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Under the Poppy

3.4 of 5 stars 3.40 · rating details · 273 ratings · 83 reviews

Decca, runs a Victorian brothel, Under the Poppy, and is in love with co-owner Rupert, who, in turn, is in love with Decca's brother, Istvan. When Istvan appears, louche puppet troupe in tow, their desires play out against a backdrop of approaching war and the townsmen seek refuge watching the girls of the Poppy cavort onstage with Istvan’s naughty puppets....

ebook, 300 pages

Published June 2010 by Small Beer Press

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Dec 27, 2010 Joel rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 52-in-2010, 2010, library-books, stefon

Please enjoy the second installment in the new series, Stefon on Literature. Take it away, Stefon!

It's the 1870s, and Brussells' hottest brothel is Under the Poppy. Club owners Decca and Rupert have though of everything: opium-addicted whores on swings, rent boys in costume, mute piano players, unrequited gay love, horny Gepettos...

I'm sorry, Stefon, horny Gepettos?

You know that thing where a master puppeteer uses his skills to create puppets so lifelike that a prostitute can't tell they aren't...more

40 likes · like · see review

May 16, 2010 Mike marked it as to-read · review of another edition

I recommended FSG try to acquire this lurid and powerful novel; their loss is Small Beer's gain. Beautiful cover, too.

5 likes · like · see review

May 23, 2012 Incandragon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

This is a beautifully written book. It uses a non-standard format that works astonishingly well for the book's theme. (Love, love, love how Koja incorporated that theme.) It's written with an omniscient narrator, with shifting POVs, and the dialog is entwined with the narrative prose.

The rhythm and tone is stunning. The characters are delightful. I was even prepared to love the book regardless of the ending, but the ending was fabulous.

It's a thick read, though. This is not a fluffy book.

(I know...more

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May 23, 2013 Tocotin rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-literature, ebooks, historical-fiction, i-can-has-slash, kindle, my-own-books

Whore. Whore whore whore whore. What the hell is this, the Holy Bible? No, it's a book about a brothel. Go figure.

Whore. This is the most used word in this book. It's used casually. It's used with a wink. It's supposed to make the book edgy. It fails.

Recently, this is one of my most hated words, and it makes me hate books which use it so casually. Especially - I'm sorry - if the author is a woman and employs it in the narration. Seriously, it's counterproductive. It's lazy, callous, and traitoro...more

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Mar 03, 2012 Kelly rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, friendship, love-story

Ambivalent is how I feel about this book. One week after I finished it, I am finally writing a review. I needed this time to ponder the book, reread parts, and finally read reviews by others. Alas, despite these measures, I still feel uncertain about the contradictions the book instills in me.

First, the book received some acclaim (and even an award) because it deals with homosexual love, but I feel that the book only lightly touches upon this because the author is not comfortable enough (or brav...more Ambivalent is how I feel about this book. One week after I finished it, I am finally writing a review. I needed this time to ponder the book, reread parts, and finally read reviews by others. Alas, despite these measures, I still feel uncertain about the contradictions the book instills in me.

First, the book received some acclaim (and even an award) because it deals with homosexual love, but I feel that the book only lightly touches upon this because the author is not comfortable enough (or brave enough?) to truly explore this. What I mean by this is that the author has no problem providing lurid descriptions of heterosexual activity in the brothel, but she skims the homosexual interactions. I don't want to read specific descriptions, but why would she not treat both the same? I appreciate that the first half of the book is set in the brothel and the second half in more cultured society so that may contribute to the "tamer" sexual references (because the author is kinder to Lucy's interactions in the second half of the book as well).

Second, I detest the use of maybe written as "may be" every time it is used. It irritated me. I also found the writing style irritating - the author was simply trying too hard to do something different. The stream of consciousness attempts and italics (sometimes)for conversation and flip flopping from person to person and topic to topic were too much. She already employed multiple narrators, and these other affectations distracted me so that I wasn't always focused on the plot. And yet, I kept reading because the writing was not unlike a scab that you pick at even though you know you should not.

Third, the plot a simple story really - Rupert loves Istvan, and Istavan's sister Decca loves Rupert, and Istvan loves Rupert, but the boys (for they are young when they fight)are separated by a ridiculously simple argument and Rupert and Istvan end up running a brothel together. The brothel tries to raise itself above its station by offering nightly cabaret style plays. Hmm... I think Moulin Rouge (and others) have already done this. When the men flee (after a reconciliation and murder/death)with Lucy, they recreate themselves (a bit) in Europe only to have their past catch up with them.

