Reviews

Last Exit to Brooklyn by Gilbert Sorrentino, Hubert Selby Jr.

7anooch's review against another edition

3.0

Parts of this moved me, but most of it didn’t. Still a good book 3.5/5

xabsyr's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

cynicalworm's review against another edition

4.0

Grotesquely fascinating. The strength of the writing overcame my squeamishness for violence.

amelia_71's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

vernscul's review against another edition

3.0

I don't really know what to say about this one. I could easily give it a 1 star or a 5 star so I guess I'm settling on a 3? Some parts were rather boring, after 50 pages of the strike I was more than ready for it to be over. Other parts were interesting though and unlike anything I've ever read before (barring maybe American Psycho). There were definitely some whatthefuck parts as expected. For some reason I really enjoy run on sentences so I liked the way this book was written. This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for 5+ years so I'm happy that I finally got around to it.

freyacharmaine's review against another edition

2.0

Maybe a 2.5. Just ended up not being my cup of tea really, perhaps I don’t enjoy reading about characters I dislike. A learning experience I guess. Additionally Harry’s portion dragged on for far longer than it should have for me.

binstonbirchill's review against another edition

4.0

I’ve rated this pretty high considering it’s not really my type of book, I guess I just perfect a different kind of bleak. Sex, drugs, booze and abuse litter the novel and the reader will get no break until it’s finished. It reads very quickly, broken up into I believe six parts that have only the faintest connection between each other, essentially it could be six novellas. Selby’s writing is vivid and that could either be a good or bad thing depending on your tolerance of explicit sex, verbal abuse and violence. I think I get what he was trying to do here, and given when it was written I him credit for shining a light on a world not seen by the masses.

will_oh's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

tlchand's review against another edition

4.0

Raw and real.

drivingman's review against another edition

3.0

Reading Last Exit to Brooklyn reminds me of this e.e. cummings poem, both in its content and its buzzing rhythm:

spoke joe to jack

leave her alone
she's not your gal

jack spoke to joe
's left crashed
pal dropped

o god alice
yells but who shot
up grabbing had
by my throat me

give it him good
a bottle she
quick who stop damned
fall all we go spill

and chairs tables the and
bitch whispers jill
mopping too bad

dear sh not yet
jesus what blood

darling i said