geenween's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
judyboom's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jamiezaccaria's review against another edition
5.0
A fantastic gothic read that is part historical fiction, part social commentary and all New Jersey.
jdcorley's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oates layers hatred and blindness stop each other in a suffocating and intoxicating mix, and the birthing of monsters and murder throughout it just feels like the skin crawling operation of the hideous crimes of history. An incredible achievement, thoroughly absorbing, and, perhaps most astonishing, she lands the plane, in a bravura combination of fable, sermon and hallucination. Almost unbelievable in it's towering success. I'll never forget it, or forget Lieutenant Bayard disappearing into the occupation of the Philippines, and what stopped in Princeton, and what I know started there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Murder, Hate crime, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Misogyny, and Classism
tscott907's review against another edition
3.25
This book is crazy (I mean this as a compliment, promise!) Ambitious, sprawling, and pleasingly indebted to the Gothic novel. At no point in this book did I know what was going to happen, and at no point was I disappointed. A beautiful blend of thrills and historical fiction.
litwrite's review against another edition
3.0
The following conversation took place with my husband when I was about 2/3rds of the way through The Accursed:
"What are you reading now?"
"It's a gothic book by Joyce Carol Oates."
"Well, what happens in it?"
"Well, this one girl is about to get married and she leaves her husband at the altar and is kidnapped and gangraped by the devil and his friends and gives birth to a creepy devil baby. Also, her brother throws himself off a boat into the the seas of the north pole, her cousin turns into a statue, another woman in the same community gets turned into a vampire, and a succubus preys on all the fat old rich dudes."
"So it's a horror novel then?"
"Not really because all the characters in it are real people, like Woodrow Wilson who was a president of the USA, and Upton Sinclair who is a famous American author."
"Oh... wow that sounds really weird."
The Accursed really is such a strange, ambitious novel that's difficult to review and even more impossible to categorize, which serves as somewhat a conundrum for me because I usually like to frame a lot of my reviews with comparisons to other materials I've read or watched but this is so unlike anything else that I really can't compare it to anything else I've read.
Looking through the goodreads reviews for The Accursed, it's obvious that this is a novel of very polarizing opinions - you either love this, or you hate this. It's a critic's darling, with Stephen King calling it " the world's first postmodern gothic novel", and yet it seems entirely too strange for the unwashed plebes such as me.
In the end, I didn't love nor hate this novel but certainly it gave me a lot to think about which I always admire in a book. I've read a lot of Oates before, she is incredibly prolific and writes such a broad range of books but this is definitely her most unique novel that I've read. One of the problem points for me lies not with the novel itself but with the fact that, not being American, I don't really know a lot about American history and the merging of real life American figures with an over the top Gothic story line probably didn't affect me as much as someone who grew up in the old US of A and has more than a passing familiarity with Woodrow Wilson et al.
I do think the novel was a tad overlong, but the grandiose verbosity is par for the course with the Gothic tradition and Oates mimics it well. I'm not sure that I'd really recommend this to the casual reader but those who are fond of Gothic novels and won't mind the archaic writing style might enjoy.
"What are you reading now?"
"It's a gothic book by Joyce Carol Oates."
"Well, what happens in it?"
Spoiler
"Well, this one girl is about to get married and she leaves her husband at the altar and is kidnapped and gangraped by the devil and his friends and gives birth to a creepy devil baby. Also, her brother throws himself off a boat into the the seas of the north pole, her cousin turns into a statue, another woman in the same community gets turned into a vampire, and a succubus preys on all the fat old rich dudes."
"So it's a horror novel then?"
"Not really because all the characters in it are real people, like Woodrow Wilson who was a president of the USA, and Upton Sinclair who is a famous American author."
"Oh... wow that sounds really weird."
The Accursed really is such a strange, ambitious novel that's difficult to review and even more impossible to categorize, which serves as somewhat a conundrum for me because I usually like to frame a lot of my reviews with comparisons to other materials I've read or watched but this is so unlike anything else that I really can't compare it to anything else I've read.
Looking through the goodreads reviews for The Accursed, it's obvious that this is a novel of very polarizing opinions - you either love this, or you hate this. It's a critic's darling, with Stephen King calling it " the world's first postmodern gothic novel", and yet it seems entirely too strange for the unwashed plebes such as me.
In the end, I didn't love nor hate this novel but certainly it gave me a lot to think about which I always admire in a book. I've read a lot of Oates before, she is incredibly prolific and writes such a broad range of books but this is definitely her most unique novel that I've read. One of the problem points for me lies not with the novel itself but with the fact that, not being American, I don't really know a lot about American history and the merging of real life American figures with an over the top Gothic story line probably didn't affect me as much as someone who grew up in the old US of A and has more than a passing familiarity with Woodrow Wilson et al.
