I Spit on Your Graves

I Spit on Your Graves

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75  ·  rating details  ·  2,035 ratings  ·  85 reviews
Boris Vian was a novelist, jazz musician, jazz critic, poet, playwright, a friend of Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Raymond Queneau, Jean Cocteau, Louis Malle, Jean Paul Sartre, and numerous others of forties and fifties Parisian cultural society. He was also a French translator of American hard-boiled crime novels. One of his discoveries was an African-American writer by th...more
Paperback, 177 pages
Published January 1st 1998 by Tamtam Books (first published 1946)
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Giulia
Alex di A Clockwork Orange a Lee Anderson gli fa un baffo. E con questo vi ho detto tutto, o quasi.

In questo libro c’è talmente tanto sesso, violenza, sangue, che anche gli amanti più accaniti della così detta “trasgressive fiction” (tra i quali mi annovero anche io), non possono non provare addirittura ribrezzo dinanzi a certe immagini.

Vernon Sullivan (pseudonimo di Boris Vian) racconta la storia di Lee Anderson, nero dalla pelle bianca, che approda a Buckton, dove nessuno lo conosce e dove ha...more
Ken
When Jean d’ Halluin first published I Spit On Your Graves in 1946, he was looking for a bestseller to kickstart his new imprint, Editions du Scorpion. Written by an African-American writer named Vernon Sullivan, the book was a visceral, often misogynistic, and (once it gets rolling) violent pulp novel offering a gritty commentary on racial injustice in the United States.

The plot centered on Lee Anderson, a light skinned black man seeking revenge for the murder of his brother at the hands of wh...more
Tosh
If "Foam of the Daze" is lightness with bitter sweet taste, than Vian's "I Spit on Your Graves" is a work of pure hate, lust and evil. There are two (or a lot more) sides to Vian's work - and he was also a masterful 'pulp' writer.

For more info on this check out : www.tamtambooks.com

It's kind of creepy to push one's book to the general public, but then again I just paid for it, I didn't write it! Somehow in English Vian slipped into the spaces of time. Whenever the names Camus or Sartre is mentio...more
Manny
I'm afraid I found this book rather revolting. It is meant to be read ironically at some level (at least, it is widely claimed that that's the correct interpretation), but to me it came across more as sadistic pornography. Though the author was, as usual, very inventive. He wrote the book in French, but claimed it was a translation of an American thriller written by a hitherto unknown black author; the book, Vian said, couldn't be published in the US because the story involved a black hero who s...more
Jana
So. I don’t know. It’s slightly trashy. Vian is an underdog. He started being recommended and on book fares I see more and more of him. I don’t know. He didn’t really impress me. I spit on your graves was written 60 years ago (but you can’t tell at all if you don’t know the info), and the only thing that this guy Lee Anderson does is: have (graphic) sex with southern teenagers and children, gets drunk and hates. Eventually he does something else as well, but not to spoil the book. There is a rea...more
Φαροφύλακας
Κλείνοντας την "Άννα Καριένινα" έπιασα το "Θα Φτύσω στους Τάφους σας" (J'Irai Cracher sur vos Tombes) τού Μπορής Βιαν (Boris Vian), ένας από τους κλασικούς τίτλους που ακούω μέσ' στα χρόνια κι είπα να τον διαβάσω. Είναι μια μικρή νουβέλα και την τελείωσα αυθημερόν.

Το βιβλίο γράφτηκε το 1946 με τον Βιαν κρυμμένο πίσω από το ψευδώνυμο Βέρνον Σάλλιβαν (Vernon Sullivan).

Όπως προδιαθέτει κι ο τίτλος πρόκειται για μια ιστορία μίσους. Αφηγητής είναι ο ίδιος ο ήρωας και δεν είμαι σίγουρος πως καταλαβαίν...more
Stewart Home
I Spit On Your Graves was a literary hoax which was first published as if it had been written in English by an Afro-American author called Vernon Sullivan and Vian was merely its translator. In fact there was no Vernon Sullivan, the ostensible author of this work was a figment of Vian’s imagination and the book was written in French and only translated into English by the author and Milton Rosenthal after it became a bestselling sensation. The plot of I Spit On Your Graves echoes Richard Wright’...more
Federiken Masters
Jan 02, 2011 Federiken Masters rated it 3 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: A cualquier menos a los racistas.
Recommended to Federiken by: Que me gusta cómo canta el autor y Bucletina al prestármelo.
Está difícil puntuar este libro, ya que me pareció muy buena lectura y con un gancho lo suficientemente fuerte como para terminármelo en menos de dos días. Pero mientras más avanzaba la trama, peor me dejaba lo que leía. Se nota que el autor quiso ser crudo y bestial para generar un efecto dramático y antimoralizante mayor, y mierda si lo logra. La novela va cambiando de registro de una manera paulatina pero evidente, lo mismo que el protagonista. Este pasa de ser un perfecto ejemplo de "Magnifi...more
Troy
I needed some fast noir. I needed some sex and violence and lots of speed (not crystal meth, but good old rapid movement, velocity, acceleration, changing of vectors). Or the representation thereof. And I got it.

