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Metrophilias
Thirty-six cities. Thirty-six stories of obsession. From ancient Thebes to present day Berlin, these little portraits of humans superimposed on their suburban environment are corroding treats thrown together in a past-modern beaker, landmark tales of love in the metropolis. A round-the-world tour of craving and decadence. Reviews: "Off beat, compelling, intricate: an urban jigsaw puzzle." -- Ben Peek, author of Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth "With delicate minimalism and poignant specificity, Metrophilias demonstrates the human contagions that come with our increasingly urban life. When they get around to mapping the literary sky of the 21st century, I'm betting that Brendan Connell's star will shine very brightly, indeed." -- Lucius Shepard, author of Life During Wartime "Every generation throws up a few genuine Masters of the Weird. There simply is no hyperbole in the statement that Brendan Connell is a member of this elite group right now, perhaps the most accomplished of them all." -- Rhys Hughes, author of A New Universal History of Infamy
102 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
March 11, 2019
Metrophilias is heady and potent, with crystal-clear prose that promises wonderous beauty, but cuts clean through it to show the delicate wonders of the harsh reality beneath. The vices and unknown pleasures that runs through the hearts of cities, strange impulses, fetishes, desires and dreams, fuelled by the white-hot fires of decadence.
These vignettes or prose poems touches on many lives through different ages in 36 cities, sometimes abstract, sometimes clear as water as Connell paints a delicate picture of strange desires, wasted lives and lost love. Some characters seek meaning, others find it, and some are content as long as their basest lusts can be satisfied then and there in the moment. Unconventional love afflicts many of the characters in these stories. Is there a longing for understanding, for love to materialize and see them for who they really are? Or are these just the impulses and cravings of passionate lust? The world seems uncaring and unable to understand. Some vignettes read as though they were plucked from a symbolist fairy-tale, light and elusive, with delicate wonders and allure, yet showing a lavishly delightful picture of human folly and decadence. Others read as more modernist pieces as Connell shows us that these obscure vices and odd characters still linger in the dark corners of our contemporary society.
Brendan Connell’s prose, sense of style and descriptions are something that must be experienced, as he is a true master of his art, coaxing beauty out of ruined lives and noxious fumes, he’s written a truly stunning collections of prose poems, highlighting modern and classic decadence in a remarkable way, with many enchanting and delirious moments that will shine through and embed themselves in the mind of the reader, and stay with them for a long time.
These vignettes or prose poems touches on many lives through different ages in 36 cities, sometimes abstract, sometimes clear as water as Connell paints a delicate picture of strange desires, wasted lives and lost love. Some characters seek meaning, others find it, and some are content as long as their basest lusts can be satisfied then and there in the moment. Unconventional love afflicts many of the characters in these stories. Is there a longing for understanding, for love to materialize and see them for who they really are? Or are these just the impulses and cravings of passionate lust? The world seems uncaring and unable to understand. Some vignettes read as though they were plucked from a symbolist fairy-tale, light and elusive, with delicate wonders and allure, yet showing a lavishly delightful picture of human folly and decadence. Others read as more modernist pieces as Connell shows us that these obscure vices and odd characters still linger in the dark corners of our contemporary society.
Brendan Connell’s prose, sense of style and descriptions are something that must be experienced, as he is a true master of his art, coaxing beauty out of ruined lives and noxious fumes, he’s written a truly stunning collections of prose poems, highlighting modern and classic decadence in a remarkable way, with many enchanting and delirious moments that will shine through and embed themselves in the mind of the reader, and stay with them for a long time.
May 14, 2010
It starts with the cover, and continues with the odd use of language throughout this book: the uncanny impression that you’re holding a dog-eared penguin classic in your hands, something published thirty years ago and on all the high school essential reading lists, rather than a brand new release from an independent press from a relatively unknown author.
