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TITLE: Lunar Park AUTHOR: Bret Easton Ellis PAGES: 320 FORMAT: Hardcover ISBN: 978-0375412912 BUY IT: Amazon RATING: 5/5 [in the genre] or 8/10 [all books I’ve ever read]. FOR: Fans of Chuck Palahniuk and Kurt Vonnegut. Anyone looking for a book with some teeth. Anyone who can handle sex, drugs, and violence. Anyone who saw “American Psycho” and wants to check out the author. Anyone who only knows who Ellis is because of his recent interest in adapting 50 Shades of Gray, and needs a more accurate impression of him. Adults or mature teens. |
The Basics: I’ve been slowly working my way through Ellis’ life works, and I’m still going strong. While not as iconic as Less Than Zero or as breathtakingly brilliant as American Psycho, Lunar Park is still a fantastic, multilayered novel. I laughed from the very beginning, got a little teary sometimes, wanted to knock something over in rage otherwise. The Bret of this fictional autobiography is endearingly messed up. Even as you’re screaming at him, you want so desperately for him to succeed. Embedded in an exciting murder-mystery plot is a beautiful commentary on the nature of writing and what it does to the writer.
Plot (5/5): The first bit was slow and took me a while to get into; then I couldn’t put it down. The majority of the book covers a short space of time, but so much happens that you’re ever, ever bored. There’s illicit affair, intrigue, missing children, murders, and plenty of Bret doing silly things. There’s never a boring moment. Even when nothing is actually happening. That’s true talent.
Concept (5/5): Most of the characters are real. Most of the happenings are not. Or are they? It’s confusing at times, delving between reality and fiction, but I think that’s the most brilliant part of this book. You don’t know what’s real. Even in the plot—is Bret really watching the house magically transform, or is this a side-effect of his drug-addled mind? It’s the perfect way to look at where stories come from and what they can really do. And it’s just damn clever.
Characters (5/5): Even when you hate them, you love them. Bret drove me bonkers. I wanted to throttle him and say, “Get your life together! Stop cheating on your wife! No more cocaine!” But I also wanted to hug him. A lot. Because you’re in his head the whole time, and you realize just how lonely and ill-prepared he is. Jayne is frightfully annoying but you feel for her, dealing with her husband’s antics. The kids are wonderfully eerie.
Style (5/5): I miss the minimalistic style of Less Than Zero, which Bret mourns himself in the first chapter. I do love the style of this book, though. It’s excessive. It’s winding. It goes well with Bret’s confusion and ever-working mind. You’d probably ramble too if you were on several different drugs, legal or not, and hallucinating evil beasties in your backyard. Makes it a little hard to follow, but I like a good challenge.
Mechanics (5/5): I suppose you can add “run-ons galore” to this piece. But it’s a style. It works for him. It’s clearly not a mistake of editing.
Take Home Message: A mind-warping adventure that toes the line between real and not real, giving more questions than answers. This is not your average horror novel.
Note: I purchased this copy. The price of the book and its origin in no way affected my stated opinions.
Sorry it was slow starting out, but glad that you got into it and the characters you couldn't look away from.
ReplyDeleteBrandi from Blkosiner’s Book Blog
The start didn't turn out to be that much of a hitch. Honestly, writing this review, I forgot about it until the end! As long as you stick with it, it picks up fast.
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