Fourth, the author uses Istavan's attachment to his puppets to such an extent that it's actually creepy. Yes, she wants us to all realize that we are all puppets to some extent and it's the puller of the strings who is really in charge. There are some good lines in the book that provide these insights, but I don't think it was worth reading 300+ pages to glean those few lines. And, how does the book end? Why with a wedding of course - let's wrap everything up nicely and make everyone happy.

Finally, I really did want to like this book. I really did. I like the idea of the book - we do what we do to survive; we all let love ruin us a bit; life is not fair; people with money and means get away with things they should not; and the Victorian Era was full of vulgar, cruel, and insidious people. But the book did not paint the picture well for me. Then again, may be (spelled this way on purpose) I'm not sophisticated enough to appreciate this type of book. (less)

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Feb 19, 2012 Tim Hicks rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Three stars, No, five. Bah, I'll give it four.

I am another reader who usually sticks to science fiction and fantasy. This is neither, apart from being set in a world/place/time that is not quite ours.

First, be aware that it's densely written and a slow read. That's not to say it isn't well written, There are some hundred-word sentences with not one word that doesn't belong. And only very rarely did I wonder if Koja was thinking "Look what a clever writer I am."

The writing perhaps mirrors the...more

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Dec 05, 2011 Warren Rochelle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Under the Poppy won the 2011 Spectrum Award for Best Novel (given for positive GLBT content in speculative fiction), an award well deserved. Set in an alternate 19th-century Europe, in a brothel, and somewhere a train ride from Paris, with war imminent, this is the story of a love triangle. Decca, who is the co-owner of the brothel with Rupert, is in love with him. Rupert loves her brother, Istvan. When Istvan returns, with his puppet troupe, these old desires resurface, sharpened by the coming...more

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Oct 16, 2011 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbt, history, romance

(Re-posted from http://theturnedbrain.blogspot.com)

How did I even end up with this book? Do you know what it’s about? Puppets. Puppets! Fucking puppets man. I hate puppets. The creep me the hell out. And ‘Under the Poppy’ is just crammed full of them. In the literal sense, in that there is traveling genius puppeteer Istvan who has created and stolen a whole troupe of puppets with which he performs well received (and oft times risqué) shows all across 1800s Europe. But also in the metaphorical se...more (Re-posted from http://theturnedbrain.blogspot.com)

How did I even end up with this book? Do you know what it’s about? Puppets. Puppets! Fucking puppets man. I hate puppets. The creep me the hell out. And ‘Under the Poppy’ is just crammed full of them. In the literal sense, in that there is traveling genius puppeteer Istvan who has created and stolen a whole troupe of puppets with which he performs well received (and oft times risqué) shows all across 1800s Europe. But also in the metaphorical sense, in that Koja spends a lot of time examining who controls a mans strings, and what lengths one must go to cut them.

And it’s not just the puppets. This book? Is literary fiction. Do you see me reading literary fiction? No. I read about space ships and swords and post apocalyptic landscapes. And this book? Has none of those things. There’s nothing speculative at all, it’s not like, say, ‘The Book Thief’ where on the one hand it’s all literary but on the other hand it’s narrated by death, no, everything in ‘Under the Poppy’ is as it seems. (Except for Istvan’s creepy ass fucking puppets).

Again I ask, how did I end up with this puppet filled tome of magic-less literature? Actually, no, that’s not the right question. The right question how, given the abundance of puppets and lack of dragons, did I come to love this book so much? Because guys, seriously, I loved this book.

It barely even has a plot for crying out loud! Well, no, actually I think it does have a plot, I think it’s just that I wasn’t quite smart enough to follow it. Or maybe I was too distracted by the decadent prose to keep track of it? Ok, so, we’re in a brothel in the year eighteen something or other, somewhere in Europe, and there’s some sort of war going on. Rupert and Decca are the powners of said brothel, and it’s all business as usual until Decca’s brother Istvan (and his puppets) show up out of the blue. It turns out Dia is in love with Rupert, but Rupert loves Istvan, and Istvan loves Rupert too except that they’ve been parted for reasons most mysterious… Also they need to figure out a way to keep the brothel safe from the encroaching war.

At any given point in this book I was never entirely sure what was going in. There were a great many political machinations, and there a were a bunch of flashbacks to Rupert, Decca and Istvan’s childhoods as Oliver Twist-esque street urchins and then, just when I thought maybe I was getting the hang of it, the first half ends and the second half is basically a sequel set years in the future. Actually this second half was a lot easier for me to follow, and I don’t know if was written to be so, or if I was just settling into the unique grove of Koja’s prose.

