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to_be_read_by_fran's review
2.0
What the fuck was happening in this book. I thought i was in a fever dream for the entirety of the chapters. Did they actually murder her? Of course not they choose 3d renderings of her body. But did he actually die? Did the hearing aids have some sort of bomb thing that exploded if he left Tokyo. And so Celestine’s interpretation of the movie was right and it was actually Romme that made the film. What the fuck was happening?
sh00's review against another edition
4.0
Отличная вещь, которую нельзя читать без изрядной толики самоиронии и понимания некоего бэкграунда - иначе будет просто неинтересно.
С одной стороны - намеренно консюмеристская подача, в которой текст демонстрирует не просто бренд, но зачастую и модель-представителя. С другой стороны - харизматические французские неомарксисты-интеллектуалы, один из которых убил (?) и съел (???) свою жену (привет, Альтюссер!). Чтобы выяснить всю подноготную, в бой идут журналисты-хипстеры-бобо, типичные представители нашего времени, чья личность наполовину уже поглощена теми самыми моделями-представителями (у меня есть смартфон, следовательно, я существую).
Вебер. Капитализм. Ватикан. Лютер. Энтомология. Сартр. Консумеризм. Беккет. Северная Корея. Апокалипсис. Забвение. Секс. Безумие. Любовь. Болезнь. Трансформация. Каннибализм. Смерть. Незаконченность.
Таки что вам ещё нужно?
С одной стороны - намеренно консюмеристская подача, в которой текст демонстрирует не просто бренд, но зачастую и модель-представителя. С другой стороны - харизматические французские неомарксисты-интеллектуалы, один из которых убил (?) и съел (???) свою жену (привет, Альтюссер!). Чтобы выяснить всю подноготную, в бой идут журналисты-хипстеры-бобо, типичные представители нашего времени, чья личность наполовину уже поглощена теми самыми моделями-представителями (у меня есть смартфон, следовательно, я существую).
Вебер. Капитализм. Ватикан. Лютер. Энтомология. Сартр. Консумеризм. Беккет. Северная Корея. Апокалипсис. Забвение. Секс. Безумие. Любовь. Болезнь. Трансформация. Каннибализм. Смерть. Незаконченность.
Таки что вам ещё нужно?
raiuga's review against another edition
2.0
Cronenberg is the master of body horror. This, we already know. Does that change in Consumed? No. In fact, Cronenberg only establishes himself further as a master; the way in which he writes the horror, etching it into your mind and casting a shadow at the back of your eyeballs, is fascinating. With Consumed, he has shown true adaptability. He can concoct body horror without images.
But there are extreme issues with this novel that, as much as it pains me to say, really stopped it from being a great debut book from the esteemed director. Cronenberg writes as though this is a screenplay, often getting caught up in the smallest of details when the story itself is crying for an acceleration of pace.
Halfway through the novel, particularly when Naomi gains the trust of Ari, the story becomes drastically lopsided. It felt as though Cronenberg so badly wanted to stick with Naomi and ditch the idea of Nathan's storyline, yet he knew he required the latter in order to enlarge this book's overarching plot. And, in this lopsidedness, it felt as though Cronenberg was merely writing Nathan in for the sake of it. The coincidences between both stories are poorly explored, rather being just that: bizarre coincidences. One after the other.
The ending is also an extreme letdown. Cronenberg teases us with a bombastic finale to the story, only to leave us with about as many answers as when we turned the first page.
But there are positives: this book is gruesome in a very cool and twisted manner. It's psychologically powerful, too, often leaving me disgusted hours after putting the book down. Various dinners were abruptly brought to halt when the image of one of these repugnant scenes entered my mind. And I fucking loved that. Furthermore, I like the majority of the characters a lot and find Aristide to be incredibly well-written and developed as the story reaches its climax. While the philosophical stuff threw me off - purely because most of it just seemed rushed in - it actually added to the charming madness of Aristide. Lastly, fair play to Cronenberg. The man is in his late 60's and clearly impassioned by technology; some of the terminology he uses here, the way in which the characters interact with technology, is truly genuine and fascinating. That someone of his age can paint this modern age in such a non-critical and genuine manner is quite special.
