Grotesque Books
So this is a spin off thread of something posted in the movies section.
We had a similar thread to this a long time ago called Disturbing Books... Grotesque and Disturbing are slightly different though IMO.
So I just finished reading Off Season by Jack Ketchum a day or two ago. And this book is perfect for Grotesque. But the thing is it's a great book. Everything in it is there to convey an emotion. The book wouldn't be the same without it. I think that the violence and gore is totally necessary in that book. And it's better for it.
Another great book by him is The Girl Next Door. The violence is so disturbing that I cringed at some parts and had to force myself to finish. But the story relied on these parts. Without them it wouldn't be the same.
I've heard a lot of people mention The End of Alice by A.M. Homes. But I just couldn't get into it. I made it maybe a few pages but it was just too boring. I'm sure I'll give it another shot eventually.
So - what are some really grotesque books?
labelleza wrote:
This is what I thought Pete said.
I'm going to assume you're talking dirty to me because I'm the Book Club god.
American Psycho grossed me out pretty good, but it might have been because I was pregnant at the time and generally pukey feeling.
I can't think of any books, but short stories, for sure.
Rawhead Rex - Clive Barker
The Madonna - Clive Barker
Dread - Clive Barker
Pretty much any short story by Clive Barker.
I've never read any Clive Barker before...
American Psycho was definitely grotesque though! One of my favorite books - I'm surprised I didn't put that one. lol
labelleza wrote:
This is what I thought Pete said.
I'm going to assume you're talking dirty to me because I'm the Book Club god.
omg, i love clive barker. He's an awesome artist as well as author. I have a signed photo of him!
Brentinlouis Wrote: What was that rule about being intentionally annoying?
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you George Bataille's "Story of the Eye".
Thank me later.
i just read three fourths of that thing and skimmed the rest........jesus.
Brentinlouis Wrote: What was that rule about being intentionally annoying?
American Psycho was definitely grotesque though! One of my favorite books - I'm surprised I didn't put that one. lol
I thought BEE was your favourite, man. Now you're forgetting American Pyscho aswell as that he's releasing Imperial Bedrooms soon.
Tisk-Tisk!
American Psycho was definitely grotesque though! One of my favorite books - I'm surprised I didn't put that one. lol
I thought BEE was your favourite, man. Now you're forgetting American Pyscho aswell as that he's releasing Imperial Bedrooms soon.
Tisk-Tisk!
haha right?
I can't believe I forgot either. And yeah he is my favorite! Good memory.
labelleza wrote:
This is what I thought Pete said.
I'm going to assume you're talking dirty to me because I'm the Book Club god.
Thank me later.
http://supervert.com/elibrary/georges_bataille
whooooaaaa
Geez! Apparently I will be reading this as soon as I get home...
labelleza wrote:
This is what I thought Pete said.
I'm going to assume you're talking dirty to me because I'm the Book Club god.
Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk and Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite.
Exquisite Corpse is about two lovestruck, cannibalistic, necrophiliac, AIDS-infested serial killers inspired by Jeffrey Dahmer.
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde
I remember reading Dear Dead Person maybe 15 years ago and thinking it was the sickest book I ever read, and I still have that feeling that it is, but I only have vague recollections about what exactly was sick about it.
http://www.amazon.com/Dear-Person-Other-Stories-Books/dp/1852423307/ref=...
Last Exit To Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr.
violence, drugs, drag queens, and gang rape. Not drag queen gang rape, mind you, it does fall a little short of the mark on that one but very entertaining none the less. I'm not 100% clear what the criteria is for this thread but I included this gem after recalling how I cringed when I realized the girl next to me on the el train was reading over my shoulder. Just for a second, then I felt pride when she scooted to put some more space between my leg and hers. Naturally I asked if she would like to have a drink later. She had a boyfriend. Not sure if he was a drag queen though, I didn't think to ask until I was typing this. And now the story feels as though it lacks closure.
I've heard a lot of people mention The End of Alice by A.M. Homes. But I just couldn't get into it. I made it maybe a few pages but it was just too boring. I'm sure I'll give it another shot eventually.
Please read this. I'm not sure if it's okay to say this, but it's almost a favorite of mine...
It's starts off slow, but it definitely deserves at least one read. 
"...you want to be truly unselfish? Love someone or die for someone. Those are the only good deeds you can perform without any hope of personal gain."
I've heard a lot of people mention The End of Alice by A.M. Homes. But I just couldn't get into it. I made it maybe a few pages but it was just too boring. I'm sure I'll give it another shot eventually.
Please read this. I'm not sure if it's okay to say this, but it's almost a favorite of mine...
It's starts off slow, but it definitely deserves at least one read. =)
I really want to like it. I love A.M. Homes's other stuff that I've read. Her writing is awesome. Maybe it was just because I had too many good books sitting around waiting to be read - so it was easy for me to pass judgment to get to something else. I will give it another shot, it's just no longer on the top of the pile.
labelleza wrote:
This is what I thought Pete said.
