It is back to books this week. Of late I have been immersed in Transgressive Fiction. Here are five transgressive books that I have read recently. Click on the links to read my reviews.
The Devil All The Time
This gothicesque novel is replete with reprehensible rednecks, depraved content and frequent shifts in points of view.
My Review: Willard’s wife has cancer, so he turns to God for help. As her condition worsens, his invocations become increasingly extreme. There are …(more)
Black Hole Town
This aptly named novelette boasts memorable characters, visceral prose and an abundance of effectively employed adjectives.
My Review: Friends Fortz and Goose are degenerate drinkers and drug users. Goose is fed up with his psychotic, pill-popping girlfriend Miley, so he hatches a …(more)
A Decent Ride
This is one of Welsh’s lighter books. Its seediness, humour and bawdy Leith vernacular dialogue will appeal to many.
My Review: Terry ‘Juice’ Lawson is an Edinburgh taxi driver who moonlights as a porn actor and drug fixer. Since losing his virginity at the age of eleven, he has …(more)
Blood Meridian
Set in the 1800’s, Blood Meridian is an episodic book, which is almost unparalleled in its misanthropy and repugnant content.
My Review: ‘The Kid’ is a fourteen-year-old hailing from a Tennessean backwater. Following an ill-fated stint as a conscript in a Mexico-bound militia, he is …(more)
The Rules of Attraction
Published in 1987, this transgressive work adroitly captures the era’s zeitgeist with regards to drugs, music, and above all relationships.
My Review: The book is written in the first person from the perspective primarily of three students – Lauren, Sean and Paul. All are pupils of Camden College, an …(more)
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