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The Thin Wall
Young, innocent college freshman Laleana O’Reilly, disenchanted with societal norms, decides that she needs a new philosophy. One dreary late night in the college library, she discovers the Marquis deSade . . . and Julian. One book. One desire. One unbridled act of passion. Laleana might submit her body, but to the abyss, she'll never surrender her soul.
124 pages, Paperback
First published November 24, 2007
About the author
Cheryl Anne Gardner
10 books40 followersCheryl Anne Gardner is a hopeless dark romantic, lives in a haunted house, and often channels the spirits of Poe, Kafka, and de Sade. She prefers novellas and flash fiction to writing bios because she always seems to forget what point of view she is in. When she isn’t writing, she likes to chase marbles on a glass floor, eat lint, play with sharp objects, and make taxidermy dioramas with dead flies. Her writing has been described as "beautifully grotesque," her characters "deliciously disturbed." Her short fiction has been published in dozens of journals including Dustbin, Hobo Pancakes, Carnage Conservatory, Pure Slush, Negative Suck, Danse Macabre, and at The Molotov Cocktail among others. She lives with her husband on the East Coast USA, and she is currently the head fiction editor at Apocrypha and Abstractions Literary Journal.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 15, 2014
Disclosure: I purchased the novella “The Thin Wall”. I do not know the author nor have I ever had any communication with her about this book. The comments that follow are my own personal opinion. I received no compensation of any kind, or from any one, to provide this review.
This book made reference to The Marquis de Sade’s “Philosophy of the Boudoir” which chronicled sadomasochistic sex among wealthy eighteenth century aristocrats. I missed the sadomasochistic reference in the novella. The deviance in sexual behavior was minimal and nothing compared to De Sade’s work.
The characters in “The Thin Wall” came off as spoiled irresponsible brats with drug problems, and unsuccessful artistic careers. Only Julian was a successful lawyer, and understood his sexual drive. No character surprised me, as they paired off. The hook-ups were immediately obvious.
The book lacked a good plot and I found the writing had too much description. Although poetic, it was out of place and stalled the pace of the story. I found the first part of the book okay, but by the halfway point, the writing became tiresome as the writer began repeating the same phrases and echoes. The large amount of long narratives telling what’s happened, and how the characters felt, slowed the pace of the book to a crawl. She needed to show the characters and their emotional situations.
This novella was classified as “Dark Erotica” or “Dark Romance” but I found it didn’t fulfill either for me. Some passages inferred sexual activity, but no explicit sex was detailed in this book. The “romance” was boring and predictable. I read dark fiction and this book had me dozing. There was nothing disturbing or dark about it.
This book made reference to The Marquis de Sade’s “Philosophy of the Boudoir” which chronicled sadomasochistic sex among wealthy eighteenth century aristocrats. I missed the sadomasochistic reference in the novella. The deviance in sexual behavior was minimal and nothing compared to De Sade’s work.
The characters in “The Thin Wall” came off as spoiled irresponsible brats with drug problems, and unsuccessful artistic careers. Only Julian was a successful lawyer, and understood his sexual drive. No character surprised me, as they paired off. The hook-ups were immediately obvious.
The book lacked a good plot and I found the writing had too much description. Although poetic, it was out of place and stalled the pace of the story. I found the first part of the book okay, but by the halfway point, the writing became tiresome as the writer began repeating the same phrases and echoes. The large amount of long narratives telling what’s happened, and how the characters felt, slowed the pace of the book to a crawl. She needed to show the characters and their emotional situations.
This novella was classified as “Dark Erotica” or “Dark Romance” but I found it didn’t fulfill either for me. Some passages inferred sexual activity, but no explicit sex was detailed in this book. The “romance” was boring and predictable. I read dark fiction and this book had me dozing. There was nothing disturbing or dark about it.
January 26, 2008
This is very definitely not a book for children.
Cheryl Anne Gardner has written a work of dark, almost obsessive eroticism in the most romantic of tones.
The story is told in first person by Laleana (Leana) O'Reilly, one of five friends who are on the surface prosaic people -- a solicitor, a librarian, a painter -- who meet regularly at a pub for drinks and conversation. Underneath that conventional facade, each is extraordinary and unusual.
Leana, for example, works with books and adores the written word. She is the perfect librarian by day, prim and reserved. In an interesting twist on the old story, however, at night she hungers after the sensuality of sexual experiences that mix unbearable pleasure with blood and pain, a need that she shares -- violently -- with the lawyer Julian. Afterward, she poses nude for the ascetic painter Ioan who recoils from the bruises and cuts on her ravaged body while feeling strangely attracted to the passion and blood that he wishes to paint but can never quite make real.
Others in the group are equally exotic mixes of the quotidian and the outrageous, filled with passions that they hide from all the world but each other.
Ms. Gardner's characters are finely drawn, her prose has a delicious quality that mixes the prim, Victorian voice of the librarian with the coarse and gritty language of real people speaking to one another in the street, over drinks, in the company of friends. The book is a pleasure to read for the quality of the prose alone.
The story itself is a different matter. Parts of it are frankly disturbing, others are graphic and shocking. Where Story of O is perhaps contrived and unlikely and indifferently sensual in its prose (for all of its shockingly erotic content), The Thin Wall is somehow convincing and even unashamed. Ms. Gardner acknowledges the influence of De Sade and Philosophy in the Bedroom, and her novella indeed conveys a certain philosophy and restraint.
