postmodernblues's Reviews (465)

"... was my outrage a little the result of being in love with Holly myself? A little. For I was in love with her. Just as I'd once been in love with my mother's elderly colored cook and a postman who let me follow him on his rounds and a whole family named McKendrick. That category of love generates jealousy, too."  - Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany's, page 72

"Later he said: 'I'd give anything in the world for something different.'

'Different from me or different from everything?'

'Different from everything... only I've got nothing... what's the good of talking?'

'Oh, Adam, my dearest...'

'Yes?'

'Nothing'.'"  - Evelyn Waugh, Vile Bodies, page 273


Waugh's flowery style lured me past the facade of wealth and decadence into the hollow within and I am delighted and miserable. A brilliant read.

"... we love one another, and that makes all the rest easy to bear." - Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, page 480

If The Great Gatsby is the quintessential American novel, Little Women deserves a spot next to it.

"He sighed. It was a long sigh, weary and worldly-wise. The kind of sigh you could picture God heaving after six days of hard work only to be handed a report by an angel concerning a problem with someone eating an apple." (page 235).

That little detail has Neil Gaiman's paw prints all over it. Good Omens, anyone?

Solid sci-fi with some interesting physical and pseudo-physical concepts regarding multidimensional travel. I think it could actually stand to have been longer, with more exposition and character-building at the beginning.

Better Than The Movies? More like "Exactly Like The Movies".

"'Earl, if you want to cope with this, you'll just have to accept the truth.'

Keese became very haughty. 'No, I don't,' he said. 'I don't have to accept anything that doesn't suit me'." - Thomas Berger, Neighbors, page 141


I'll be the first to admit that I only decided to pick this up after watching its 1981 movie adaptation, which I loved. It absolutely baffles me how poorly the film did upon its release, because I think Aykroyd and Belushi did a phenomenal job bringing the acute horror of the story to life. Having now read the book, it's clear that the movie is a surprisingly faithful adaptation of the book. Very few events and details are left out of the film. 

Berger's style lends itself incredibly well to the claustrophobia of the story. By the end, the reader feels as though they are driving slow circles around the very cul-de-sac of the novel's setting, becoming fleetingly acquainted with the small cast of characters just as they begin to morph and change. The characters are elusive and untrustworthy. The house itself is sinister. Everything feels wrong, and yet, by the end, it all feels as though it has fallen morbidly into place. The unsettling motifs, as well: dogs, cold food, prostitution. Each made me want to go back and try and piece together Berger's themes about suburban culture.  

The only thing I disliked about this book was its structure. The sectioning-off of the story into chapters was jarring and diminished the downward-spiral feel of the book. Often, chapters would end on cliffhanger notes, which, in my mind, cheapened the experience a little. In my opinion, I think it would have been better without any chapter divisions.

Beyond that, though, I loved this book a great deal. The experience is incredibly unique and the novel and the movie complement each other in unexpected ways. Definitely worth a read, if you're up for it.