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ovila_beags 's review for:
The Triumph of the Spider Monkey
by Joyce Carol Oates
The Triumph of the Spider Monkey was a novella by Joyce Carol Oates originally published in 1979. This new Hard Case crime edition combines this story with a second related novella from around the same time.
The Triumph of the Spider Monkey was an interesting read. Oates crafts beautiful sentences, but doesn’t always make it easy to understand what’s going on in the story. After a short while reading the story, it becomes apparent that she does this intentionally. It creates a sort of dreamy atmospheric vibe to a creepy story—somewhat in the vein of a David Lynch movie. Sometimes she’ll jump back in forth in time within the same paragraph. For example, when the protagonist is in the throws of violent passion, possibly in the present, the narrative jumps to crimes he’s committed in the past or dialog in his head (past or present?), without any explanation or set-up. This is often the case between characters in both novellas. Additionally, you don’t always know whether the character is daydreaming or having a conversation with a person.
As experimental in form as these two novellas are, they don’t alienate the reader. I think the form makes it more intriguing and adds to the suspense making it a page-turner. Although it may be momentarily confusing, if you give miss Oates the benefit of the doubt, everything begins to make sense. Her style pulls you deep into the disturbed psyche of her characters. The blurriness between actual events and fabricated ones in the characters minds make the reader somewhat disassociated from the most brutal parts—perhaps a psychological defense-mechanism behind some of the worst sociopaths. This book will appeal to people who like crime stories and explorations of unstable minds. In her ugliest characters, she presents human traits shared by all and how past events can shape who we are.
The Triumph of the Spider Monkey was an interesting read. Oates crafts beautiful sentences, but doesn’t always make it easy to understand what’s going on in the story. After a short while reading the story, it becomes apparent that she does this intentionally. It creates a sort of dreamy atmospheric vibe to a creepy story—somewhat in the vein of a David Lynch movie. Sometimes she’ll jump back in forth in time within the same paragraph. For example, when the protagonist is in the throws of violent passion, possibly in the present, the narrative jumps to crimes he’s committed in the past or dialog in his head (past or present?), without any explanation or set-up. This is often the case between characters in both novellas. Additionally, you don’t always know whether the character is daydreaming or having a conversation with a person.
As experimental in form as these two novellas are, they don’t alienate the reader. I think the form makes it more intriguing and adds to the suspense making it a page-turner. Although it may be momentarily confusing, if you give miss Oates the benefit of the doubt, everything begins to make sense. Her style pulls you deep into the disturbed psyche of her characters. The blurriness between actual events and fabricated ones in the characters minds make the reader somewhat disassociated from the most brutal parts—perhaps a psychological defense-mechanism behind some of the worst sociopaths. This book will appeal to people who like crime stories and explorations of unstable minds. In her ugliest characters, she presents human traits shared by all and how past events can shape who we are.