In any case, it never really mattered to me that I was always a little lost. This book reminded me of a modernist painting, wherein the artist suggests what the subject is without ever actually coming out and painting. Koja hands nothing to the reader. She revels in the details, the smells and sounds of her European setting, and it’s from this that our understanding of what’s going on is formed. Each sentence is like a rich desert, layered and beautiful, and I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a book so much on a purely mechanical level.

The theme of masters and puppets is always at play in the book, although never obtrusively. I found that I didn’t notice it so much as I was reading, but after I was done I find myself thinking about what Koja was saying a lot. Who is the master of who, indeed.

Really there is nothing I didn’t love about this book. The ending was perfect and bittersweet, the characters to a one were exquisitely crafted, and the dialogue was a delight to read. It had that witty nature to it that only books set in bygone centuries seem to be able to get away with, like a well crafted dance that we’ve forgotten the steps to. Plus, Istvan and Rupert! Talk about your epic romance. Seriously.

What else can I say, but don’t let the disturbing puppets keep you from this truly amazing book.(less)

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May 01, 2011 Juushika rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: status-borrowed

In a historical city that could be 1870s Brussels stands Under the Poppy, a brothel with a flair for the theatrical, run by hard-edged Decca and stoic Rupert. But the unexpected arrival of Decca's brother Istvan, with his puppet troupe and tidings of war, brings unreset and change to the Poppy: the intrigues of politics and murder, hearts broken and won. Under the Poppy is a stylistic tour de force oftentimes hampered by that same strong style. A fantasy of manners in the way of Kushner's Swords...more In a historical city that could be 1870s Brussels stands Under the Poppy, a brothel with a flair for the theatrical, run by hard-edged Decca and stoic Rupert. But the unexpected arrival of Decca's brother Istvan, with his puppet troupe and tidings of war, brings unreset and change to the Poppy: the intrigues of politics and murder, hearts broken and won. Under the Poppy is a stylistic tour de force oftentimes hampered by that same strong style. A fantasy of manners in the way of Kushner's Swordspoint, but with a distinctive dark bend and lush aesthetic, it's strongly reminiscent of Robins's Maledicte. Combined with the book's theatrical inclinationsand puppetry and theatre are omnipresentits style may inspire love and hate in equal measure: it holds no middle ground. Koja has an intense, terse voice which brings her book to life, embodying the unrelenting conflict and strange arts that fill it, and that style is often beautiful, but as faithful as Koja is to it it's never wholly natural or immersive. Combined with the convoluted machinations of a fantasy of manners and the many names used by some characters, this can make Under the Poppy hard to follow. Such a lush, complex world invites total immersion, and so it's a pity that the otherwise intriguing style holds the book at a remove.

On a personal note, Under the Poppy is so much my sort of book that I find it difficult to attempt the pseudo-objectivity that I try to maintain in my reviews. The puppetry wasn't to my taste, and it may not quite be the book that I would write myself, but it's a story I understand well. For better and worse the characters could easily have been residents of my id and I was able to anticipate all the plot twists and character interactionsand while such literary wish fulfillment was initially a delight, it ultimately dulled my enjoyment: reading the events that had already played out in my head felt redundant. I want to own Under the Poppy (despite the typos that plague this small-press book), because in many ways it's exactly the book for me and I think that revisiting it when familiar with, and so more comfortable with, its style and familiar with, and so not hoping for the unexpected from, its plot will allow me to revel in that. I find it hard to recommend it to others not because it's not good, but because of my lack of objectivity. For what it's worth, while no book is for everyone this book has a particularly limited, peculiar audiencebut that audience, those in search of a dense dark world of prostitution emotional and physical, playacting on the stage and off, violence in politics and in love, where no quarter is given to character or to reader, may do well to pick up this book. It is not without flaws, but it is wholly, unapologetically, beautifully itself.(less)

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Mar 08, 2011 L rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
This book is problematic. Largely because had it ended at part one, I would've enthusiastically called it one of the best of the year. However, it drags on for an another agonizing part, so that diminished my love for it greatly.

OK, there is a lot of good here. These are some of the most fascinating characters I've come across, and the love affair between Istvan and Rupert is a stereotype defying, raw, beautiful thing. The style is a very original, very thick and in a sense, flashy and at points...more

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Dec 31, 2010 Thebookthief rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: beautiful-imagery, emotionally-powerful, romantic, unusual-premise, not-for-everyone, forgiven-for-its-flaws

Fascinating premise, unusual phrasing that is beautiful but often awkward, characters that are intriguing yet often underdeveloped, and rather lacking in actual sex despite the first half of the book being set in a brothel. Certain idiosyncracies of dialogue and narrative form are distracting and confusing -- such as switching points of view, locations, and scenes within a single paragraph and often within a single sentence -- and while there is emotion evoked within the story, there is also a c...more

