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akmcgilli's review against another edition
2.0
I couldn’t get too into this book, and wish I had a dictionary by my side whenever I picked it up. I lost the arc of the story when I was busy to just figure out what the author was trying to say. Glad to see this book was well received by others, but not what I was expecting so I just put it down.
pupin's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
i feel like there’s a particular type of person meant to really enjoy this book — i envision well-educated, vast vocabulary’d elder gays would love the prose despite its pretentiousness. about halfway i held hope that it was mainly ironic in nature, because i couldn’t really fathom who would spin a story like Judas. now finished, it feels more like a good portion of this book was just lost on me.
highly referential, but almost to its detriment if not the point to drive home in the way the Academy taught its novices, or just that Judas speaks in tongues sat within mythology and trees. regardless, while i felt great to understand every few it left me feeling pretty dumb when i’d get multiple in a page that just didn’t connect. i’m aware of google, i just don’t want to work that hard to get through a novel.
i didn’t love nor hate Night Soil — i think there were moments of clarity that held impact, where others were glossed over or lingered on too long to really make me feel much other than thankful i finally finished it. i’d rather listen to Judas over coffee than read his stream of consciousness, but i’m willing to check out other books by Dale Peck in hope they give me a better ride than this one!
highly referential, but almost to its detriment if not the point to drive home in the way the Academy taught its novices, or just that Judas speaks in tongues sat within mythology and trees. regardless, while i felt great to understand every few it left me feeling pretty dumb when i’d get multiple in a page that just didn’t connect. i’m aware of google, i just don’t want to work that hard to get through a novel.
i didn’t love nor hate Night Soil — i think there were moments of clarity that held impact, where others were glossed over or lingered on too long to really make me feel much other than thankful i finally finished it. i’d rather listen to Judas over coffee than read his stream of consciousness, but i’m willing to check out other books by Dale Peck in hope they give me a better ride than this one!
ladysiann's review against another edition
2.0
As much as I want to complete this book one day, I cannot tell you the amount of times I've fallen asleep reading this book. The amount of times I've re read the same passage to have fallen asleep again and then to have to re read the same thing.
This book was like travelling through an endless underground tunnel. Ever constant and all forms of confining to the same monotonous tone. Hence the title 'Night Soil??'
I wish to have complete this book despite the unrelenting story. As what I have obtained at the first 60 pages it about a young fellow of the name Judas and his mother Dixie who are the last dregs of a large linage of wealth a power. There is an academy that once belonged to his great great great great great grandfather that his mother and him has been banished from or something. Judas and his mother have birthmarks that are a dermatologists night mare but Judas has it covering half his body. I think he had a lot of anal surgery because his butt is crusty and shrinks and rips- this is probably the only 'characteristic' that intrigues me. His mother is a renowned sculptor/potter/ artist. The pages that I fallen asleep to was in the middle of an endless description of his great grandfathers estate or land in which he owns, lots of trees and thats pretty much all I know about his book.
If you haven't already noticed, this particular book is a suffocation of description, of facts, of history. It is they type of book that feels like it should be self autobiography. Even though I am pretty certain this book is set in the 21st century (I do remember them mentioning Apple products). It feels ageless and historic.
DESPITE all this... I like it. I don't think I will be able to finish it but I truely liked it. I like the explanation of things and events that happened in the book. I like the long, extended logical explanation of all events. Of his scars of his mothers fame.
This book references a lot of historical events, icons, theories. I'm not talking about giant historical moments, I'm talking about tiny minute details in the world. This book is factual despite being a fiction. With that in mind I very much applaud Dale Peck for being a genius. I am 20 years old but I think I need to be much older to understand the copious amounts of references. I understood some but not all of them so I felt like I was just reading words.
Siann Out
This book was like travelling through an endless underground tunnel. Ever constant and all forms of confining to the same monotonous tone. Hence the title 'Night Soil??'
I wish to have complete this book despite the unrelenting story. As what I have obtained at the first 60 pages it about a young fellow of the name Judas and his mother Dixie who are the last dregs of a large linage of wealth a power. There is an academy that once belonged to his great great great great great grandfather that his mother and him has been banished from or something. Judas and his mother have birthmarks that are a dermatologists night mare but Judas has it covering half his body. I think he had a lot of anal surgery because his butt is crusty and shrinks and rips- this is probably the only 'characteristic' that intrigues me. His mother is a renowned sculptor/potter/ artist. The pages that I fallen asleep to was in the middle of an endless description of his great grandfathers estate or land in which he owns, lots of trees and thats pretty much all I know about his book.