And if any of that reads like an insult at first, let me assure you straight away that it is meant as quite the opposite. My theory for some time has been that most of the big mainstream publishing houses are now clinically soul-dead while the best and most interesting ideas are left to crop up in the looked-down-upon and unprofitable world of independent small presses. So why I am I so surprised when the proof of this theory finally comes along, and I find myself holding in my astonished hands, page after sublime page: a true modern classic of the twenty-first century which no one else has read yet?
Yes, I did just say that.
The ambition of this book is staggering: to write thirty-six short chapters (most only two or three pages), each set in a different world city, each exposing some unexpected aberration of human desire, and for each to convince independently while also forming a satisfying whole. Connell’s technical achievement even in making us feel he has visited each of these cities and are re-visiting them with him, in creating convincing local colour and characters for each setting: this alone, is bewildering, impressive to the point of jaw-dropping. But it doesn’t stop there.
Attempts to summarise the contents of this book could easily misdirect the reader into thinking there is horror and sexual perversion within these pages. But really there is virtually neither. It’s far too clever and profound for that. Connell has his sights set higher, gazing at the stars, to paraphrase Wilde, while so many of his contemporaries are… well, ‘nuff said. I am reminded of Andre Breton’s great pronouncement that “Beauty must be convulsive or not at all”. Yes, Metrophilias is a book full of convulsive beauty, and one that any of the original surrealists would have loved. Its real topic is not sex but desire, in both its physical and spiritual characteristics, and the latter he explores by parading before us fabulously eccentric deviations: lovers of statues, woven rugs, urns, toads, armpits, the list is endless. But the miracle is that each time he repeats this process he shows the arrow of human love bending away from its usual human target and towards…. yes, incredibly: the divine. Not in a specific religious sense, but in that mystical yearning for the unknown, the irresolvable, the magnificent flaw at the heart of nature and in each of us. “Love is Man unfinished”, as Paul Eluard said.
One feels haunted upon finishing this book, as you should do, when re-awakened to the marvellous and mysterious in everyday life. So many writers today write to impress us, as if we care. Connell reminds us of the only good reason writers should really write: to inspire us and inspire themselves. Metrophilias goes back to the ancient roots of storytelling, with an innocence and simplicity of intention, like a wave of the Mediterranean breaking over our faces, astonishing and refreshing.
There are stories of genius within this book, like that of a Chinese prince who marries his favourite vase, a Spanish duellist who falls for his own sword, of an Indian yogi so attuned to his senses that he can feel the antennae of every insect walking across him.
The tone varies between the beautifully simple, like ancient fables or Greek myths, to experimental sentences of colliding words and atmospheres, to the deeply lyric and alchemical, like this description of a man ruined by the pleasures of absinthe:
“He will continue to drink, to slide his tongue over its milky emerald thighs… happiness will settle over him like a cloud of lace as on all sides the city roars with the sounds of its eternal fiesta, thoughts fly sharp and straight as arrows to the stars”.
And there’s another peculiarity. Perhaps through living in Europe for a long time and speaking Italian, Connell has developed an extraordinary ability to write in English (his first language) as if it is translation, that is to say with a splendidly stripped simplicity, like a man rediscovering the beauty of the English language for the first time.
The final extraordinary achievement of this book is what happens inside our heads when we close our eyes afterwards and weigh up together the effect of so many disparate stories from all across our world. The effect is nothing less than a summation of our world, a long lingering taste of that peculiar brew that is the human condition.
You have to pinch yourself to remember that all this came out of one man’s head. If you enjoyed Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities” then you should buy this book to sit beside it. The work of a writer of genius at the height of his powers while the world isn’t looking. You heard it here first.
And if any of that reads like an insult at first, let me assure you straight away that it is meant as quite the opposite. My theory for some time has been that most of the big mainstream publishing houses are now clinically soul-dead while the best and most interesting ideas are left to crop up in the looked-down-upon and unprofitable world of independent small presses. So why I am I so surprised when the proof of this theory finally comes along, and I find myself holding in my astonished hands, page after sublime page: a true modern classic of the twenty-first century which no one else has read yet?
