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A review by ghostboyreads
Ripcord by Nate Lippens
4.0
"On the bridge before dawn, the barrier was six feet high. I stood on my toes and took the measure of my own self-destruction."
Ripcord is a novel without much of a plot. It's a kaleidoscopic whirlwind of fractured vignettes, rather than there being any kind of set in stone story here, it's more a series of musings and reflections upon queer culture and messed up friendships, all told with some beautiful and rather tender writing. It's vital to know that Ripcord is not intended to be a happy novel, it's a distressing and heartbreaking thing, there's simply a lot of turmoil across these pages. It's an indescribable but excellent beast of a novel, one that's so extremely authentic and entirely full of humanity. Impactful and savage, there's more passion and tragedy packed into Ripcord's 160 pages than there are in many novels that triple it in page count.
Nate Lippens is one of those authors who has the incredible gift of making you feel seen by the literature you're consuming. He's also an author who writes in such a fantastically honest way about life, when, life doesn't feel all that great. Ripcord was amazing, crushing, yes, but absolutely brilliant. For lack of a better term, it's a very hazy novel, it's all fuzzy around the edges and, at times, a little muted, but it's in that comforting way that a subtle high envelops your brain, strange, yet welcoming. Books like Ripcord are very special things, they must be experienced to be understood. And, that's what makes it so difficult to review, and recommend a book like Ripcord - a book so relentless in its own brutality, yet in this nameless, unspeakable kind of way.
Ripcord is a novel without much of a plot. It's a kaleidoscopic whirlwind of fractured vignettes, rather than there being any kind of set in stone story here, it's more a series of musings and reflections upon queer culture and messed up friendships, all told with some beautiful and rather tender writing. It's vital to know that Ripcord is not intended to be a happy novel, it's a distressing and heartbreaking thing, there's simply a lot of turmoil across these pages. It's an indescribable but excellent beast of a novel, one that's so extremely authentic and entirely full of humanity. Impactful and savage, there's more passion and tragedy packed into Ripcord's 160 pages than there are in many novels that triple it in page count.
Nate Lippens is one of those authors who has the incredible gift of making you feel seen by the literature you're consuming. He's also an author who writes in such a fantastically honest way about life, when, life doesn't feel all that great. Ripcord was amazing, crushing, yes, but absolutely brilliant. For lack of a better term, it's a very hazy novel, it's all fuzzy around the edges and, at times, a little muted, but it's in that comforting way that a subtle high envelops your brain, strange, yet welcoming. Books like Ripcord are very special things, they must be experienced to be understood. And, that's what makes it so difficult to review, and recommend a book like Ripcord - a book so relentless in its own brutality, yet in this nameless, unspeakable kind of way.
"I'm in an abusive relationship with time. I haven't left my apartment in a week. I'm embarrassed to say it but not to live it. I wouldn't call my self-exile a withdrawal. I've been through withdrawal a few times and that was about missing something, wanting something I couldn't have anymore. I do not feel that way about people."
It's a novel of self-examination and emotional warfare, it makes you feel as if your soul has been stripped from your body and laid bare for all to witness. There's such a vulnerability woven into the text, Ripcord details a life that's simply a persistent cycle of disappointments, it's really rather remarkable, how it feels too long, and too short, all at once. Despite the lack of a plot, Ripcord isn't a novel that's just about nothing. It so beautifully explores class, sexuality, romantic shortcomings, addiction, loss and even the anger that comes with that loss. It's a rage fueled novel, but, not openly so, there's that quiet sort of rage that simmers below the surface. It's in no way a happy book, but it's a book I'm happy to have experienced, all the same.
"I knew what I was doing. I have always known what I was doing. Even when I was lying to myself and destroying myself, I knew what I was doing. "