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A review by veelaughtland
And the Ass Saw the Angel by Nick Cave
1.0
1.5 stars.
I expected big things from this book. I read Nick Cave's other novel 'The Death of Bunny Monroe' around two years ago, and really enjoyed it. I'd heard 'And the Ass Saw the Angel', his first work, was a lot better. And I don't know, maybe other people love it. I on the other hand really disliked it though.
There is no doubt that Nick Cave is a talented writer, and that this book is well-written. It was just the story for me that hit a nerve. I didn't like any of the characters (which makes it hard for me to warm to a text), and the whole story was far too muddled for me to ever become truly engaged in it. I wasn't really sure what the main plot line was, the narrative was so confusing. The addition of a Southern dialect didn't really help matters, particularly as Nick Cave is an Australian (which makes me think the dialect wasn't too realistic).
The novel definitely picked up towards the end. Did I understand it? No, but it was a lot more fast-paced than the rest of the book, and I began to finally properly pay attention to things.
The world depicted was really horrible though - it was not an uplifting book in the slightest, and in all honesty I was just desperate to get it finished so I could escape that world.
From what I can tell from other Goodreads reviews, this is a marmite book - you either love it or you hate it. So for that reason, I won't say don't check out this book. In fact, I'm planning on lending it to someone I work with who wants to read it. You might love it. It just sadly wasn't for me.
I expected big things from this book. I read Nick Cave's other novel 'The Death of Bunny Monroe' around two years ago, and really enjoyed it. I'd heard 'And the Ass Saw the Angel', his first work, was a lot better. And I don't know, maybe other people love it. I on the other hand really disliked it though.
There is no doubt that Nick Cave is a talented writer, and that this book is well-written. It was just the story for me that hit a nerve. I didn't like any of the characters (which makes it hard for me to warm to a text), and the whole story was far too muddled for me to ever become truly engaged in it. I wasn't really sure what the main plot line was, the narrative was so confusing. The addition of a Southern dialect didn't really help matters, particularly as Nick Cave is an Australian (which makes me think the dialect wasn't too realistic).
The novel definitely picked up towards the end. Did I understand it? No, but it was a lot more fast-paced than the rest of the book, and I began to finally properly pay attention to things.
The world depicted was really horrible though - it was not an uplifting book in the slightest, and in all honesty I was just desperate to get it finished so I could escape that world.
From what I can tell from other Goodreads reviews, this is a marmite book - you either love it or you hate it. So for that reason, I won't say don't check out this book. In fact, I'm planning on lending it to someone I work with who wants to read it. You might love it. It just sadly wasn't for me.