We all know Boris Vian was a noir-obsessed French guy (but you might say, "but aren't all French guys noir-obsessed?" and then some surly looking bloke might say, "shut up, you,") and this guy Vian pretended to translate books by an imaginary friend who was also an U.S. American black gu...more
Thecla
hat can I say about the book!!! OMG is a good place to start!! What was all that about??? Where were these peoples parents?

I really wanted to like the characters but hated all of them. Lee was a total twat (even him dying with an erection was a bit OTT). Dexter I liked even less especially on his visits to Anna's (I wanted to really scream at both of them at this point). Those poor girls was all I could think. All the females in this book were portrayed badly and as weak.

The only time I was sy...more
Amandine
Jun 24, 2011 Amandine rated it 2 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommended to Amandine by: Pauline
2,5 étoiles.

Marathon ABC recommandations (V)

Si une amie ne m'avait pas offert ce livre, il est fort probable que je ne l'aurais pas encore lu à l'heure actuelle et que je serais toujours résolue à ne le lire qu'en dernière extrémité. Ce mauvais a priori me venait essentiellement du titre, trop provocant à mon goût, surtout en sachant l'époque de publication de cette œuvre (moi et le 20e siècle, on est très loin de l'amour-passion).
Finalement, je ne regrette pas de l'avoir enfin lu et découvert....more
Ira Bespalova
I ordered this book on the net a few weeks ago. It is pretty extraordinary. It's called " I Spit on Your Graves" by Boris Vian. I've read a dozen of extremely negative feedbacks on this novel but decided to check it out for myself, just for the hell of it. I Spit on Your Graves is an extremely violent hard-boiled novel about racial and class prejudice, revenge, justice, and is itself a literary oddity due to the fact that it was written by a jazz-loving white Frenchman, who had never been to Ame...more
knig
Feb 24, 2012 knig rated it 3 of 5 stars
Shelves: 2012
The deep American South in the 1940s as per Boris Vian’s riotous imaginings, condensed in a gripping Kaliforniesque, Bataillesque road trip of fornication and murder. I say imaginings, because its doubtful Vian ever set foot in America, although this of course is not the point.
A highly stylised crime noir, this slim novel packs in every conceivable affront to general morality and human decency. Ostensibly about a black man who has white features going on a calculated rampage to avenge the lynchi...more
abo
Un piccolo gioiello di letteratura della vendetta.
Velma
Dec 11, 2010 Velma rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of Dexter & American Psycho
Recommended to Velma by: Tosh
Would have only been a 3-star if not for the back-story intrigue; author "fraud" is worth an extra star in my book any day. With boatloads of sex and violence like any good pulp novel, this one also has social commentary on racial and class themes via the protagonist, Lee Anderson, a poor black man "passing" as white in upper-middle class society and perpetrating enough bad deeds to shock a 21st century audience; I would love to read the 1947 reviews! This 3-hour read was enough to entice me to...more
Anastasia
4.5/5

Mi piace toccare questa copertina, è così liscia. Hmmm.
Ehm, sì, siamo in onda. Coff.