This book will not be everyone's cup of tea. Some will read it and grow angry; others will read it and become uncomfortable as the most exquisite prose describes acts of love -- yes, love -- that are simultaneously erotic and revolting, between people who in fact care for and trust each other very much.
Those who dare, however, will be rewarded with a piece of serious writing that makes you feel and makes you think. Something that -- like Justine, The Story of O, or others in this general genre of shock-eroticism beyond the pale of social custom -- will stick with you and still be disturbing your or arousing you or even both long after you finish it.
rgb
Cheryl Anne Gardner has written a work of dark, almost obsessive eroticism in the most romantic of tones.
The story is told in first person by Laleana (Leana) O'Reilly, one of five friends who are on the surface prosaic people -- a solicitor, a librarian, a painter -- who meet regularly at a pub for drinks and conversation. Underneath that conventional facade, each is extraordinary and unusual.
Leana, for example, works with books and adores the written word. She is the perfect librarian by day, prim and reserved. In an interesting twist on the old story, however, at night she hungers after the sensuality of sexual experiences that mix unbearable pleasure with blood and pain, a need that she shares -- violently -- with the lawyer Julian. Afterward, she poses nude for the ascetic painter Ioan who recoils from the bruises and cuts on her ravaged body while feeling strangely attracted to the passion and blood that he wishes to paint but can never quite make real.
Others in the group are equally exotic mixes of the quotidian and the outrageous, filled with passions that they hide from all the world but each other.
Ms. Gardner's characters are finely drawn, her prose has a delicious quality that mixes the prim, Victorian voice of the librarian with the coarse and gritty language of real people speaking to one another in the street, over drinks, in the company of friends. The book is a pleasure to read for the quality of the prose alone.
The story itself is a different matter. Parts of it are frankly disturbing, others are graphic and shocking. Where Story of O is perhaps contrived and unlikely and indifferently sensual in its prose (for all of its shockingly erotic content), The Thin Wall is somehow convincing and even unashamed. Ms. Gardner acknowledges the influence of De Sade and Philosophy in the Bedroom, and her novella indeed conveys a certain philosophy and restraint.
This book will not be everyone's cup of tea. Some will read it and grow angry; others will read it and become uncomfortable as the most exquisite prose describes acts of love -- yes, love -- that are simultaneously erotic and revolting, between people who in fact care for and trust each other very much.
Those who dare, however, will be rewarded with a piece of serious writing that makes you feel and makes you think. Something that -- like Justine, The Story of O, or others in this general genre of shock-eroticism beyond the pale of social custom -- will stick with you and still be disturbing your or arousing you or even both long after you finish it.
rgb
January 24, 2014
Reading this was an incredibly unique experience. I can't say that it was either good or bad, for there were elements of both. The subject material will not appeal to everyone and I believe there are some who might find it impossible to finish, due to the brutality of certain scenes - although anyone who has read the blurb has been forewarned.
The Thin Wall is a story of pleasure and pain. Of love and obsession. It is beautifully written with some of the most elegant prose I've ever read. Truly. I bookmarked over half a dozen pages on my Kindle just so I could go back and enjoy them again. The wording is, at times, poetic.
The novella itself, however, is not perfect. Perhaps my unfamiliarity with this kind of shorter work is to blame, but I wanted more from this piece.
The characters are fascinating, each of them, and very individual. Yet (for the most part) I never felt like I was getting to know them. It was more a case of them being introduced, each given a backstory, then merely watching them play out their roles. With more length, I feel each person could have shined in a way they never had the chance to, here.
Laleana was the exception. I can't say I admired her, and I didn't always sympathize with her, but she was very real. Her strengths and weaknesses, her confidence and vulnerabilities, were genuinely portrayed. She was interesting to read, a challenge (albeit a fascinating one) to understand.
If you're looking for something different, something dark, this novella is worth taking a look.
The Thin Wall is a story of pleasure and pain. Of love and obsession. It is beautifully written with some of the most elegant prose I've ever read. Truly. I bookmarked over half a dozen pages on my Kindle just so I could go back and enjoy them again. The wording is, at times, poetic.
The novella itself, however, is not perfect. Perhaps my unfamiliarity with this kind of shorter work is to blame, but I wanted more from this piece.
The characters are fascinating, each of them, and very individual. Yet (for the most part) I never felt like I was getting to know them. It was more a case of them being introduced, each given a backstory, then merely watching them play out their roles. With more length, I feel each person could have shined in a way they never had the chance to, here.
Laleana was the exception. I can't say I admired her, and I didn't always sympathize with her, but she was very real. Her strengths and weaknesses, her confidence and vulnerabilities, were genuinely portrayed. She was interesting to read, a challenge (albeit a fascinating one) to understand.
If you're looking for something different, something dark, this novella is worth taking a look.
February 24, 2011
I really enjoyed this book. Once again it is something unique and different. But this time the characters are people I swear I knew in graduate school.
The characters in this particular novel are men and women trying to live their lives in spite of the expectations of family and society. It is a theme that I can understand and empathize with. Of course, the story is still dark and a bit bloody, so read only if you think you can handle it.
The characters in this particular novel are men and women trying to live their lives in spite of the expectations of family and society. It is a theme that I can understand and empathize with. Of course, the story is still dark and a bit bloody, so read only if you think you can handle it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews