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Rohypnol

Andrew Hutchinson (Goodreads Author)

3.14 · Rating details · 134 ratings · 19 reviews

Fact: bad people do bad things. In the new age of money, drugs, and instant satisfaction, you make your own rules. You take what you want—not ask. There is no responsibility. There is no guilt. If someone burns you, you should do the same to them. It's an issue of equality. Andrew Hutchinson brilliantly portrays a disturbing reality in which cold and disillusioned youths a ...more

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Paperback, 246 pages

Published August 1st 2007 by Vintage Australia (first published 2007)

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Apr 15, 2020 Esther King rated it did not like it

As this is a piece of Australian literature, I feel as though my review should be kicked off with a truly Australian indictment of its content. Ready?

Yeah, nah. Nah.

I should’ve seen this coming. The author was mentored by another author who I have come to refer to as ‘The Slap Man’ (meaning he wrote ‘The Slap’). This vein of Australian authorship seems to follow the long garden path of toxic masculinity, disaffected youth, and women who aren’t really people, they’re just cardboard renderings of ...more

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Jul 31, 2018 Fred Woolhouse rated it really liked it · review of another edition

*** Review originally published by Underground Writers http://underground-writers.org/review... ***

Rohypnol by Andrew Hutchinson is the story of a group of disillusioned male youths and how they fall rapidly into the world of sex crime. Told through the perspective of one of these young men, Hutchinson describes how the boys come to meet and begin their practice of roaming Melbourne nightclubs in search of female victims. The title of the book, Rohypnol, refers to the date rape drug which the bo *** Review originally published by Underground Writers http://underground-writers.org/review... ***

Rohypnol by Andrew Hutchinson is the story of a group of disillusioned male youths and how they fall rapidly into the world of sex crime. Told through the perspective of one of these young men, Hutchinson describes how the boys come to meet and begin their practice of roaming Melbourne nightclubs in search of female victims. The title of the book, Rohypnol, refers to the date rape drug which the boys use to spike the drinks of their victims, which then leave them defenceless and easy prey for the gang to later rape. There are of course consequences for these events, which the novel ultimately builds up to, but is there any remorse or redemption for this gang of despicable young men?

Unlike many other stories with a similar premise, this is in no way a story of forgiveness or redemption; this is the story of bad people doing bad things and not caring about the consequences. The characters are deliberately unlikeable, and the reader is left with no obvious explanation as to why these boys decide to do what they do. The boys are all privileged, white, spoilt, middle-class, and private-school educated, and there are no obvious reasons presented to suggest that they would think this behaviour is normal. This makes it almost impossible to feel any sympathy or pity for the characters, which makes the novel all the more compelling. However, the subject matter of the novel may indeed put off many potential readers. At times the book is horrific, violent and sickening, with some scenes containing graphic sexual violence. Some may even feel that the content exists for shock value. Why would anyone want to read this? Well, in spite of it all, this book is skillful, enlightening and entirely fresh. With little information provided on the main character’s back stories, the reader is forced to fill in the gaps which is both challenging and stimulating.

Throughout the novel the reader is brought in and out of the narrator’s therapy sessions, which take place following the events of the main story. As well as breaking up the main narrative, these sessions serve as a chance for the character to shed further light on the events that occurred occurring events and to question the morals of all involved. His name is never revealed, further distancing the reader and reinforcing the idea that these criminals walk among us, entirely anonymous.

Ultimately Rohypnol is an investigation of disillusioned youths in modern day society and how wealth enables and protects them. Hutchinson also shines a light on the thin line between innocent bystander, accessory, and instigator of crime, asking at which point a person becomes responsible.

As fantastical as it seems at times, the most terrifying aspect of this story is that events like these are very much a reality. Sexual predators such as the ones introduced in this novel operate and blend-in seamlessly into everyday society. This fact makes the story even more chilling. Unless it isn’t already clear enough, this novel is not for the faint-hearted and is not for everyone. However, if you enjoy dark, gritty stories which both challenge and stimulate then you are in for a treat. ...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Matthew Eddy rated it did not like it

With a subject matter such as this you would hope for something of a similar ilk to a Bret Easton Ellis or Chuck Palahniuk novel. While the characters of Patrick Bateman and Tyler Durden are gritty, macho and 'liberated' protagonists - there is no such cornerstone to this novel. The plot is a good one but poorly executed into a fantasy world - what girl would secretly like being drugged and raped? You should really only read this novel if you have an interest in crime, pathological characters or ...more

