A itibaren Chadhiapalli Village, Odisha 761119, Hindistan
Great writing, suspenseful; classic Leonard.
This perhaps the strangest, most visceral and mind-warping thing I’ve ever read. Forget the slipshod dyspepsia of Naked Lunch–if you’ve read that (rather, were somehow able to complete it) you get a taste of what the insane style in which William S. Burroughs wrote was trying to accomplish that Johnny Stanton somehow perfected. With a laser-sharp focus, and every sentence carrying with it a leaden gravity profuse with mysterious intonations, he brings you into the world of an adolescent Huron Indian, Tarcisius Tandihetsi, who, while traveling with his two fathers (his father,Eustace, and a French priest, Blackrobe) and others in his tribe, are kidnapped by the Poison Snake People and the Killer Yellow Dogs (the tribe’s greatest enemies) and made to endure great torture for days on end. The story follows the travels of Tarcisius into enemy territory, while he and his fathers, although sustaining ridiculous amounts of punishment that would have killed anybody ten times over, somehow survive time after time to see even greater punishment and danger. As its voice, magic and spirituality impregnate nearly every event or description. You’ll love this book because it’s creepy and crazy and the most original thing you’ll ever read. While reading this you’ll think at least two to three times per page: “Where the hell does this guy come up with this stuff?” Seriously. If you open the book to any page and pick out a sentence it is likely to be something that would make you scratch your head and wonder …you just wonder. I’m going to do it now–totally random sentence: ”Antler Face was furiously digging his antlers into the ground and at the same time kicking the air.” (Mangled Hands, Johnny Stanton, pg. 162) See? Or: ”Finally Curly Head put my nose between his slimy legs, and the nails on his tail cut my face.” (Mangled Hands, Johnny Stanton, pg.66) There are also certain words you’ll never think of the same way after this novel, such as feathers, manhood, slime, hair, invisible, just to name a few. If you like crazy lit even remotely I say check this out now. You’re brain will hate you for it, but your mind will expand like Tarcisius’s manhood. For additional words and links, see: http://bravenewworks.com/?p=41
This book is about an adolescent boy mourning the loss of his father and desperately trying to achieve religious piety...without really understanding what that means. Being a child, he takes things literally. Being sensitive, he takes things personally. And, basically, talks himself in shame spirals trying to sort it all out. --It's interesting how religion can reflect one's core issues: shame, anger, or existential dread. We're never more revealing than when we talk about "God"! Though the story is meant to be humorous, it's mostly horrifying and a little sad taken within the context of Agee's real life. He was a man devoured by shame, ultimately drinking himself to death. It's rather telling, in my opinion, that both his novels are centered on young boys, lost and deeply insecure. Frankly, I doubt he ever did sort it all out. But then, who does? A Death in the Family, his second novel, is a true masterpiece.