Geek Love: A Novel by Katherine Dunn Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Geek Love: A Novel
Book Review: A PERFECT DESIGN
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, if you are on Amazon to look for a new book to read, and decide to read the reviews first, than listen up. Read the "synopsis", see what it's about? Yeah, it's not a novel about Nerds who fall in love; it's a fantastical novel about a family that is designed to be full of horror, wonderment, shock and awe, literally. If you cannot stomach reading descriptions of deformities, or people who are cult followers to the nth degree, or talk of injuries to both body and soul and mind, than do not buy this. If you do, than soon you will be on here reviewing this and saying "it was disgusting, and horrific, and I didn't get it" This book isn't for the faint of heart, or the simpleton who just wants quick read before settling into beddy-bye for the night. You must be able to wrap your head around profound, well written, scarring literature. If you choose this for a readers circle, or book club, make sure that everyone has an open mind, you don't want to choose this and than have a bunch of people look at you like you grew fins and a hunchback.
We all have handicaps, physical or mental. I know that I can personally blame my parents for the struggle and afflictions I have had in my life, they might not have designed me that way, but they sure as heck didn't think before they acted. I fell in love with this book because I fell in love with the sublime mystery of It all, I couldn't wait to see how it unfolded, and how it came to be that Oly was on her own looking after both her daughter and her mother, and neither knew who she was. I will forever treasure this book.
Book Review: A Study for the Bold
Summary: 3 Stars
I haven't actually finished this book, but this is my second attempt. My first, when I was 16, was shadowed by a sense of wrongness, as I'm sure many people have experienced. I still pale at some of the things that happen. But my cringe is the result, now, of the feelings of disgust that swim around this novel, not for the characters or what happens. To explain why, I took a class last semester about the history of carnival and sideshow and more importantly the people considered freakish enough to be a part of them. Instead of being turned off by the characters, bizarre as they may be, it is the reaction of the "norms" that make me want to cry. Hate is obvious in this book, and it is the hate which we should see in the words and learn from Dunn's writing that we do not want to be the ones to hate "others". Its a difficult book with a bold lesson for those ready to face it.Book Review: A brilliant tour-de-force of epically grotesque proportions
Summary: 5 Stars
Geek Love is a big, bruised, brightly-colored fireball of a novel birthed from a seismic explosion of freakish fanfare. It is a magic, gooey carnival ride splattered in sex and viscera, with a hangman's sense of humor and enough human oddities to make even the most jaded Palahniuk fan cringe. The narrator , Olympia, is an alopecia-ridden, albino dwarf, who works at her parents' deranged, traveling sideshow and dutifully serves her older brother Arturo the Fish boy's every whim, even as his unadulterated megalomania threatens to destroy them all. This is a squirming, over-the-top book. A violent, take-no-prisoners romp through a gleeful, gilded madman's paradise. Forgot everything you thought you knew about carnival-life, this book will blast away your expectations and leave you whimpering for another go-around.
Dunn's language is rife with memorable descriptions and expertly conceived characters and scenarios. The way each of the family's stories culminates is masterful. Arturo, once he gets into the spotlight, holds sway over all. He is repugnant and intriguing and his cult following is surely deserved. The Twins (conjoined and singing) are hilarious, and who can forget the unborn kids in the jars? Part of the book is told in flashbacks so exquisite, the modern day component has a hard time keeping up, but manages to remain interesting. Also, watch out for the BAG MAN, possibly the most disgusting and simultaneously enthralling character ever put to pen. Ugly, hulking and monstrously strange, like the book itself, the Bag Man makes you squirm and laugh every time he comes around. This is a beautiful book of bizarre goings-on. It will satisfy any sick puppy's appetite for grueling human depravity, and make you tear up at the end too! Swear to God, it's got it all. Don't wait, buy it right now, if you like Palahniuk and that sort of thing. This is better.
Book Review: A dark and engrossing read
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is truly and spectactularly engrossing. I was unable to put it down, and was forced to guzzle multiple cups of dark and overwarmed coffee at work from lack of sleep over the three days it took me to finish this book (yes, I did manage to get a few quality hours of sleep in the middle). Dark and completely unlike anything you have ever written, you will be confounded and shocked and moved in ways you hadn't imagined until picking up this book. Dunn has a truly lyrical style that makes it a pleasure to read.
There were a few times when my discomfort level was so high, I nearly stopped reading, so let that be known before you recommend to any friends. This is not for the mainstream Nicholas Sparks crowd. They will wonder why you ever recommended such a book, and you will be dissappointed that your friends aren't able to appreciate such a rare jewel. Keep this one to yourself, and enjoy. Don't say I didn't warn you! You won't be able to put it down.
Book Review: A keeper in its strangeness!
Summary: 5 Stars
A man and his wife, owners of Binewski's Carnival Fabulon, acquire many odd human freaks of nature, including their own children (both alive and dead) as part of their traveling show. As odd as they are within the context of the story, the freaks tend to be the norm. "Normal" people flock to see the show and some even begin to amputate body parts in order to be more like Arty, the charismatic flipper-limbed star of the show.
Here is a most amazing book that will be either loved or hated by its readers. The writing is wonderful. The topic is difficult. If the reader is not offended by the material and stops halfway through in disgust, the story itself turns out to be imaginative and thought-provoking. It brings to mind concepts of what is "normal" versus freaky as well as makes us wonder why people often so blindly follow cults.