise constructed crosscutting falling and falling down to cutting midsentence, fantasy--reality, reconciliation, speaking together with most notably Frisk (cooper is a characyer in both), where Frisk construcrs and deconstructs the image of violence amd fantasy. Guide specifically deals with amd reconciles the difference between the two, feeling like some strange inbetween of Trys humanesque feel and the more analytical tone of Coopers other works. Gutpunch of a novel like Coopers other works.
s0on_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
reubenlb's review against another edition
4.0
a personal exploration of death that reaches a level of sentimentalism that the other books haven’t reached (and i’m either used to the explicit or this is less so)
motifenjoyer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
4.0
"What we went through together was far too intense, self-incriminating, and confused to rethink, much less put into words."
adambwriter's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful, bold, and brilliant. A lot of Cooper's unique and trademark style has been carried over into Guide but with some innovation. For instance, Guide is much more personal, it seems. This episode of the George Miles series is, in my opinion, the best because it brings together the three previous novels and begins to explain who George Miles was to Dennis, why he is so important - how he changed Dennis forever. The novel somehow manages to be touching, heart-breaking, and disgusting all at once. Superb and unexpected.