Yes, I did just say that.
The ambition of this book is staggering: to write thirty-six short chapters (most only two or three pages), each set in a different world city, each exposing some unexpected aberration of human desire, and for each to convince independently while also forming a satisfying whole. Connell’s technical achievement even in making us feel he has visited each of these cities and are re-visiting them with him, in creating convincing local colour and characters for each setting: this alone, is bewildering, impressive to the point of jaw-dropping. But it doesn’t stop there.
Attempts to summarise the contents of this book could easily misdirect the reader into thinking there is horror and sexual perversion within these pages. But really there is virtually neither. It’s far too clever and profound for that. Connell has his sights set higher, gazing at the stars, to paraphrase Wilde, while so many of his contemporaries are… well, ‘nuff said. I am reminded of Andre Breton’s great pronouncement that “Beauty must be convulsive or not at all”. Yes, Metrophilias is a book full of convulsive beauty, and one that any of the original surrealists would have loved. Its real topic is not sex but desire, in both its physical and spiritual characteristics, and the latter he explores by parading before us fabulously eccentric deviations: lovers of statues, woven rugs, urns, toads, armpits, the list is endless. But the miracle is that each time he repeats this process he shows the arrow of human love bending away from its usual human target and towards…. yes, incredibly: the divine. Not in a specific religious sense, but in that mystical yearning for the unknown, the irresolvable, the magnificent flaw at the heart of nature and in each of us. “Love is Man unfinished”, as Paul Eluard said.
One feels haunted upon finishing this book, as you should do, when re-awakened to the marvellous and mysterious in everyday life. So many writers today write to impress us, as if we care. Connell reminds us of the only good reason writers should really write: to inspire us and inspire themselves. Metrophilias goes back to the ancient roots of storytelling, with an innocence and simplicity of intention, like a wave of the Mediterranean breaking over our faces, astonishing and refreshing.
There are stories of genius within this book, like that of a Chinese prince who marries his favourite vase, a Spanish duellist who falls for his own sword, of an Indian yogi so attuned to his senses that he can feel the antennae of every insect walking across him.
The tone varies between the beautifully simple, like ancient fables or Greek myths, to experimental sentences of colliding words and atmospheres, to the deeply lyric and alchemical, like this description of a man ruined by the pleasures of absinthe:
“He will continue to drink, to slide his tongue over its milky emerald thighs… happiness will settle over him like a cloud of lace as on all sides the city roars with the sounds of its eternal fiesta, thoughts fly sharp and straight as arrows to the stars”.
And there’s another peculiarity. Perhaps through living in Europe for a long time and speaking Italian, Connell has developed an extraordinary ability to write in English (his first language) as if it is translation, that is to say with a splendidly stripped simplicity, like a man rediscovering the beauty of the English language for the first time.
The final extraordinary achievement of this book is what happens inside our heads when we close our eyes afterwards and weigh up together the effect of so many disparate stories from all across our world. The effect is nothing less than a summation of our world, a long lingering taste of that peculiar brew that is the human condition.
You have to pinch yourself to remember that all this came out of one man’s head. If you enjoyed Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities” then you should buy this book to sit beside it. The work of a writer of genius at the height of his powers while the world isn’t looking. You heard it here first.
December 31, 2016
The stories contained in this collection of Mr. Connell's are pure fucking Decadence. His explorations of paraphilia are supremely artistic, rivaling the most twisted works of J.G. Ballard and Octave Mirbeau.
This book deserves a place on the shelf of every psychologist and enthusiast of experimental literature.
This book deserves a place on the shelf of every psychologist and enthusiast of experimental literature.
October 16, 2014
I began reading Thomas Bernhard's collection "The Voice Imitator" right on the heels of this collection by Brendan Connell and can say that I found them to be complementary due to more than just the brief breadth of the stories contained therein.
