Prose – DaneCobain.com

Jeffrey Eugenides – The Virgin Suicides | Review

September 13, 2020 danecobain

Title: The Virgin Suicides

Author: Jeffrey Eugenides

Type: Fiction

Page Count: 250

Rating: 5/5

This book caught me off guard, because I wasn’t expecting it to be anywhere near as good as it actually was. I’d heard a few good things about Eugenides and I’m pretty sure that I’ve seen the movie based on this as well, although it was years ago and so I didn’t really remember it.

I’m glad of that, because for me, the real genius in this book is in the writing. Eugenides has this prose style that really just made me want to keep on devouring this book, and in a way it reminded me of Stoner by John Williams in the way that he could have been writing about literally anything and it would have still been a pleasure to read it.

I guess if I had to categorise it, I’d call this literary horror, and I think that’s a good thing. It might not be for everyone, and I’ve seen a lot of people particularly hating upon Middlesex because of the way he writes. Maybe he writes differently in that book, I don’t know.

All in all then, I was pretty impressed by this one and it’s already made me interested in seeing what else Eugenides has written. Although knowing my luck, it’ll turn out that he’s done something terrible and controversial and everyone will try to cancel me for enjoying his book. But it was good.

Learn more about The Virgin Suicides.

Charles Bukowski – Absence of the Hero | Review

January 24, 2019 danecobain

Authors A-E (By Surname)Fiction Non-Fiction

Title: Absence of the Hero

Author: Charles Bukowski

Type: Fiction/Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 276

Rating: 3.5/5

I never know how to categorise Bukowski’s prose because it’s technically semi–autobiographical and therefore counts as both fiction and non-fiction. I also always feel like it’s important to say that Bukowski’s work always makes me think about separating the art from the artist. He wasn’t the best of guys, but his work is interesting.

Absence of the Hero isn’t my favourite of Bukowski’s collections, but mainly because it doesn’t really feel cohesive. It’s like it doesn’t know what it’s trying to be, and while I enjoyed the majority of the essays and short stories in here, there was no real cohesion and I didn’t understand why they picked those particular stories over others.

I also tend to prefer Bukowski’s poetry over his prose and so maybe that has something to do with it. Still, I’d recommend picking up something like Ham On Rye or Post Office if you’re new to him, and saving this until you’re a seasoned fan. And by that point, you’ll probably have read half of the stories that are in the collection anyway.

And yet despite all of that, I enjoyed it. Bukowski’s writing always gets me thinking, and I particularly like the way that he tackles complex topics with simple language. The work here is pretty typical of Bukowski’s work overall, but I don’t think it’s the best introduction. Go ahead and make of that what you will, but do be sure to check out some of Bukowski’s work if you haven’t already. He’s a genius.