book data
236 ratings,
3.72
average rating, 27 reviews
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published
December 1st 1998
(first published 1952)
by TamTam Books
binding
Paperback, 230 pages
isbn
096623460X
(isbn13: 9780966234602)
description
Published in Paris in 1946 as a hardboiled thriller loaded with sex and blood, allegedly censored in the US and "translated" into French, I ...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 318)
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5 stars (62)
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3 stars (55)
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2 stars (26)
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1 star (7)
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avg 3.72
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in July, 2008
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 t...more
The plot centered on Lee Anderson, a light skinned black man seeking revenge for the murder of his brother at t...more
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12 comments
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 ti...more
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 ti...more
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2 comments
Read in March, 2008
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
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Read in January, 2009
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.
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If you like "Violence, crime, and sex" then you will enjoy this book. I'm not sure why people praised it so much, but it reminded me of Ira Levin's "A Kiss Before Dying". Except Levin's novel didn't have all the raunchy sex. It was also more suspenseful.
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Read in January, 2009
" I Spit on Your Graves" is Boris Vian's thriller alias Vernon Sullivan. A realistic , poignant, disturbing but monumental novel . The intrigue reveals the chaotic journey of revenge by a man. This is my second reading and it's clear that the violence of the hero merely concentrate the pain and resentment accumulated over centuries of enslavement. "I Spit on Your Graves" is a symbolically important novel.
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"The novel arose as a bet between Vian and his friend the publisher Jean d'Halluin of Editions du Scorpions. D'Halluin needed a bestseller and Vian declared that he could construct for him a piece with just the right admixture of sex, violence and race relations. I Spit on Your Graves, Vian's first novel, subsequently became a runaway success - and landed Vian a 100,000 franc fine for an 'affront to public morals'."
http://www.readysteadybook.com/Article.a...
I think he ...more
http://www.readysteadybook.com/Article.a...
I think he ...more
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Another book that Vian wrote as his invented author Vernon Sullivan. A nasty, nasty noir with lots and lots of explicit sex and violence (shocking even today, no wonder this book had legal difficulties), misogyny, and questions about race and identity. I still prefer Vian writing as Vian, but this book is an interesting if less than pleasant read.
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Read in November, 2008
s'allright. this isnt a style of writing i respond well to, i suppose. i didnt find it shocking or revolutionary with my today-eyes, and it was clear what was going to happen, and then it happened, and then the book was over. eh.
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Read in October, 2004
Pues la verdad es que me ha gustado bastante; escrita desde un estilo muy natural y rápido, hace que la historia te enganche. La novela va in crescendo a medida que conocemos la historia vital y las motivaciones dell personaje, hasta un final violento y lleno de odio. Quizá encuentro a faltar más detalles sobre la historia que hace actuar a Lee Anderson, pero al mismo tiempo el no saber los detalles, de alguna extraña manera, no le quita interés sino todo lo contrario, ese misterio te "...more
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Read in September, 2008
Not recommended for the general reader!
The story of how this book was made is really interesting, but the actual book is pretty gruesome.
Check it out if you love crime fiction but be prepared for some lurid sex and violence.
Basically, this French guy decided to write an American style hardboiled crime novel only he'd never been to the US.
Also, he pretended that he was translating a novel by an African-American author because he wanted to write about race issues.
He w...more
The story of how this book was made is really interesting, but the actual book is pretty gruesome.
Check it out if you love crime fiction but be prepared for some lurid sex and violence.
Basically, this French guy decided to write an American style hardboiled crime novel only he'd never been to the US.
Also, he pretended that he was translating a novel by an African-American author because he wanted to write about race issues.
He w...more
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Sexually brutal, graphic and sinister. To me, this was an ancestor of books like American Psycho. I enjoyed this book although I was also digusted by it - so it achieved its goal in provoking an emotional response and making me think about race issues that are as true today as they were at the time the book was written. For me, more interesting is the back story regarding the author, the writing of this book, and the author's death... but I will say no more about this.
Unfortunately, ...more
Unfortunately, ...more
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Read in January, 2009
Vile, sadistic filth. Just what I like. Hard to believe this was from 1946. I'll be looking for more books by this author.
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tosh published it, and told me to go to city lights to buy it, so I did. I want to support my super cool friend-but I also loved the book. how wacky that he had people convinced that he was black! how hilarious that it was too scandalous to be believed in '46! how happy I've been the last couple of days muttering "I spit on your graves!" with a french accent under my breath, everytime I see a perfect caucasian woman on the street. thanks tosh!
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Read in November, 2007
In general, Vian is one of the greatest discoveries I've come across in recent years (thanks to Isabelle), especially his book "Foam Of The Daze." This one, however, is not so great. If you want to know what his writings are like, know that his best friends were Louis Armstrong and Sartre...well, maybe that doesn't give you an idea at all...
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There's sexual and interesting, and then there's this book......I"m not sure when rape became dirty and kinky, but I think I missed the boat. Not that I'm one to disengage in a good pulpy novel, but the meaty topics like racial injustice and sexual liberation were played out in a way so misogynistic I hardly could make it through.
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This book, despite the grammatical errors and punctuation mistakes was very powerful. Written by a Frenchman who never visited America, as a "translation" it manages to capture the mood that was likely true to life. Although graphic, the scenes are necessary and get at the raw nature of the narrator's hatred.
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Whoa. This is pretty full on. He apparently wrote it on a bet with his publisher friend, after he said he could write a bestseller hardboiled crime novel. It's chock full of sex and violence, and pretty uncomfortable stuff, too.
Don't read it on the train.
Don't read it on the train.
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Read in May, 2008
One of the most gritty books I've ever read. It's almost laughable how grisly the story is. Like, not "ha-ha" funny but just "sheesh" funny. I think it only took me an afternoon to finish it.
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