These are collections by masters of their art and though similar in form--that being the ultra-short to very short story--achieve amazing results with so little. No post-modernist "false cliffhangers" or masterbatory literary exercises are to be found among these slices of alternate realities--frightening in their similarity to our own. That is not to say, particularly in Mr. Connell's case, that there are no beautiful turns of phrase in evidence here (Berhard's book is, after all a translation). A plethora of ideas are on display, each brief tale feels like there is a whole world behind the set. "All the world's a stage", often performing a one-man show in Connell's whirlwind decadent tour of the world's dark underbelly--the rarely exposed viscera seen dangling.
I've gathered from a brief exchange with the author himself that "Metrophilias" is one of his more personal and is, in his estimation, some of his best work. This is really something to say for a writer with literary work as consistently imaginative and just plain consistent as that of Mr. Connell. Indeed, the stories which comprise "Metrophilias"--like those of Bernhard's book mentioned above--contain some dizzying and indelible images which lodge themselves deep--like Rilke's mythical leukemia communicating rose thorns--into the reader's psyche. Indeed, these stories are the stuff of that (and perhaps all) psyche. The feeling you have is that they have always been with you even as they continue their haunting of you anew.
These are collections by masters of their art and though similar in form--that being the ultra-short to very short story--achieve amazing results with so little. No post-modernist "false cliffhangers" or masterbatory literary exercises are to be found among these slices of alternate realities--frightening in their similarity to our own. That is not to say, particularly in Mr. Connell's case, that there are no beautiful turns of phrase in evidence here (Berhard's book is, after all a translation). A plethora of ideas are on display, each brief tale feels like there is a whole world behind the set. "All the world's a stage", often performing a one-man show in Connell's whirlwind decadent tour of the world's dark underbelly--the rarely exposed viscera seen dangling.
I've gathered from a brief exchange with the author himself that "Metrophilias" is one of his more personal and is, in his estimation, some of his best work. This is really something to say for a writer with literary work as consistently imaginative and just plain consistent as that of Mr. Connell. Indeed, the stories which comprise "Metrophilias"--like those of Bernhard's book mentioned above--contain some dizzying and indelible images which lodge themselves deep--like Rilke's mythical leukemia communicating rose thorns--into the reader's psyche. Indeed, these stories are the stuff of that (and perhaps all) psyche. The feeling you have is that they have always been with you even as they continue their haunting of you anew.
November 23, 2022
Brendan Connell's neo-decadent short story collection 'Metrophilias' is comprised of 36 stories of obsession, set in 36 different cities, from the ancient age to the present day.
The stories are ultra-short, all of them somewhere between half a page and 4-5 pages at a maximum.
The name of every story is the metropolis it is set in, and every story in here has some sort of [often erotically charged] obsession or craving [the "philia" that bookends the title].
There is an Indian ascetic in Benares who derives pleasure from being swarmed by insects while meditating, a horde of erotic pyromaniacs in Dublin, and a sensual feast of writing at a masquerade in ancient Carthage.
There is a widow who snorts her widows ground genitals in Gwangju., a cannibalistic craigslist meet-up in Moscow, arm-pit smellers in Oslo, and a chemistry professor only able to receive sensory stimulation from the artificial flavors he designs in laboratories in Zürich.
And that is just to mention my favorite stories in the collection.
I read the book in 2 or 3 sessions, and this made the effect of the book's formulaic format wear somewhat thin in the process.
But this can easily be circumvented: just take a sip of this delightful decadency every now and then, read one or two stories at a time - maybe one each day for a month - and let this book take you to the most depraved corners of the most glorious cities.
The stories are ultra-short, all of them somewhere between half a page and 4-5 pages at a maximum.
The name of every story is the metropolis it is set in, and every story in here has some sort of [often erotically charged] obsession or craving [the "philia" that bookends the title].
There is an Indian ascetic in Benares who derives pleasure from being swarmed by insects while meditating, a horde of erotic pyromaniacs in Dublin, and a sensual feast of writing at a masquerade in ancient Carthage.