If you haven't already noticed, this particular book is a suffocation of description, of facts, of history. It is they type of book that feels like it should be self autobiography. Even though I am pretty certain this book is set in the 21st century (I do remember them mentioning Apple products). It feels ageless and historic.
DESPITE all this... I like it. I don't think I will be able to finish it but I truely liked it. I like the explanation of things and events that happened in the book. I like the long, extended logical explanation of all events. Of his scars of his mothers fame.
This book references a lot of historical events, icons, theories. I'm not talking about giant historical moments, I'm talking about tiny minute details in the world. This book is factual despite being a fiction. With that in mind I very much applaud Dale Peck for being a genius. I am 20 years old but I think I need to be much older to understand the copious amounts of references. I understood some but not all of them so I felt like I was just reading words.
Siann Out
raforall's review against another edition
4.0
I reviewed this for my ALA Annual 2018 Booklist Read ’N’ Rave Panel. Details: http://raforall.blogspot.com/2018/06/ra-for-all-roadshow-visited-ala-annual.html
dkaps's review against another edition
1.0
I just couldn't get through the first chapter with the pretentious style. Stream of consciousness style can be tough enough without needing a thesaurus for every other word. It seems like an interesting premise, but you'd need more patience than I have to get to the plot.
robbo13's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
godloveslola's review
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
xxlua's review against another edition
1.0
debated giving this book two stars because i appreciated the representation in it (lgbtq, obscure skin conditions) but it was just so painful to read i simply could not rate it any higher. the main characters pretentious ramblings which did not further the plot whatsoever made this book hard to get through. i think dale peck hoped to make a lot of points with this book, but sadly made them inaccessible to the reader.
missmesmerized's review against another edition
2.0
Judas Stammers lives a peaceful life with his mother. He does not know anything about his father; only when he dies and leaves him masses of books and money does he actually notice this person. His mother is a potter and to their astonishment, her pots sell for an unbelievable amount of money that they actually do not need since their ancestors were coal magnates and founders of the Academy, a private school that also Judas attends. His mother often leaves him alone and the fact of being an outsider makes Judas ruminate a lot about life, his personality and also the history of the place he lives in.
I admittedly did not really get into the novel. Somehow for me, the narration did not completely make sense. I guess this was due to the fact that Judas narrates the long history of his family with masses of enumerations which made me lose the red threat. I found his personality quite interesting, but whenever I had the impression that the novel gets more fascinating and focuses on his development, the plot turned to something different. The end of the novel what highly noteworthy, the philosophical treatise about the parable - but how does this connect to the rest? To finish with something positive: I found many parts hilarious, I liked Judas style of narration, the way he puts his words, the comparisons, but this unfortunately could not counterbalance the weaknesses of the plot that I perceived.
I admittedly did not really get into the novel. Somehow for me, the narration did not completely make sense. I guess this was due to the fact that Judas narrates the long history of his family with masses of enumerations which made me lose the red threat. I found his personality quite interesting, but whenever I had the impression that the novel gets more fascinating and focuses on his development, the plot turned to something different. The end of the novel what highly noteworthy, the philosophical treatise about the parable - but how does this connect to the rest? To finish with something positive: I found many parts hilarious, I liked Judas style of narration, the way he puts his words, the comparisons, but this unfortunately could not counterbalance the weaknesses of the plot that I perceived.
bretts_book_stack's review against another edition
2.0
“ A working class dithyrambs peppered with tautologies and sesquipedalia verbs and the bloviated self confidence that what he’s saying is true because he’s the one saying it.”
I post this strictly to illustrate how Peck, whose previous books I’ve loved, feels so overwritten that I found myself moving between book and dictionary like I was translating it rather than reading. The young gay Jude, disfigured by a horrible wine colored stain that covers nearly half his body relays a coming of age story...maybe? It’s unclear. Searching for connections by having anonymous bathroom encounters while attending a family owned academy, and sparring with his brilliant but aloof artist Mother, most of the story Peck seems to spend on the history of the University that Jude’s grandfather founded. Lots of dirt. And Clay. And soil. He’s a beautiful writer but this had me lost in the woods.
I post this strictly to illustrate how Peck, whose previous books I’ve loved, feels so overwritten that I found myself moving between book and dictionary like I was translating it rather than reading. The young gay Jude, disfigured by a horrible wine colored stain that covers nearly half his body relays a coming of age story...maybe? It’s unclear. Searching for connections by having anonymous bathroom encounters while attending a family owned academy, and sparring with his brilliant but aloof artist Mother, most of the story Peck seems to spend on the history of the University that Jude’s grandfather founded. Lots of dirt. And Clay. And soil. He’s a beautiful writer but this had me lost in the woods.