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Dec 16, 2011 Paul rated it really liked it

A well-written novel about thoroughly nasty people. It's not nice reading, but it is compelling. ...more

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Aug 20, 2020 Perry Middlemiss rated it really liked it

Let me say at the outset that this novel is not a light or easy read: the situations portrayed are unpleasant and unsettling, and the characters that inhabit the book are completely unlikeable. When you get to the end it's hard to say that you've actually enjoyed it. But readers who leave this novel repelled by the material will only have seen the surface layer of what this book has to offer. It would be an common enough response to the work, and it is one that I would have some sympathy with. Y Let me say at the outset that this novel is not a light or easy read: the situations portrayed are unpleasant and unsettling, and the characters that inhabit the book are completely unlikeable. When you get to the end it's hard to say that you've actually enjoyed it. But readers who leave this novel repelled by the material will only have seen the surface layer of what this book has to offer. It would be an common enough response to the work, and it is one that I would have some sympathy with. Yet, in doing so, the reader would be missing an important ingredient of Rohypnol, one that lifts it above the general ruck.

Troy, Uncle, Thorley, and the novel's narrator, are a group of disaffected teenagers who have fallen in together for a variety of reasons, and have formed, for want of a better term, a "date-rape" gang. Their favourite mode of operation is for one of their number to spike the drink of a pre-determined target, in a dark pub or nightclub, with Rohypnol, and then to spirit the victim away from the scene and back to an apartment where the sexual assault takes place. The story of the four is told from the point of view of the unnamed narrator, who starts the novel in therapy, fantasising about the therapist and attempting to forestall any form of analysis by her. We are aware early on that something bad has happened; we're not sure what, though it's not hard to figure out. The point of the book is not so much what took place, but how the protagonists got to the state that it could happen.

What we are shown here is the story of teenagers severely out of touch with the society in which they live, and divorced from their own humanity. They appear like predators, circling their prey and waiting for the right time to pounce. Are they really animals, or just disaffected youth who have taken the wrong path? They certainly display a number of sociopathic tendencies: lack of empathy, and control of their own actions being not the least of them. As I said earlier, the characters in the novel are completely unsympathetic, but Hutchinson has hit on a method of making the reader keep turning the pages; searching, I suppose, for some form of redemption or cathartic outcome. In many ways the novel reads like pulp noir fiction: short simple sentences, clipped dialog, short chapters that jump focus and time. There is little or no reflection on the action of the book by the narrator. The only sense of the narrator's purpose comes from several manifesto-like utterances spread throughout the book:

The New Punk is about intelligence...The New Punk is about raiding the twentieth century to make something new...The New Punk is about taking control. Seeing what you want and taking it, no matter the cost...The New Punk is not about remorse...The New Punk is not about moving towards your future. It is about your life right now, impatiently standing still.

I don't think these work. They add little to the reader's understanding of the novel's philosophy and break the flow of the story. Better is Thorley's explanation of "the rules", the first of which reads: "Never use your real name." Incorporated directly into the story they have more power. It's hard not to be reminded of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club, at this point, which also laid down a set of rules for its participants: "The first rule of Fight Club is never talk about Fight Club."

Various commentators on this book have been critical of it for what they see as an attempt to shock, concentrating on the actions of the characters and the author's alleged "overuse" of swearing in the dialog. Yes, there are a lot of obscenities used in the book, but I've heard worse at the football and in the pub, so I didn't find the swearing here to be overdone nor repulsive. A certain sense of authenticity is required in a work of this sort and I'd rather this approach than one that was obviously toned down to little effect, or that attempted to replicate a form of slangy jargon. I do, in fact, feel that Hutchinson showed a degree of restraint at times and might well have shovelled the swearing on even harder. Does that forgive his use of swearing? No, because there is, in my mind, nothing to forgive. It fits the story and that's all that counts. It does, however, show that he was aware of the effect he was attempting to achieve and didn't just allow the thing to run out of control.

The most shocking thing about this book is the fact that people like these actually exist. If the main purpose of any novel is to propel us into a world outside our own experience then this one succeeds. It will certainly not be to everyone's taste, but I suspect you won't forget it in a hurry. ...more

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Apr 23, 2019 Brendan Eaux-Ceallachán rated it it was ok

This motherf*cker needs Jesus.

