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inkyyy's review
4.0
I won't lie. I almost quit this book. I thought it was boring, long, tedious. I didn't understand the strange formatting and the run-on sentences. I read all the reviews here and I was excited to get some gore, some gruesome detail, some actual stuff that would move me emotionally and mentally. And in the beginning I didn't get that.
Oh, Hubert Selby Jr. let me have it.
The book is an interesting, stream of consciousness narrative of a man who is in prison awaiting trial or who was already convicted of a crime. You don't know what the crime is. You can take his word for it but the narrator can't be trusted. As the narrator is trapped in his secluded cell he fantasizes about brutally torturing the cops that arrested him, humiliating them in court, and you slowly see him unravel.
The description of the book and the reviews state that it's about a man slowly growing mad. I don't think that the man is insane. I think he's just having the thoughts that many people have. You delve into his fantasies, and he's thinking about being this alpha male, torturing and belittling the cops, sleeping with their wives, humiliating them in front of the courts and their families. But when you go into his memories and his recollections of his past you realize that he's well...a beta, even an omega. He's a baby who cries into his mom's lap everytime he's scared. The narrator is the guy who won't speak up if you accidentally bump him in line but he'll go home and write a reddit post about him being the hero not getting pushed around by a bully, or writing some fanfiction about torturing the people who just made an innocent slight against him.
I thought it was funny at first. This machismo that he had, but then I just felt bad for him. I didn't sympathize for him, I just thought he was pathetic.
Anyway, the style of writing isn't for everyone. It starts off slow and ends slow. But you can appreciate it for what it's worth. Personally, when I finished I was just "meh" but the longer I thought about it, and the more I kept thinking about it the more I enjoyed it. And the more it really stood out to me. It's a favorite.
It's not for the weak stomach or faint of heart. It has some gross moments. I have a thing against fingernail torture so I had to skip a few pages for that. And here I am thinking I can handle anything.
Either way. It's a good book.
Oh, Hubert Selby Jr. let me have it.
The book is an interesting, stream of consciousness narrative of a man who is in prison awaiting trial or who was already convicted of a crime. You don't know what the crime is. You can take his word for it but the narrator can't be trusted. As the narrator is trapped in his secluded cell he fantasizes about brutally torturing the cops that arrested him, humiliating them in court, and you slowly see him unravel.
The description of the book and the reviews state that it's about a man slowly growing mad. I don't think that the man is insane. I think he's just having the thoughts that many people have. You delve into his fantasies, and he's thinking about being this alpha male, torturing and belittling the cops, sleeping with their wives, humiliating them in front of the courts and their families. But when you go into his memories and his recollections of his past you realize that he's well...a beta, even an omega. He's a baby who cries into his mom's lap everytime he's scared. The narrator is the guy who won't speak up if you accidentally bump him in line but he'll go home and write a reddit post about him being the hero not getting pushed around by a bully, or writing some fanfiction about torturing the people who just made an innocent slight against him.
I thought it was funny at first. This machismo that he had, but then I just felt bad for him. I didn't sympathize for him, I just thought he was pathetic.
Anyway, the style of writing isn't for everyone. It starts off slow and ends slow. But you can appreciate it for what it's worth. Personally, when I finished I was just "meh" but the longer I thought about it, and the more I kept thinking about it the more I enjoyed it. And the more it really stood out to me. It's a favorite.
It's not for the weak stomach or faint of heart. It has some gross moments. I have a thing against fingernail torture so I had to skip a few pages for that. And here I am thinking I can handle anything.
Either way. It's a good book.
kelseeey's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
apattonbooks's review
5.0
This might be one of the best and most uniquely written book I have read in ages. It might also be the most horrifying thing I have ever read. I am going to have to read more of Selbys work but it is going to take awhile before I approach anything so brutal again.
313's review
4.0
Me alegro de haber leído esto hasta el final. Todo un logro si no tienes el estómago para imágenes violentas y súper gráficas de tortura y violación. Pero es otra perspectiva, otro estilo, otra escritura que es bueno conocer. La psicología del personaje es increíble. Ahora puedo imaginar qué es estar en la mente de un desquiciado, de un ser marginal, sociópata de principio a fin.
Nada de los horrores o asquerosidades de este texto le justifican (aunque lo intenta pobre y reiterativamente), aún así, le comprendes en su locura.
De esos libros que llegan justo a tiempo. No le doy las 5 estrellas por su lenguaje. Aquí no hay grandes frases ni poesía. Pero está bien. No quedarían con el texto, sería forzarlo a ser algo que no pretende... pero personalmente, amo unas buenas frases y subrayar pasajes. Cosa que no ocurrió acá.
Nada de los horrores o asquerosidades de este texto le justifican (aunque lo intenta pobre y reiterativamente), aún así, le comprendes en su locura.
De esos libros que llegan justo a tiempo. No le doy las 5 estrellas por su lenguaje. Aquí no hay grandes frases ni poesía. Pero está bien. No quedarían con el texto, sería forzarlo a ser algo que no pretende... pero personalmente, amo unas buenas frases y subrayar pasajes. Cosa que no ocurrió acá.
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