I weirdly stumbled across your review an hour or so after I posted mine. Totally agreed with what you wrote. It's such a hard book to describe then recommend. "Hey, you like reading about kids being killed in extremely graphic detail? Have I got the book for you!" It puts all the more well-known nihilistic "masterpieces" to shame on the bleakness front. Makes McCarthy look like a clown at a kids' party (not the John Wayne Gacy or Pennywise variety, though).
Everyone stumbles across my reviews :-). It’s been six years since I read it, (Josh, who I reference, is now 14 and is coincidentally about to go to camp this week) and I’ve never forgotten it. It’s the lyricism that gets me. How fucking dare he make such horror and evil so… beautiful and graceful and profound.
Loved this book when it came out. Reviewed it for Locus. It’s still the bleakest thing I’ve ever read. His follow up, set in an office, isn’t as good.
I weirdly stumbled across your review an hour or so after I posted mine. Totally agreed with what you wrote. It's such a hard book to describe then recommend. "Hey, you like reading about kids being killed in extremely graphic detail? Have I got the book for you!" It puts all the more well-known nihilistic "masterpieces" to shame on the bleakness front. Makes McCarthy look like a clown at a kids' party (not the John Wayne Gacy or Pennywise variety, though).
Everyone stumbles across my reviews :-). It’s been six years since I read it, (Josh, who I reference, is now 14 and is coincidentally about to go to camp this week) and I’ve never forgotten it. It’s the lyricism that gets me. How fucking dare he make such horror and evil so… beautiful and graceful and profound.