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Dec 31, 2011 Karen Ireland-Phillips rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Under the Poppy, Kathe Koje[return]Koje explores the effects of poverty, war, class conflict, and the power and limits of love in a bleak milieu. Her fictional Europe is fantastical, but not fantasy. The only magic is Istvan’s art - his puppets and cynical mockery - and ultimately, the redemptive power of love.[return]There are no hearts of gold at the Poppy, the brothel run by Decca, Istvan’s sister, and Rupert. There is thievery, scandal, conflict, and worry. When Istvan arrives, he threatens...more

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Nov 11, 2012 Jaimie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The unique narrative style of this novel is hard to adjust to initially, but it is almost impossible not to get caught up in the strings of puppet master Istvan and his lover Rupert. The pair of childhood friends, now grown, are surrounded by a motely crew of players, whores, military conspirists, and the social elite, who make for a dramatic mixture of plot twists and intrigues. Ironically, it's not the players or the whores who add the most drama to the mix, but the demanding General and conni...more

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Mar 17, 2011 Alexandra rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2011

This is the second book I read as part of my guest stint on The Writer and the Critic. I'd never heard of Koja before.

Looking around on GoodReads it's clear that this book evokes strong reactions both ways in many people. And I too am riven by indecision about it. The writing is absolutely exquisite; Koja is a mistress of the evocative phrase, the perfect description. It's a delight to read her prose. This delight may be the only thing that got me through the whole book, and even then I skimmed...more This is the second book I read as part of my guest stint on The Writer and the Critic. I'd never heard of Koja before.

Looking around on GoodReads it's clear that this book evokes strong reactions both ways in many people. And I too am riven by indecision about it. The writing is absolutely exquisite; Koja is a mistress of the evocative phrase, the perfect description. It's a delight to read her prose. This delight may be the only thing that got me through the whole book, and even then I skimmed chunks of the last hundred pages or so. Because, sadly, the plot could not carry me, and the characters weren't especially engaging either.

Some spoilers... but not very many.

The novel begins in a brothel in an unnamed town, probably at the tail end of the 19th century, somewhere in Europe. It's owned by Decca and Rupert - not a couple - and as well as whores, Under the Poppy is proud to stage erotic dramas. Real-life drama occurs when Decca's brother Istvan turns up, unearthing old hurts and catalysing all sorts of other problems. There's a war in the offing, so there are soldiers in town, and some rather unsavoury characters who may be involved in the war in more ways than one....

In theory, the plot could have been very interesting: love and personal hurt and betrayal in a time of war can have a lot going for it. And the fact that the novel is set in NoTime, and NoRealPlace, lends a lovely note of the surreal which is aided by the surreality of the Poppy's dramatic presentations, and Istvan's puppets. Sadly, though, the very subtlety that was quite engaging eventually made me very impatient. Very few issues were ever resolved (until the end, where perhaps too much was tied up too nicely for the general tone of the story (contrary, aren't I?)), very little of any character's background was ever fully fleshed out, and while I'm all for mystique there's a line where mystique becomes so opaque as to be ridiculous. For me, Koja crossed that line.

This mystique affected both the plot and the characters. I enjoyed the technique of third-person narrative interspersed with first-person recollections of the past, or commentary on the current situation; that was very well done. However, there wasn't quite enough back story for me to ever fully connect with the characters. And one of the main characters for whom I felt a great deal of sympathy - Decca - ends up being treated so poorly by Koja that I couldn't help but feel offended on her behalf. Yes, Istvan and Rupert are incredibly complex and fascinating characters; but neither of them is very sympathetic (to my mind), and their tantrums got a bit wearing after a while. Unlike someone whose review I read (I don't recall where), Rupert and Istvan will never be among my Top Romantic Pairs of All Time. I rolled my eyes at them too many times.

It wasn't all bad, of course. The mystery of when and where was enough to drive me slightly wild, trying to figure out whether any of the events had genuine historical counterparts. Deeper than that, though, was what Koja was doing with Istvan's puppets. The parallels between Istvan's use of them in precipitating events and reactions in his audience, and the use to which Istvan himself was put (and others, too), was clever, subtle, and rather pointed I thought (in a good way).

