A review by screen_memory
Eden, Eden, Eden by Pierre Guyotat

3.0

I suppose a reprint of Guyotat's long out-of-print Eden, Eden, Eden is as good a reason as any to re-read it. Immediately upon entering Guyotat's world one quickly realizes there is no use for characterization or psychology.

In Eden's universe, along with Guyotat's earlier Tomb For 500,000 Soldiers, characters are reduced to mere bodies, useful only insofar as they serve a function; to torment or be tormented, to kill or be killed, to fuck or be fucked.

Guyotat's world is a horrendous schizophrenic hell of endless brutality, and his style (unique here in Eden, consisting of strict, visceral language) allows for no respite, for the book consists of one single, sprawling sentence, mutilated and torn by a barrage of semicolons, em dashes, slashes, and so on. Language is Guyotat's weapon, and he wields it ruthlessly, torturing the reader as his figures torture one another, with no rest to be found. No period in the entire book is to be found to allow the reader to draw his breath, steel himself, and continue to suffer the trial. He must endure, laboring with the same tired, exhausted, shaking breath.

There are only two copies left from the publisher. If you're interested, I believe the book is only available on Abe Books, so pick it up before it goes out-of-print again so it won't cost over $100 like my Creation Books edition cost. With that said, this book is absolutely not for the faint of heart, or the weak of conscience or stomach