There is a widow who snorts her widows ground genitals in Gwangju., a cannibalistic craigslist meet-up in Moscow, arm-pit smellers in Oslo, and a chemistry professor only able to receive sensory stimulation from the artificial flavors he designs in laboratories in Zürich.
And that is just to mention my favorite stories in the collection.
I read the book in 2 or 3 sessions, and this made the effect of the book's formulaic format wear somewhat thin in the process.
But this can easily be circumvented: just take a sip of this delightful decadency every now and then, read one or two stories at a time - maybe one each day for a month - and let this book take you to the most depraved corners of the most glorious cities.
May 15, 2020
A collection of short shorts, each oestensibly set in a different city (the titles of some- which are all names of cities, appearing in alphabetical order- were not the originally published titles) and dealing with quirky forms of love and / or lust. Interesting stylistically, for the most part, though sometimes sentences read like notes to be returned to later for fleshing out. A few of the stories are quite great, and evocative; a few were tricks, or veered into awkward territory.
February 4, 2017
What these erotically charged little stories have in common is that each is set in a different city, and each features an fetishistic obsession. Uneven at times, but great fun to read and another example of Connell's imaginative writing.
June 16, 2012
Metrophilias is an interesting and challenging short story collection, because the stories are short (1-4 pages per story). The events take place in different cities around the world. Each story is named after a city.
Categorizing Metrophilias is a bit difficult, because it defies categorization, but in my opinion it contains elements of speculative fiction. I think that this collection can be categorized as modern weird fiction. Brendan Connell's stories are almost like weird fairy tales for adults.
Brendan Connell's stories form an exciting puzzle of human obsessions and desires. This collection reveals an amazing range of different kind of obsessions and hidden perversities – in other words, this collection offers the reader a fascinatingly weird vision about decadence and craving.
Brendan Connell has a vivid and rich imagination. He also has an ability to write twisted stories (for example the story about eating a man is a brilliantly twisted story). Although all the stories are short, they're fascinating. Connell proves that a story doesn't have to be long in order to be good – a short and simple story can be just as good as a long story when the writer knows how to use words. He uses minimalism and he does it well.
Brendan Connell writes fluently about humans and their secret passions. He doesn't shy away from difficult things, but embraces them and writes about them without hesitation. He writes without flinching about different aspects of love and sexuality. As we all know, love and sexuality mean different things to different people and Connell shows just how differently certain people feel about these things – his characters will do almost anything to satisfy their cravings.
I enjoyed reading this collection. Because Brendan Connell's stories were weird and a bit perverse, it was almost impossible to stop reading them, because I wanted to know what happens in the next story.
In my opinion Metrophilias is a fascinating and original short story collection, which can be recommended to readers who want to read something different (it's difficult to find similar collections). I think that these short, intelligent and weird stories will fascinate adult readers.
Categorizing Metrophilias is a bit difficult, because it defies categorization, but in my opinion it contains elements of speculative fiction. I think that this collection can be categorized as modern weird fiction. Brendan Connell's stories are almost like weird fairy tales for adults.
Brendan Connell's stories form an exciting puzzle of human obsessions and desires. This collection reveals an amazing range of different kind of obsessions and hidden perversities – in other words, this collection offers the reader a fascinatingly weird vision about decadence and craving.
Brendan Connell has a vivid and rich imagination. He also has an ability to write twisted stories (for example the story about eating a man is a brilliantly twisted story). Although all the stories are short, they're fascinating. Connell proves that a story doesn't have to be long in order to be good – a short and simple story can be just as good as a long story when the writer knows how to use words. He uses minimalism and he does it well.
Brendan Connell writes fluently about humans and their secret passions. He doesn't shy away from difficult things, but embraces them and writes about them without hesitation. He writes without flinching about different aspects of love and sexuality. As we all know, love and sexuality mean different things to different people and Connell shows just how differently certain people feel about these things – his characters will do almost anything to satisfy their cravings.
