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A review by cloudjules
The Sluts by Dennis Cooper
4.0
I stumbled across The Sluts for the first time many years ago, back when I did not have the stomach for anything close to this level of depravity. Now, years later, I've read so much disturbing shit I promised myself I'd take a break, for the sake of my sanity. But then The Sluts popped up again, and I was too intrigued not to give it a go. Long story short, I'm glad I broke that promise because this was one of the most fascinating fiction books I've read in quite some time. In fact, the only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is that the experience itself was quite unpleasant at times and I do wish I could delete a lot of what I read from my mind lol
I thought my problem with extreme books (e.g. Chuck Palahniuk's Haunted) was the depravity itself, but as it turns out I can handle depravity as long as it serves a purpose. And Dennis Hooper makes excellent use of the horrifying imagery to explore the darkest corners of the human mind, crafting a book that is both incredibly disgusting and very sophisticated in its exploration of truth, objectification, and the blurred lines between violence and fantasy.
The level of fucked-upness also serves to make the multiple narrators' unreliability all the more gripping; I was on the edge of my seat the entire time (and wincing like crazy, not gonna lie), eager for confirmation that all the fucked-up shit being discussed was nothing but lies. That hope was what kept me going, and also made it easier to suspend my disbelief, making for an immersive experience overall.
I seem to be in the minority when I say I loved the ending; call me a softy, but I wouldn't have liked this half as much if it turned out most of the stuff discussed was true. Not only was it cathartic to find out the reality isn't anywhere as bad as it could've been, but I also thought it was a much more interesting creative choice. A lesser book would've gone for a disturbing ending to shock the reader yet again, but The Sluts isn't intended to merely shock. The ending fits perfectly with the book's themes of truth and our fascination with the macabre; that so many people were disappointed by the ending reflects the characters' insatiable hunger for more horrifying details on Brad's situation. The book makes the reader complicit, asking us how we're any different from the men in the thread.
The imagery is still very graphic and takes your mind places most of us would rather not go. Shit is still fucked up, the men in this thread are still terrifying, and there's still a lot of very real horror to be found in between the lines of the fabricated stories. The book doesn't shy away from any of it, but doesn't go out of its way to fuck you up further in the final few pages either. The whole thing is nasty enough as it is, basically, and the ending was a sigh of relief and a pleasant surprise.
So yeah, great read overall. Now back to avoiding disturbing shit before I lose it once and for all.
I thought my problem with extreme books (e.g. Chuck Palahniuk's Haunted) was the depravity itself, but as it turns out I can handle depravity as long as it serves a purpose. And Dennis Hooper makes excellent use of the horrifying imagery to explore the darkest corners of the human mind, crafting a book that is both incredibly disgusting and very sophisticated in its exploration of truth, objectification, and the blurred lines between violence and fantasy.
The level of fucked-upness also serves to make the multiple narrators' unreliability all the more gripping; I was on the edge of my seat the entire time (and wincing like crazy, not gonna lie), eager for confirmation that all the fucked-up shit being discussed was nothing but lies. That hope was what kept me going, and also made it easier to suspend my disbelief, making for an immersive experience overall.
I seem to be in the minority when I say I loved the ending; call me a softy, but I wouldn't have liked this half as much if it turned out most of the stuff discussed was true. Not only was it cathartic to find out the reality isn't anywhere as bad as it could've been, but I also thought it was a much more interesting creative choice. A lesser book would've gone for a disturbing ending to shock the reader yet again, but The Sluts isn't intended to merely shock. The ending fits perfectly with the book's themes of truth and our fascination with the macabre; that so many people were disappointed by the ending reflects the characters' insatiable hunger for more horrifying details on Brad's situation. The book makes the reader complicit, asking us how we're any different from the men in the thread.
The imagery is still very graphic and takes your mind places most of us would rather not go. Shit is still fucked up, the men in this thread are still terrifying, and there's still a lot of very real horror to be found in between the lines of the fabricated stories. The book doesn't shy away from any of it, but doesn't go out of its way to fuck you up further in the final few pages either. The whole thing is nasty enough as it is, basically, and the ending was a sigh of relief and a pleasant surprise.
So yeah, great read overall. Now back to avoiding disturbing shit before I lose it once and for all.