Am I glad I read it? No, not really. The plot fell just short of engaging, although as I said the prose was swoon-worthy; and, although the sex wasn't usually that graphic, it was just graphic or suggestive enough that it crossed out of my comfort zone.(less)

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Mar 08, 2013 Owen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, want-to-buy

Ever since I read Kathe Koja's novel Buddha Boy a few years ago, followed by a few of her other YA books, I knew she had become one of my favorite authors. After doing some research, I learned that she writes not just YA, but also horror and erotic books for adults. I was eager to see whether or not her voice would translate well through adult fiction, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little hesitant. After all, she had created some of the most realistic teen characters I had e...more Ever since I read Kathe Koja's novel Buddha Boy a few years ago, followed by a few of her other YA books, I knew she had become one of my favorite authors. After doing some research, I learned that she writes not just YA, but also horror and erotic books for adults. I was eager to see whether or not her voice would translate well through adult fiction, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little hesitant. After all, she had created some of the most realistic teen characters I had ever read, so I didn't know if she would be able to do the same with adults.

It turns out I had nothing to worry about. I guess it was a bit foolish to question how well she could write adult characters, considering she is one. Twice she has proven to me that she can master a genre, and I have no doubt her horror books are just as excellent. She could probably pick any genre and create an excellent book with it.

Brothels. What do I even know about brothels? Well, I suppose I learned more about them from this book. The setting of Under the Poppy is a 19th century brothel and the cast consists mainly of prostitutes and the brothel owners, Decca and Rupert, as well as Istvan- Rupert's lover. There is tension, sexual frustration, and lots of madness.

Under the Poppy is very theatrical and dramatic, and has been adapted to the stage. On one hand it would make a very entertaining play, but on the other, there is so much in this book and physically acting it out would make the viewer miss the complete experience.

At times this book is very hard to get through, I will admit that. In the beginning, the prose tripped me up not because it is dry or boring, but because the language is very unfamiliar (it is set in the 1800s, after all). But once I got about a hundred pages in, I encountered no problems. In fact, I read about the last two hundred pages in one day.

If you like historical books, Victorian era prostitution, and puppets, then Under the Poppy is for you.

This book also has the weirdest trailer i've ever seen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNxktL...

(less)

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Aug 08, 2011 Kristen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary

Maybe I'm just not smart enough or literary enough for this book. I don't think I would have brought it home from the bookstore, having had the opportunity to glance through it first - but instead I agreed to review it for the Historical Novel Society's wonderful quarterly review. I wrote:

Kathe Koja’s Under the Poppy is a weird whirl of lewd theatrical romps, flashbacks to orphaned childhoods, and masterful shifting from one damaged character’s perspective to another. The book’s plot, which come...more

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May 23, 2011 Robert Beveridge rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cuy-co-pub-lib, finished

Kathe Koja, Under the Poppy (Small Beer Press, 2010)

Kathe Koja has been doing this for twenty years now. Actually, a little more; her first novel, The Cipher, kicked off Dell's ill-fated, but brilliant, horror line Abyss. If I remember correctly, it was published in April 1991. Yes, I'm a big enough fan to be reasonably certain about that. The Cipher was unlike anything I'd read before, a perfect blend of horror, surrealism, and existentialism I came to call “horror-of-absence”, for lack of a mo...more

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Mar 18, 2011 Tracy Rowan added it · review of another edition

Recommended to Tracy by: Taylor

This was a birthday gift and I am forever indebted to the giver for introducing me to Kathe Koja's work. I barely know where to start with this review because I am so enamored of both story and style that it's difficult for me to separate the two. And perhaps I shouldn't even try. Koja's writing is dense, often difficult. She does things no writer should ever do, but she does them so adeptly that they feel right. Her use of language is part of what makes "Under the Poppy" so, well... addictive,...more This was a birthday gift and I am forever indebted to the giver for introducing me to Kathe Koja's work. I barely know where to start with this review because I am so enamored of both story and style that it's difficult for me to separate the two. And perhaps I shouldn't even try. Koja's writing is dense, often difficult. She does things no writer should ever do, but she does them so adeptly that they feel right. Her use of language is part of what makes "Under the Poppy" so, well... addictive, I would say since the phrase itself -- under the poppy -- means to be in an opium dream. And Koja's story does seem to qualify.

This is a murky, complicated story in which things are not always explained, people do not always have happy endings, and events are not always what they seem to be. The first half of the story focuses mainly on a strange triangle. There is Decca, the madam of the brothel known as Under the Poppy. Rupert is her "front man," a job that is a little bit of the businessman, a little bit of the bouncer, a little bit of the host. Opinion is divided on these two; are they siblings? Lovers? Both? Into the house comes a puppet master named Istvan who clearly raises some strong emotions in both Decca and Rupert. Much of the first half of the book is the playing out of the emotional script between the three of them. The second half begins as a new triangle: Rupert, Istvan and Lucy, but rapidly becomes a series of interconnected triangles, and new relationships that reiterate old ones in curious patterns.