I enjoyed reading this collection. Because Brendan Connell's stories were weird and a bit perverse, it was almost impossible to stop reading them, because I wanted to know what happens in the next story.
In my opinion Metrophilias is a fascinating and original short story collection, which can be recommended to readers who want to read something different (it's difficult to find similar collections). I think that these short, intelligent and weird stories will fascinate adult readers.
November 13, 2024
My favourite collection of vignettes, a form not that popular in the English language, but which definitely should be.
Like a master carpenter's elaborate engravings, they are small, visually decorative pieces, showing the writer's skill and the beauty of well rendered prose.
"Breasts like strawberries floating in bowls of milk." Remind me of the dappled light falling on peach skin of Huysman's Magnum Opus. But elsewhere, it reads like a prose poem. Or witty dialogue in front of a Moscow courtroom.
Of all the neo-decandent writers, Connell is one of the most experimental. I've now read this collection 4 times in the last 6 years and can't recommend it highly enough.
Like a master carpenter's elaborate engravings, they are small, visually decorative pieces, showing the writer's skill and the beauty of well rendered prose.
"Breasts like strawberries floating in bowls of milk." Remind me of the dappled light falling on peach skin of Huysman's Magnum Opus. But elsewhere, it reads like a prose poem. Or witty dialogue in front of a Moscow courtroom.
Of all the neo-decandent writers, Connell is one of the most experimental. I've now read this collection 4 times in the last 6 years and can't recommend it highly enough.
January 5, 2022
It's not very consistent and often too self-consciously "arty" for its own good -- there's a fine line between being hurried because There's Simply Too Much To Get In In This Flash Fiction and just being hurried because you don't know what needs to be developed. Connell is most successful when he's more reliant on dialogue (the cannibal trial) or when he's focused on one particular image (ex. decapitated head, giant nose) and can let it marinate for a minute. It's not "good" overall but idk I read it on a short flight and I wasn't mad
Read
August 25, 2011This book was simply over my head. The fault lies with the reader, not the author. I was unable to understand the complicated phrasing. I choose not to rate it, feeling unqualified to properly review it. I notice other reviewers thoroughly enjoyed it and refer you to those reviews for a better understanding of the author's POV.
March 3, 2021
Excellent writing. Superb vocabulary. An exploration of 36 cities, but mainly the people one might find in those cities, the eccentrics, the strangers lurking in the dark alleys. With evocative lyricism and sensual delirium, B. C. proves a practiced hand at surprising satire. Comparable to Rikki Ducornet, the precision and force of the prose segments can only be likened to prose poems, given their concise, powerful elegance.
Essentially a flawless work of art, a series of polished meditations on quirky fetishistic aesthetics, so articulate and refined that to shirk such excesses would be to disregard the glaring value, and their ability to move, enlighten, and conquer your bleary sensorium. A master class on craft in a condensed form. A marriage of style and experimentation. A perfect soliloquy to answer Calvino's Invisible Cities.
Essentially a flawless work of art, a series of polished meditations on quirky fetishistic aesthetics, so articulate and refined that to shirk such excesses would be to disregard the glaring value, and their ability to move, enlighten, and conquer your bleary sensorium. A master class on craft in a condensed form. A marriage of style and experimentation. A perfect soliloquy to answer Calvino's Invisible Cities.
April 30, 2018
As disturbing as it may be, the darkness of Metrophilias is both erotic and sexy. It twisted my emotions and has left a mark. This is my second time reading this set of shorts. The book is incredible in it's deliciously dark way and nothing I've read compares.
October 27, 2019
Brilliant. I particularly liked Sydney and Zürich.
November 6, 2022
The anthology/travelogue that Borges would have written if he had had higher levels of sexual libido.
March 28, 2023
A bejewelled, blemished, syntactically strange wonder. Have to read everything he's written now.