It's quite a well-written book, but the subject matter is terrifying - it's rife with aimless cruel mysogyny. I get that the author is setting the protagonist up as the most anti of heroes, but his efforts to let him off the hook towards the end - even mildly- beggar belief.

I chose to read it on the strength of Christos Tsiolkas' glowing praise on the cover and that it won the Victorian Premier's Literary Award, but honestly - I can't recommend anyone read this. ...more

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Sep 03, 2018 Toby rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: lit

Christos Tsiolkas says this books is written without pretension but he must surely just mean without traditional literary pretension as this unapologetic and relentless novel is pure post-Palahniuk pretension, post-Welsh pretension such is the ease with which it can be categorised and the lack of attempt to disguise his influences. It’s almost a parody of the style it is so pretentious.

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Jan 06, 2011 Jason rated it did not like it

Wanting to be an author myself I figured I should start supporting Australian fiction, so I bought this as it looked interesting and as though it may have something to say. Even though I wasn't going into it expecting Heart Of Darkness I still came away majorly disappointed. No wonder Aussie fiction doesn't get much recognition; the characters are 2-D, unbelieveably stereotypical and bland, the story makes no sense and when he is trying to be deep the best thing he could think to say seems to be ...more

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Jun 24, 2014 Aleksa rated it did not like it

Shelves: young-adult, nihilistic

You know, you would hope with a subject matter such as this that Hutchinson could summon the integrity to write a book where some of the female characters have a sense of rationality and agency. Instead, instead of a look into the pathological, frightening but nonetheless fascinating psyche of the male characters in this novel, you get a shady and shallow borderline romanticised version of the effects of rohypnol and youth apathy on the young adults. I struggled through this book because of the ...more

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Feb 01, 2012 arjuna rated it liked it

Gruesome and nasty and gritty, yes; as amazing as Tsiolkas' blurb seems to suggest, no. I quite enjoyed this as a surprisingly - and gratifyingly - understated amorality tale but the downside of an alienated, disassociated, unconnecting central character being an alienated, disassociated, unconnecting central chap is that he doesn't really get into your head (so the ultimate "I could be out there..." sort of ending doesn't really come off as frightening. And the "New Punk" stuff doesn't really w ...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Elle rated it did not like it

I should know better than to approach anything with expectations, but you’d think a blurb would be something you could safely rely on. Not in this case. I thought this story would be about apathy, about an adolescent’s self-destruction when confronted with a future full of disappointment and hardship. Instead, I got an amateur attempt at teenage Fight Club with the addition of crude rape. Unfortunate, as there were brief moments of brilliance, narrative-wise. The characters were unrealistic, whi ...more

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Jan 27, 2014 Ad Chopper rated it it was ok

Occasionally interesting but not great overall. There are moments in this short novel that are totally compelling, but then it is let down in the moments that follow by either sloppy writing or - it seems - a lack of interest from the author in what is been written. Comes across as a juvenile wet-dream at times, attempting to shock and astonish but doing neither. I think there is enough here for me to look into the author's other work. ...more

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May 11, 2015 Anthea Ramos rated it did not like it

Shelves: 2015

Hideous and confronting subject matter aside, this book was not terribly well written and certainly not well edited, so I don't believe it read very well. The premise is good, however I found the execution lacking. ...more

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Jun 08, 2013 Olwyn rated it it was ok

He can write, actually, all writers can but this story was a bit, "why bother?" If you're going to write a story about something that clearly is disturbing, ask anyone who has been drugged and raped, then write more than just a damn story that goes nowhere, otherwise, discover comedy. ...more

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Nov 07, 2014 Made added it

Shelves: 2015, australia

Disturbing

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Jan 08, 2010 Kristy 0 rated it liked it

Scary that there are people out there like the characters in this book. I'm glad I read it, but wouldn't recommend it to anyone, except my sociopathic ex. ...more

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Feb 23, 2016 Brittany rated it liked it

That was seriously intense but I think I liked it?

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Sep 22, 2009 Sereyna rated it really liked it

Amazingly crafted, made me feel sick to my stomach.
I am delighted to not know any people that fit this story, however I can see that it is all too shockingly real.

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Jul 25, 2011 Elisa rated it really liked it

The most disturbing book I've ever read. And really very well written. Can't say I'll re-read it though. Once you figure out exactly what the front cover illustrates... *shudder* ...more

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