I do think the novel was a tad overlong, but the grandiose verbosity is par for the course with the Gothic tradition and Oates mimics it well. I'm not sure that I'd really recommend this to the casual reader but those who are fond of Gothic novels and won't mind the archaic writing style might enjoy.
ricparks's review against another edition
1.0
I gave up after 300 pages. Joyce Carol Oates is clearly a genius and her intelligence and erudition prattle on and on for page after page which I think is partly her intent. Life is too short to waste on self indulgent exercises such as this one.
radioisasoundsalvation's review against another edition
3.0
Joyce Carol Oates is one of my favorite authors. She has this ability to take stretch the ideas of femininity within her protagonists that I truly admire (see[b:Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang|303564|Foxfire Confessions of a Girl Gang|Joyce Carol Oates|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347709223s/303564.jpg|1552090] and [b:A Fair Maiden|5711702|A Fair Maiden|Joyce Carol Oates|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348305883s/5711702.jpg|5883313]). She braves waters in terms of subject matter that the status quo either gloss over or completely ignore. This newest of her works is not only a fresh ground for the author, but my first of her historical novels.
This paranormal novel set within the town of Princeton, New Jersey, specifically during Woodrow Wilson's term as president of the University, is not for the faint of heart. DO NOT, dear reader, pick this up if you're idea of paranormal reading is [a:Laurell K. Hamilton|9550|Laurell K. Hamilton|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1352276598p2/9550.jpg]. This is a nod to the truest of gothic literature, ie [a:HP Lovecraft|7016314|HP Lovecraft|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg] and [a:Ann Radcliffe|43220|Ann Radcliffe|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1206589711p2/43220.jpg]. It moves at a slow pace, luxuriating in the historical detailing of family legacies and Princeton. A dreaded curse is making its way through the elite families at the heart of Princeton, resulting in runaway brides, bloody murders, and mass hysteria!
Don't get bogged down by the pacing(those of you who will read this novel can giggle at my little pun later). The novel is satisfying in its wholeness as the pieces of the curse and the effects it's having on the carefully crafted community come together. It's not the height of suspense, but a methodical, gothic nightmare.
My only trouble with this book was the time it spent with Upton Sinclair, so deeply embroiled in his Socialist agenda that it sometimes took away from the fearful atmosphere the rich of Princeton were experiencing. Having said that though, his subplot helps to illuminate the growing political and social changes happening in the years represented by this VERY fictitious novel. Indeed, it led to a very interesting 'sexual politics' reading of the curses' onset within the community. Any attempts to interpret the fantastical as anything otherwise are for naught, as the novel progresses to it's unbelievable ending!
It was certainly a fun novel, with the characteristic fearlessness both in subject and styling of so many wonderful Oates novels! Oates mixes the narration with diary entries, heightening the depth of the plot and its characters. She doesn't leave out classism, sexism, or racism as the issues of the era. I'm quite interested to see what others make of this novel, as so many of the fantastical and historical elements may appeal to such a range of readers!
This paranormal novel set within the town of Princeton, New Jersey, specifically during Woodrow Wilson's term as president of the University, is not for the faint of heart. DO NOT, dear reader, pick this up if you're idea of paranormal reading is [a:Laurell K. Hamilton|9550|Laurell K. Hamilton|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1352276598p2/9550.jpg]. This is a nod to the truest of gothic literature, ie [a:HP Lovecraft|7016314|HP Lovecraft|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg] and [a:Ann Radcliffe|43220|Ann Radcliffe|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1206589711p2/43220.jpg]. It moves at a slow pace, luxuriating in the historical detailing of family legacies and Princeton. A dreaded curse is making its way through the elite families at the heart of Princeton, resulting in runaway brides, bloody murders, and mass hysteria!
Don't get bogged down by the pacing(those of you who will read this novel can giggle at my little pun later). The novel is satisfying in its wholeness as the pieces of the curse and the effects it's having on the carefully crafted community come together. It's not the height of suspense, but a methodical, gothic nightmare.
My only trouble with this book was the time it spent with Upton Sinclair, so deeply embroiled in his Socialist agenda that it sometimes took away from the fearful atmosphere the rich of Princeton were experiencing. Having said that though, his subplot helps to illuminate the growing political and social changes happening in the years represented by this VERY fictitious novel. Indeed, it led to a very interesting 'sexual politics' reading of the curses' onset within the community.
Spoiler
Did anyone else just start to assume that all of the talk about "the unspeakable" and Miss Slade's seduction were just turn of the century fear of rape/women's sexual awareness?It was certainly a fun novel, with the characteristic fearlessness both in subject and styling of so many wonderful Oates novels! Oates mixes the narration with diary entries, heightening the depth of the plot and its characters. She doesn't leave out classism, sexism, or racism as the issues of the era. I'm quite interested to see what others make of this novel, as so many of the fantastical and historical elements may appeal to such a range of readers!