I love Cronenberg. I wanted to love Consumed. I ended up loving it in spurts.
But I still love Cronenberg.
But there are extreme issues with this novel that, as much as it pains me to say, really stopped it from being a great debut book from the esteemed director. Cronenberg writes as though this is a screenplay, often getting caught up in the smallest of details when the story itself is crying for an acceleration of pace.
Halfway through the novel, particularly when Naomi gains the trust of Ari, the story becomes drastically lopsided. It felt as though Cronenberg so badly wanted to stick with Naomi and ditch the idea of Nathan's storyline, yet he knew he required the latter in order to enlarge this book's overarching plot. And, in this lopsidedness, it felt as though Cronenberg was merely writing Nathan in for the sake of it. The coincidences between both stories are poorly explored, rather being just that: bizarre coincidences. One after the other.
The ending is also an extreme letdown. Cronenberg teases us with a bombastic finale to the story, only to leave us with about as many answers as when we turned the first page.
But there are positives: this book is gruesome in a very cool and twisted manner. It's psychologically powerful, too, often leaving me disgusted hours after putting the book down. Various dinners were abruptly brought to halt when the image of one of these repugnant scenes entered my mind. And I fucking loved that. Furthermore, I like the majority of the characters a lot and find Aristide to be incredibly well-written and developed as the story reaches its climax. While the philosophical stuff threw me off - purely because most of it just seemed rushed in - it actually added to the charming madness of Aristide. Lastly, fair play to Cronenberg. The man is in his late 60's and clearly impassioned by technology; some of the terminology he uses here, the way in which the characters interact with technology, is truly genuine and fascinating. That someone of his age can paint this modern age in such a non-critical and genuine manner is quite special.
I love Cronenberg. I wanted to love Consumed. I ended up loving it in spurts.
But I still love Cronenberg.
bbabyok's review against another edition
2.0
It was a very Cronenbergian book, and read much like I imagined it would. That being said, it felt like he didn't know how to end the story so it just ends. No tidy resolutions just an ending. Recommended to fans of David Cronenberg.
sleightoffeet's review against another edition
1.0
I feel as if I must be missing something. So many people had such wonderful things to say about this book. I don't see what any of the fuss is all about.
Oftentimes a book will start off slowly and then towards the middle it picks up speed, however, this book is the opposite. It started off interesting, albeit shocking, with cannibalism and a mystery as to why.... how can someone make this boring.
At around the halfway point, I just couldn't take anymore. With the introduction of North Korea and the insect religion, I was lost.
I hate not finishing a book, but I just couldn't take it anymore.
Oftentimes a book will start off slowly and then towards the middle it picks up speed, however, this book is the opposite. It started off interesting, albeit shocking, with cannibalism and a mystery as to why.... how can someone make this boring.
At around the halfway point, I just couldn't take anymore. With the introduction of North Korea and the insect religion, I was lost.
I hate not finishing a book, but I just couldn't take it anymore.
motherofallbats's review against another edition
4.0
*3.5 stars*
This story is extremely on-brand for David Cronenberg. Seriously, this is the Cronenbergiest Cronenberg that ever Cronenberged. Body horror? Check. Philosophical musings on violence and the relationship between man and machine? Check. Copious amounts of sex presented in such an unsexy way that I may actually be medically sterile from having read them? Check. If you're a fan of his films and can watch, say, Dead Ringers and Crash and have an artistic appreciation for them (this story reminds me specifically of the latter in large portions, only with one improbable fetish swapped out for a couple of others), this is definitely worth a read.
I will say, Cronenberg isn't a natural prose writer. He consistently overdescribes the physical attributes of a scene in a really flat and clunky way, which seems like a habit from setting up the background of a screenplay. His narration also gets too far up its own butt being philosophical and preachy (I would say take a shot every time the narration specifically calls a character a consumer, but actually don't do that because you'll die of alcohol poisoning by chapter 3). This is a very visually entrenched story, with much of the plot elements hanging on photography and video, and I'm perplexed as to why he wrote this as a novel when it seems so organically suited for film. As of last year I heard some rumblings that he may do a film adaptation of this, and I really hope he does because I strongly suspect the story will work better in that medium.
