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joejoh's review
3.0
As much as I wanted to love this book, the narrator is just too much of a monster. In the end, I found him convincing, but too terrifying to relate to. There are no soft edges to grab, and so every encounter with the book made me both disgusted and nauseated. I love the work of Dennis Cooper but I found nothing redemptive, and in the end, the book is both empty of meaning and heart. I'd give the book 3.5 stars if I could, but only because of the incredibly high quality of Cooper's prose. I could only recommend this book to Cooper completists.
heleneb's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
immortal_'s review
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
unbornwhiskey's review
5.0
this book is only 200 pages long but the reality of reading it felt much slower because almost every paragraph is so dense that if you unbent it completely and laid it flat it would occupy the entire page, and the page would have a physical dimension as well, a depth, each letter raised to a height where its serifs look like model skyscrapers or stairwells. all of the cooper novels i’ve read are obsessed on some level with the (flimsy, unstable) division between reality and fantasy but this is the first one since period and maybe the end of frisk that made me feel like he was using language as a portal between the two, fantasy an eyelet in a wall that peers into reality from a secret passage, or vice versa. but the marbled swarm’s extra special metatextual quality is the way it draws your attention to language's constant manipulations of reality, reordering and reinventing events from behind the scenes like a poltergeist opening and slamming psychic doors. it’s funny that i can write all of this without touching on the fucked up and gruesome shit that constitutes the book’s “events,” and how generations of abuse can be stored in something as vaporous as speech which disintegrates as soon as it’s spoken, or cooper’s whole thing with doppelgängers, who tend to be young, abused, suicidal twinks who get sufficiently pared down into the same face staring upward, eyes unfocused, pupils like watercolor UFOs or holes that lead somewhere, spirit departed, a face that's like an open transom between life and death, a face that must be indented in cooper’s subconscious, a face that, as far as i can tell, he desperately wants to rescue from its circumstances but can’t because the earth is overrun by already-ruined adults who would only use this face as as pale stage for their most depraved fantasies and delusions. it’s probably the most amazing novel i’ve ever read and i can’t emphasize enough how advancing through it was like descending a ladder rung by rung into a place where i didn’t want to be at all
kilosmom7's review
BORED.
maybe it's because im a shock and awe kind of gal, but the first five pages made my brain hurt.
maybe it's because im a shock and awe kind of gal, but the first five pages made my brain hurt.
zachwerb's review
4.0
Its very awkward to explain to people what i'm reading when I'm reading Dennis Cooper. But fuck I love his books.
hyperballadbybjork's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Alright look. I went into this book knowing I was going to
be disturbed, and I was. I understand why most were put
off by this book, whether it be the disgusting content or by
its confusing writing. But for me I feel like it's all done with
a purpose, Yes it's confusing but that's what's good about
it, it makes you think. It's a book that makes you want to
close it but also open and learn more about it at the same
time. It won't happen but if it ever became a film, it would
be a mix of French extremism and A24, and that's what I
love about it. I'm going to buy the physical copy and read
it again, only because of the next point, and the reason
why I'm trimming a star off my rating, I feel like I've
missed something. Something I just didn't get that I was
expecting, feel like I've missed a little detail here and
there. I still think it's a solid book, but very disturbing, but
I'm all for a disturbing read
I have very interesting taste and choice in my reads
be disturbed, and I was. I understand why most were put
off by this book, whether it be the disgusting content or by
its confusing writing. But for me I feel like it's all done with
a purpose, Yes it's confusing but that's what's good about
it, it makes you think. It's a book that makes you want to
close it but also open and learn more about it at the same
time. It won't happen but if it ever became a film, it would
be a mix of French extremism and A24, and that's what I
love about it. I'm going to buy the physical copy and read
it again, only because of the next point, and the reason
why I'm trimming a star off my rating, I feel like I've
missed something. Something I just didn't get that I was
expecting, feel like I've missed a little detail here and
there. I still think it's a solid book, but very disturbing, but
I'm all for a disturbing read
I have very interesting taste and choice in my reads