I'm going to assume you're talking dirty to me because I'm the Book Club god.
I guess it's difficult to say a story of that nature is beautiful, but her writing is extraordinary.
"...you want to be truly unselfish? Love someone or die for someone. Those are the only good deeds you can perform without any hope of personal gain."
I wouldn't say 'The End of Alice' is grotesque at all. It's not in the same category as a book like 'American Psycho' or anything slasher/transgressive or however Grotesque is defined. (I really don't know.)
Is 'Geek Love' by Dunn considered Grotesque?
'Alice' reminds me more of a moral literary work like 'The Secret History' by Donna Tartt or 'A Prayer for the Dying' by Stewart O'Nan.
That's strange - I wouldn't put a story like End of Alice with The Secret History (which I loved).
And I don't think of Geek Love as grotesque either... Would you care to expand on that?
American Psycho is definitely grotesque. Also The Girl Next Door and Off Season both by Jack Ketchum.
But then maybe I'm the one misunderstanding the term. 
I'm going to dictionary.com
–adjective
1. odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre.
2. fantastic in the shaping and combination of forms, as in decorative work combining incongruous human and animal figures with scrolls, foliage, etc.
–noun
3. any grotesque object, design, person, or thing.
OK - according to that, you're (Mirka) more right than us...
I was defining it as "gross." lol
labelleza wrote:
This is what I thought Pete said.
I'm going to assume you're talking dirty to me because I'm the Book Club god.
That's because you haven't finished 'Alice'! It's quite a shocker and a very redeeming book .
Well, the parents intentionally create children that are monsters (though they thing they are UNIQUE and BEAUTIFUL) and there's incest and such..so..
But then maybe I'm the one misunderstanding the term.
I'm going to dictionary.com
–adjective
1. odd or unnatural in shape, appearance, or character; fantastically ugly or absurd; bizarre.
2. fantastic in the shaping and combination of forms, as in decorative work combining incongruous human and animal figures with scrolls, foliage, etc.
–noun
3. any grotesque object, design, person, or thing.
OK - according to that, you're (Mirka) more right than us...
I was defining it as "gross." lol
I would say in the case of AP that it's not gross, but gratuitous! hahha, but you know I dislike that one.
I wish I hadn't read 'The Girl Next Door'. I'll never read another Ketchum. I don't think that that book was gratuitously violent, it was actually very well intentioned, but I couldn't take it.
I have The End of Alice and found it quite boring as well. Quit after about forty pages, i think. Also, someone who did finish it [The Velvet's CandleMan, whose taste is impeccable] told me that it was essentially a really shitty version of Lolita without the morality. And, really, i've heard mostly bad things about this book, and quite a few disturbing things, so it's a bit unlikely that i'll bother to read it.
I'm interested in hearing any redeeming quality to this book.
It's slightly like Lolita, yes. I find things interesting that have a theme of obsession, even if they are a bit banal. I love the way it's written. I dunno. I just like it.
The way she writes, I basically saw the book in my head. In all it's disturbing glory.
"...you want to be truly unselfish? Love someone or die for someone. Those are the only good deeds you can perform without any hope of personal gain."
I think i'll forgo the, um, pleasure. Especially if the writing's its only saving grace.
Forgo the pleasure...and enjoy the major fun of being pretentious.
"...you want to be truly unselfish? Love someone or die for someone. Those are the only good deeds you can perform without any hope of personal gain."
Where is there pretense in my statement? If the writing's all there is to carry me and i find the writing boring, what more can i do?
When I read this post I wondered how long it would be before AP came up. Its just gruesome. bleh. And I'm with Mirka on Geek Love, but grotesque seems to have a negative connotation and I wouldn't apply to GL in a negative way.
From the literal definition I'm reminded a bit of Jeff Noon. Specifically Automated Alice
"after feeling under the weather a few days one time I went to check my symptoms online. web MD informed me I had Scarlet Fever." -Cam Cam
"I think I got hit on too. An 80-year-old woman said my glasses are very attractive. I told her that hers were pretty nice too.". -Steve
"Bloke came home from work and I'm still in my nightie. I call that a successful day off." --Sarah
Oh - I've always wondered about Automated Alice. I've never seen anybody say anything about it. And lately around here - if you ask about a book somebody says, "just read it and you can be the first to comment..." or something along those lines. lol.
I would think as a society we would give Grotesque a negative connotation. But after reading the Dictionary.com definition - it hardly needs to be looked at as negative. Just different.
labelleza wrote:
This is what I thought Pete said.
I'm going to assume you're talking dirty to me because I'm the Book Club god.
the girl next door is based on a real story, that is the most depressing part of it.
I'm reading The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan, and it's sort of about a family of four children who's parents die, and they burry their mom in the basement and don't tell anyone. There's sort of underlying weird tones of incestual masturbation and things like that....and it's uncomfortable and weird. I don't know if it's grotesque, but it's definitely odd and sort of gross.
Brentinlouis Wrote: What was that rule about being intentionally annoying?