This story is extremely on-brand for David Cronenberg. Seriously, this is the Cronenbergiest Cronenberg that ever Cronenberged. Body horror? Check. Philosophical musings on violence and the relationship between man and machine? Check. Copious amounts of sex presented in such an unsexy way that I may actually be medically sterile from having read them? Check. If you're a fan of his films and can watch, say, Dead Ringers and Crash and have an artistic appreciation for them (this story reminds me specifically of the latter in large portions, only with one improbable fetish swapped out for a couple of others), this is definitely worth a read.
I will say, Cronenberg isn't a natural prose writer. He consistently overdescribes the physical attributes of a scene in a really flat and clunky way, which seems like a habit from setting up the background of a screenplay. His narration also gets too far up its own butt being philosophical and preachy (I would say take a shot every time the narration specifically calls a character a consumer, but actually don't do that because you'll die of alcohol poisoning by chapter 3). This is a very visually entrenched story, with much of the plot elements hanging on photography and video, and I'm perplexed as to why he wrote this as a novel when it seems so organically suited for film. As of last year I heard some rumblings that he may do a film adaptation of this, and I really hope he does because I strongly suspect the story will work better in that medium.
connorgirvan's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 / 5 stars
Even though the story was a bit all over the place, I enjoyed. The ending though...not for me.
Even though the story was a bit all over the place, I enjoyed. The ending though...not for me.
maddivillines's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
throatsprockets's review against another edition
3.0
I'm a big fan of David Cronenberg's movies, especially his earlier ones, and I was excited to read a book by him as I think he's made too many movies from other peoples' scripts in recent years, and his output has been less distinctive as a result. In some ways Consumed delivered a vintage Cronenberg experience, but in other ways it was a profound disappointment.
The problem is that Cronenberg seems easily distracted. He starts off with a couple of interesting ideas about surgery, cannibalism and disease, but from there he seems to continually get bored with ideas and drop them while adding more. By the end of the story many interesting concepts have been raised and left undeveloped. With all of these loose ends a satisfactory ending would be very difficult, but the ending we get is worse than that - it feels as if Cronenberg looked at his word count, thought "That's a novel!" and just stopped writing.
I didn't think it was a complete waste of time as the ideas were interesting, the characters were delightful, and I mostly enjoyed reading it, but to be honest I'd probably enjoy reading his rough notes almost as much.
The problem is that Cronenberg seems easily distracted. He starts off with a couple of interesting ideas about surgery, cannibalism and disease, but from there he seems to continually get bored with ideas and drop them while adding more. By the end of the story many interesting concepts have been raised and left undeveloped. With all of these loose ends a satisfactory ending would be very difficult, but the ending we get is worse than that - it feels as if Cronenberg looked at his word count, thought "That's a novel!" and just stopped writing.
I didn't think it was a complete waste of time as the ideas were interesting, the characters were delightful, and I mostly enjoyed reading it, but to be honest I'd probably enjoy reading his rough notes almost as much.
xolotlll's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed this. It felt like a golden-age Cronenberg film, with more modern tech. Videodrome would be the closest comparison, with its creepy techno-body-horror blending into paranoid political-industrial espionage. It's like Cronenberg wanted to make another film, but he didn't want to go through the trouble of actually doing that.
This book feels more personal and human than Cronenberg's other works, maybe in part because the prose allows for direct access to the characters' thoughts and feelings. Cronenberg also seems to show more of an interest in the personal, human element of storytelling; Consumed feels considerably less cold and clinical than his films. One of the major themes in this book is age, and how the body changes over the last few decades of life. There are some strangely touching and personal reflections on how relationships and sexuality change as we get older. It all feels informed by personal experience. At the same time, the basic outline is very similar to what he was doing over 30 years ago, in Videodrome.
This book feels more personal and human than Cronenberg's other works, maybe in part because the prose allows for direct access to the characters' thoughts and feelings. Cronenberg also seems to show more of an interest in the personal, human element of storytelling; Consumed feels considerably less cold and clinical than his films. One of the major themes in this book is age, and how the body changes over the last few decades of life. There are some strangely touching and personal reflections on how relationships and sexuality change as we get older. It all feels informed by personal experience. At the same time, the basic outline is very similar to what he was doing over 30 years ago, in Videodrome.