Koja presents us with a cast of characters who are all-too-human, who do terrible things to each other, never seem to quite know what they want (Save for Istvan, and even he is brought up short on a few occasions.) People whose hearts break or simply stop beating. And for all that there is a clear divide between the world of the brothel and the world of 1870s society, what is even more clear is that there really isn't much difference between a whore and a nobleman. As one character says, which of us hasn't sold ourselves?

But in the end, the language is what carried me away. It's gorgeous, rich, quirky. It flows along like a river, like a song. And it requires patience and attention. If you're not willing to give both, don't bother with this book; you'll hate it.

I finished and very nearly went back to the beginning to start again, that's how much of a hold the narrative had on me. But I think I'd best put some distance between myself and these people before I reacquaint myself with them. They're all a bit dangerous, and I think I love them.(less)

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Feb 16, 2011 Bradley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, queer-book-club, 2013, lgbt-books

"Under The Poppy" is probably one of my all time favorite books. The story telling is amazing and the characters suck you in. It's an achingly beautiful love story that made me cry (tears of joy & sorrow), had me cheer and had me afraid to turn the page to see what was next.

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Aug 22, 2011 notyourmonkey marked it as unread · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-skimmed, kindle, library, library-returned, noir

Oh, I have tried with this book. Tried twice now. There is so much here that I should like, so much that I generally enjoy while reading, but if given a choice, I never pick this book up off the stack. I never feel compelled to keep reading. I get about a hundred pages in by hook or by crook, and then I find something more interesting to do. Like scrub grout.

It will get one more try. Third time has been the charm with several books that have turned out to be treasured favorites. But something m...more

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Mar 17, 2011 Katie M. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, queer

Starting on page five I thought I knew exactly where this book was going: what was going to happen, and to whom, and when. It turned out that I was completely wrong. That's okay. I like being completely wrong. (Well, sometimes. And only under very specific circumstances.) But in every other respect this novel was pretty standard formula, in a good way - if you base your decision to read books entirely on the cover art (as, um, I do), it's exactly what you expect and want it to be. If a little he...more

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Jan 23, 2012 Jennifer rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: aadl, sff

Okay, so I don't usually put a book down half way through, but Under the Poppy was depressing. And in a Michigan January, I don't need depressing.

It is a beautifully written book. The prose is lyrical and elegant. I would read another of Kathe Koja's books in a heartbeat. But I am just not going to enjoy this one. The relationships are really this book's strongest point. And I was impressed.

So if you can enjoy depressing novels about wartime brothels, I suggest this to you, because it should be...more

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Jan 19, 2011 Grace rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, for-fun, didn-t-finish

I heard about Under the Poppy through a online ad, and thought it sounded interesting. Theatre and drama in a time of war? What is not to catch your attention?

I got about halfway through the book and just couldn't force myself to finish it. Up to this point the book was, essentially, about sibling rivalry, love, and human emotions. While it was set in a brothel for this part of the book there weren't many sex scenes, and those that were in there were rather bland, and in some cases, rather crypt...more

