A review by boomlight
Try by Dennis Cooper

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Whereas in Closer and Frisk Cooper took an analytical approach to his construction and deconstruction of image, Try grounds itself in an emotional reality that feels directly commentative on the fantasys that are built and deconstructed in the earlier cycle books.  Theres a Cooper quote (cant remember it exactly) where he says Try is where he shows why he wouldn't act on his fantasies, thats a great way to explain it.  Because this novel is much more grounded in an emotional realiry of the main characrer, with the same explorations we have seen of trauma, fetishization of murder, sex, drugs, etc.  In Try we discover the real psychological damage thats inflicted upon each character.  Its formalism is some of Cooper s best ive read, feeling like a much more explosive and loose (while also being more tightly constructed) version of Closer.  Where we cut between different characters and their thoughts/reasonings and emotional struggles.  With all that in mind it does make Try a much more difficult read (on the basis of its content).  Because everything is real, when looking at Frisk, we have sections that are difficult, but exist to be deconstructed.  Whereas in Try it feels as if every action has a direct influence on each amd every character, warped dynamics and their direct harm to the psychological health of our main character.  Both the internal and external factors of addiction, both the construction of fantasy and deconstruction (through showing its external harm) by way of cutting between the 2.  So we have a constant parallel of construction and deconstruction that sits along side the emotional outbursts of the entire novel which all leads up to its final catharsis/release in friendship/love/someone who even cares.  Fuck Everything Else.  Better than both Frisk and Closer in its pure honesty, Cooper still manages to be one of the best.

Its also interesting how this novel directly parallels closer (the structures are identical--while try is still much more frantic with it--they both cut between different characters), hiwever where in closer others built their image of george (which was deconstructed), George himself was an empty slate.  The same happens in Try (though a tad bit more subtle) where others idolize and build their imahe of Ziggy, which is later deconstruxted.  However, Ziggy is the polar opposite of an empty slate.  Pure emotion, and images are deconstructed through this emotion.  Genius