Ho finito ieri a letto questo caro libretto con un bel po' di sonno addosso e una certa enfasi da fine lettura. Ero lì che mi dicevo "no, no, si merita il massimo dei voti, è grandioso". Poi il giorno dopo, in piena lucidità mentale, ho guardato me stessa con sconcertamento. Ma sei scema?! Ma come ha fatto solo a passarti per l'anticamera del cervello?!
Per la serie "dormiamoci sopra".
E' un buon libro, ma r...more
Monica Carter
It's not easy to write novel featuring a protagonist as reprehensible as Lee Anderson, but only someone like Boris Vian can do it and do it well. And there aren't many writers like Boris Vian. I have long been a fan of Vian since reading his sci-fi-esque, nihilistic love story Foam of Daze. Vian led me to my current theme because when I thought of thrillers, I thought less of the mainstream formulaic idea of thriller and more of the hardcore, pathological, psychological idea of what the feeling...more
Bucletina
Es un sopapo directo a la cara. La más pura y cruda realidad. Ni mensajes alentadores, ni víctimas bondadosas. Ninguna intención de lograr que el texto deje alguna moraleja o constituya un relato moralizante. Refleja los esperables efectos que producen tantos siglos de opresión, dolor, torturas y humillaciones. Es horrendo, cruel, terriblemente violento, asqueroso. Es imposible identificarse con los actos de su protagonista. ¿Realmente lo es? No sé, igual no creo que sea la intención de su autor...more
Andy
I love Foam of the Daze and Heartsnatcher, but this was OK. It was a great, riveting read, but I like Vian better when he explodes genre instead of straining its structures as he does here. I'm sure this has been commented on before, but what went wrong in this edition? It had more typing, formatting, and spelling errors than a blog entry. Almost every other page had something wrong with it. Rarely does sort of thing reach the level of distraction I found in this edition.
Melody
A fitting book to read on the tail of Native Son. The stories take place in about the same time and deal with the subject of an angry black man spiraling down to a hopeless end. In I Spit on Your Graves, however our young man is "passing as white"; knowing that if the people he was hanging out with, drinking with, having sex with, knew that he had the slightest smidgen of black blood, his life would be in danger. His brother was murdered for loving a white girl and now he is out to revenge his b...more
anne
Je comprends le parallele entre J'irai cracher et American Psycho, si ce n'est que J'irai cracher a une portee politique peut-etre plus evidente.
Cela etant... autant j'ai adore L'Arrache-coeur, autant la, j'ai plus de mal. J'ai aime, c'est sur. Le style, l'histoire, la langue... mais disons que certains passages sont un peu plus durs a lire que d'autres.
Laurent
Un chef d'oeuvre de la litterature, pourtant ecrit en 15 jours. Quand je lisais, je sentais la folie, la violence et le desir sexuel du personnage principal. Je pensais vraiment vivre cette histoire et je sentais la haine entre ces personnages. Un recit court mais qui vous marque pour tres longtemps.
Jeremy
Sep 22, 2011 Jeremy rated it 2 of 5 stars
Shelves: 2011
Really bizarre premise here, a Frenchman wrote this in the 30's and claimed it was written by an African-American who had his brother lynched. It was published to a storm of controversy for good reason, because it is super racist.

Giant boner conclusion earns a half star. Not mine, the protagonist...
Walter Proof
Parodie de roman noir américain, écrite en moins d'une semaine, signée sous le pseudonyme de Vernon Sullivan, prise très au sérieux à l'époque de sa parution, à tel point qu'elle conduira Boris Vian jusqu'au tribunal.
Je possède une édition originale de ce Vernon Sullivan, aux Editions de Minuit.
Jacqueline
Wow, c'est puissant comme truc ! Une histoire haletante dont les éléments se mettent en place progressivement jusqu'à l'issue finale. Presque une course contre la montre où la tension monte à chaque chapitre. Du sexe, de l'alcool, des grosses voitures, de la violence... Je ne savais pas trop à quoi m'attendre en commençant ce livre mais je n'ai pas été déçue du voyage.
Varol Aksoy
Boris Vian üslup olarak o ilham verici hayal dünyası, imgeleri, renkli bakışı bu kitapta Günlerin Köpüğü kadar ön plana çıkmış değil. Yine de intikam duygusunu, ırkçılığa karşı sert cevabı gayet net ve sürükleyici bir şekilde anlatıyor. Duruma göre tavsiye edilesi kitap. :)
Julia
Una de las novelas con menos escrúpulos y más extrañas que he leido en mucho tiempo. Muy interesante si se tiene en cuenta el contexto en que fue escrita, pero no apta para gente sensible...puede resultar hiriente y desagradable con descripciones muy violentas y sexuales.
Vivi
Je n'ai lu ce livre qu'une fois, certainement parce qu'il a fait une impression trop forte sur moi pour que j'ose le relire. Mais chaque chose viendra en son temps.
Je me rappelle que je l'ai finis en une nuit probablement parce que l'idée d'aller me coucher sans connaître la fin de l'histoire me faisait trop peur.
C'est l'un des livres qui a eu le plus d'impact sur moi, mais je crois que je n'avais que 15 ans que je l'ai lu... J'ai été à la fois dégoûtée et fascinée. Avec le recul, je peux voir...more
Marina Nova
Без съмнение една от най-тежките книги, които съм чела.. Оставам със смесени чувства. Но определено не може да се отрече майсторството.
Mathieu
Un roman noir (ah ah !) pour parler de la ségrégation des noirs aux USA. Le récit est brut, sans artifices, et ne fait pas dans le détail.

Le héros, sans scrupules, est néanmoins attachant, et c'est ce qui, au final, est dérangeant. Ce livre au final amer est vraiment poignant. Du très bon.
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Boris Vian was a French polymath: writer, poet, musician, singer, translator, critic, actor, inventor and engineer. He is best remembered for novels such as L’Écume des jours and L'Arrache-cœur (translated into English as Froth on the Daydream and Heartsnatcher, respectively). He is also known for highly controversial "criminal" fiction released under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan and some of his...more
More about Boris Vian...
L'Écume des jours Heartsnatcher Autumn in Peking L'Herbe Rouge Et on tuera tous les affreux

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