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Feb 26, 2011 Bryan Lee Peterson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In Shakespeare, we divide comedy from tragedy by the endings, if people die, it's a tragedy, if there's a wedding, a comedy. The brilliance of his body of work is many of the comedies could have gone to tragedy with a couple different choices. Under the Poppy ends with a wedding, I don't think there's any spoiler there. In the middle there's some murders and some deaths, this is a war story of sorts, but whether this is comedy or tragedy may lie in which character you like the best, or whether y...more In Shakespeare, we divide comedy from tragedy by the endings, if people die, it's a tragedy, if there's a wedding, a comedy. The brilliance of his body of work is many of the comedies could have gone to tragedy with a couple different choices. Under the Poppy ends with a wedding, I don't think there's any spoiler there. In the middle there's some murders and some deaths, this is a war story of sorts, but whether this is comedy or tragedy may lie in which character you like the best, or whether you consider The Poppy to be a character of its own.
Under the Poppy is set in a brothel in 1870s Brussels owned by Decca and Rupert. It is a brothel like no other, with a grand stage, a bawdy puppet show put on by Decca's brother, the puckish Istvan and mute pianist Jonathan. As war threatens nearby, the army takes up occupancy in whatever buildings they can, and the Poppy becomes a boarding house for the military presence, while still running business.
This presence complicates matters for the residents. Accommodations must be made for the soldiers, a new class of people are coming through, including the mayor, and the general in command of the forces. These forces of order react as you might guess to the forces of liberality and counterculture represented in the Poppy, scandals that would have been contained in this vice district are now being witnessed by the high society of the city, and this brings unwanted attentions their way. Istvan in particular will not back down from his ever more outrageous and shocking puppet performances.
Backstage too, controversy begins to build as Decca loves Rupert, but Rupert loves Istvan. The homosexual nature of this relationship is certainly not tolerated in this society, and as it becomes more open, the politics of the house and its relationship to the city become quite complicated. The survival of the Poppy becomes doubtful as the war passes near, supplies begin to run low, the population become afraid to go out, and the residents must make decisions on how to survive, whether remaining at the Poppy is plausible, and every departure hurts.
The exploration of sex and sexuality in Under the Poppy is very well handled. We have a society that has not yet embraced the modern view, but is on the cusp of it, and I think the more modern sensibility is symbolized by Paris in the book. One of the very tricky aspects of a period piece like this is demonstrating just how attitudes differ from the modern while not looking like you are demonstrating it. Koja was very adept at making this apparent and natural to the world of the book. Often, you'll find a character which can embody the modern take on things, but she has a cast of characters with which to accomplish the subtle shading between the liberal and conservative points of view. Sexuality itself is well handled, it would be easy to go over the line, make the kinks an overt motif, but such heavy handedness would certainly be detrimental to this book. Sexuality deserves subtlety in all its variety, but hinting is too little for a book like this. Koja understands this and gives us doses of sexuality in just the right amounts and places to make it resonate without bringing the house down.
There's a few reasons why I wanted to read this book. First, the language was described as lush and poetic, and this it certainly was, on the level of description and metaphor, she wrote a very visual and sensual world, replete with historic sights and smells, beauty and ugliness, rooms filled with cigar smoke and fine alcohols, with gaiety and danger. Her characterization is strong, a significant challenge with the number of social classes represented in the characters of the book, and the structures of the society.
I was also interested because my main character for Inside is mute for part of the book, and I wanted to see how she handled it. In this respect I was disappointed. He was never so significant a character that it became an issue, and some opportunities were probably missed with him, at least I felt.
I did have significant issues with a couple decisions she made in the writing of this book as well. First is how deaths were handled. The first death was one of the girls in the Poppy who had consumption. We hit a point of some tension, a chapter ends, and the next thing that happens, they are talking about the poor girl who died. I felt cheated we didn't see the death scene, we only hear about it second hand in reactions from the rest of the residents of the house. She had been a character of some significance up to that point, and then she was just gone, and people were talking of her in the past tense. Doing this once might have been permissible, but it happens again to a much more significant character and at a much more significant moment, and by much more sinister means. When I didn't get to see this death, I very much felt something was wrong, a wrong choice was made, and from that point I was wary of being cheated again. The shock of that event didn't register because I was feeling the shock of having not seen it happen.
The book's biggest writing challenge, however, was maintaining the large cast of characters, and this for me was the biggest point at which the book failed. There were many point of view shifts in the way the story was told, and while each shift happened at a major section break, so no head-hopping, I felt every time that a new character was being introduced the shape of the line felt like a freeway with many on-ramps, and every time I had to get back up to speed. The effect it had was to break up the ensemble cast feeling I thought the book could have and should have had, while also making the plot feel less straightforward than it really was.
This came down to a point of view issue. It came down to a sort of ensemble over-the-shoulder third person narration, and I would have preferred a stronger through-line, which would have tightened the ensemble cast feeling. As it stood, I felt like I was being introduced to a new character every section, and couldn't be bothered after a point with what the relationships between characters were. Limiting the points of view to only a few would have made it a much better read for me. This is not to say it wasn't a worthy read. I certainly got a lot of what I wanted out of it, and it was a nice break from my usual horror fantasy and scifi reading habits. (less)

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Dec 17, 2010 Just_ann_now rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, women-of-genre, rec-from-a-friend

Recommended by Ellen Kusher. I think Swordspoint fans would enjoy this book very much.

I found the first half of the book, set in a theatrical brothel during wartime in some unnamed central European city, late 19th century, somewhat slow moving: lots of characters, lots of flashbacks, incomprehensible intrigue, and some very confusing punctuation conventions.

Ah, but the second half...!

I think Swordspoint fans would adore this book on the strength of the second half. The writing is lush and rich...more

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Feb 08, 2011 Nikki rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbt, historical-fiction-alternatehistory

Full disclosure: I only read just over half of Under the Poppy. What I did read was interesting, but I couldn't get into it -- I was reading to finish it, not to enjoy it, which is the point at which I'm trying to teach myself to stop reading (unless I need to read it for some academic purpose). Supposedly, according to reviews, the second half is great, but I am really not in the mood right now. I'm not going to donate my copy or give it away -- for one thing, it was a gift from my girlfriend -...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Gerhard rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

For a novel ostensibly set in a brothel, there is very little of the actual mechanics of coitus ... but make no mistake, Under the Poppy reeks of sex; it is drenched in blood, sweat, tears, effluvia and semen.

It is deeply weird, highly disturbing, incantatory and hallucinatory. Reading this is like the literary equivalent of indulging in a really satisfying spliff. The plot is totally incidental; what makes this book is the vivid setting and characters.

Koja's writing is intense and distilled, an...more

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Jan 03, 2011 Adam rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Under the Poppy by Kathe Koja
Final Verdict: 3.75 out of 4.0
YTD: 1

Plot/Story:
4 – Plot/Story is interesting/believable and impactful

If you can imagine a marriage between the coy, tongue-in-cheek, clever mysteries of Agatha Christie and the melancholic, whimsical, romantic lyricism of Shakespeare, then perhaps you have an understanding of what Kathe Koja has created with Under the Poppy. The place is 1870s Brussels, amidst what one assumes is the beginnings of the Franco-Prussian War (at least, thi...more

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Dec 25, 2012 Nicole Wolverton rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this novel. Koja's language is lush, and the writing is vivid and gorgeous. At the same time, the format is at once awkward and hard to follow, yet interesting and pretty. It's hard to get a good grasp of exactly what makes this novel work, but it does--work, I mean. It just takes concentration and commitment to get there.

I enjoyed the character of Lucy most of all, which is perhaps weird since she's a bit player. I guess I feel like I got to know her better t...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Mary Taitt rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

WOW! Compelling, exceptional and very different. Super details. My husband and I loved this book. It is set in 1970s wartime Brussels in a brothel that features acting, puppets and other delights. The characters are diverse and well-fleshed out (in more ways than one.) In a way, it's an unusual romance. It features love and hate and romance and death, war, intrigue, blackmail, murder. While perhaps not for the faint of heart, it is a satisfying read. Three of the main characters, while damaged i...more

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About Kathe Koja

I've been writing since I was very young, just about as soon as I could read. It's more than what I do for a living: writing is who I am, the way I see the world, the way I try to make sense of what I see.

But it wasn't until I attended the Clarion Workshop that I got serious about my writing. At Clarion I met writers, real live writers whose books I had actually read, who read my stories, offered...more I've been writing since I was very young, just about as soon as I could read. It's more than what I do for a living: writing is who I am, the way I see the world, the way I try to make sense of what I see.

But it wasn't until I attended the Clarion Workshop that I got serious about my writing. At Clarion I met writers, real live writers whose books I had actually read, who read my stories, offered helpful critiques, and most of all, took me seriously as a fellow writer. That changed my life. A few years later, I sold my first novel. Four more novels and a short fiction collection for adults were published in the '90s.

Writing straydog, my first book for young people, ushered me into a world I knew already as a reader. Many of the characters I love best in fiction -- Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet, J.D. Salinger's Holden and Franny and Zooey, Francesca Lia Block's Witch Baby -- are people who say what they think, show their bewilderments, struggle with hard ideas, love with all their hearts; exasperating, funny, intense people. Young people.

I'm a strong supporter of animal rights, so I'm especially proud that straydog was honored by both the ASPCA and the Humane Society. I believe that you can learn everything you need to know about a person by watching the way s/he acts with animals and little kids, the powerless ones. Which is what Buddha Boy is primarily about: power. Who has it, who abuses it, and what it's really for.

Writing fiction is a discipline not only of words, but of vision: I have to see a thing clearly in my mind's eye -- a character, a situation -- before I can begin to write about it. The Blue Mirror is about vision, and what can happen when we finally open our eyes.

Talk looks at freedom: the freedom to think and act and choose for yourself, to live the reality of who you are inside -- and about freedom's greatest enemy, fear.

Going Under explores the boundaries of trust and of loyalty: how far into the darkness can you -- should you -- go, even for someone you love?

Kissing The Bee examines the power of growth and inevitable change, how to reach for what you want without betraying who you are. And the novel that follows -- Headlong, coming in fall '08 -- looks at social class and aspirations, and what "having it all" it might mean for two very different girls

I'm a proud native Detroiter, growing up in an east side suburb. I still live near the city with my husband, artist Rick Lieder, and our three cats.(less)

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Quotes from Under the Poppy

“You see, that hunger inside us, that ambition, or whatever you may choose to call it, is a compass really, a compass of true desire. And if you will be happy, you must follow that desire, no matter which way the needle points.” — 2 people liked it

“The stage is not only a world apart, it is a myriad of worlds, and in those worlds a man can have anything he fancies, if only he believes in what he sees.” — 2 people liked it

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