December 28, 2023
A delicious collection of short stories/ vignettes chronicling the myriad paraphilic human desires through various cities around the world. Exquisite writing! Had a hoot reading!
February 25, 2011
Love, addiction, infatuation, desire and obsession are indiscriminate.
Metrophilias is a candid, sometimes disturbing, often intriguing glimpse into the human psyche.
I didn't know what to expect going into this book. And when I started reading the first "chapter" I was more confused than ever, wondering if all of these stories would tie in together, if there was a common theme amongst the cities and people, if there was even a plot at all. But once I read the second chapter I realized that the best way to read this book was to assume that all of the chapters were a very short story, completely independent of all the others. It is not a novel, at least not in the sense most people are accustomed to.
I am still deciding on whether or not "enjoyed" is a proper term for how I felt about this book. To say that I enjoyed it assumes that I got some pleasure out of reading it. I feel like that would be a misleading description of how I felt while reading it. I think
a more accurate description would be that I found it fascinating, honest and brazen. The author tackles a subject that can range from the mild and somewhat socially acceptable (a fetish for bald heads) to the extreme and taboo (necrophilia). And he bravely and eloquently broaches that most people would hesitate to discuss, let alone write an entire collection of stories about.
Overall, I would have to say that this book has the potential to be regarded a literary masterpiece and, in my opinion, could be included in the curriculum of a college level literature course. Despite being only 102 pages, there is so much compelling content that the stories could be discussed, and even analyzed, in depth for decades, if not centuries.
"But it's easy to call a man in love a mad man."
I gave this book 5 stars based on my personal preference for the book. That being said, it might not be for everyone. It's gritty and disturbing yet compelling and fascinating. While it's only 102 pages, please don't mistake this for a light read. If you decide to pick this up, take your time. It will be worth it.
Metrophilias is a candid, sometimes disturbing, often intriguing glimpse into the human psyche.
I didn't know what to expect going into this book. And when I started reading the first "chapter" I was more confused than ever, wondering if all of these stories would tie in together, if there was a common theme amongst the cities and people, if there was even a plot at all. But once I read the second chapter I realized that the best way to read this book was to assume that all of the chapters were a very short story, completely independent of all the others. It is not a novel, at least not in the sense most people are accustomed to.
I am still deciding on whether or not "enjoyed" is a proper term for how I felt about this book. To say that I enjoyed it assumes that I got some pleasure out of reading it. I feel like that would be a misleading description of how I felt while reading it. I think
a more accurate description would be that I found it fascinating, honest and brazen. The author tackles a subject that can range from the mild and somewhat socially acceptable (a fetish for bald heads) to the extreme and taboo (necrophilia). And he bravely and eloquently broaches that most people would hesitate to discuss, let alone write an entire collection of stories about.
Overall, I would have to say that this book has the potential to be regarded a literary masterpiece and, in my opinion, could be included in the curriculum of a college level literature course. Despite being only 102 pages, there is so much compelling content that the stories could be discussed, and even analyzed, in depth for decades, if not centuries.
"But it's easy to call a man in love a mad man."
I gave this book 5 stars based on my personal preference for the book. That being said, it might not be for everyone. It's gritty and disturbing yet compelling and fascinating. While it's only 102 pages, please don't mistake this for a light read. If you decide to pick this up, take your time. It will be worth it.
September 19, 2011
Let me start by saying this book is the most bold I've read in a while. I liked that, I really did. It deals with a part of the human psyche that is very dark and taboo. While short, the story is in no way a "light read". The stories are short, yet compelling and well told.
This book is not for everyone. Don't get me wrong, everyone can try it. But some of the stories made me cringe or flinch at some point. Not all, just some. The stories don't linger too much on unnecessary details, which is very good, because it doesn't stray from it's purpose: showing the darker side of humans. I loved the different settings, because it gave more meaning to the idea that anyone, anywhere can have any type of obsession.
I also loved how the author managed to describe the feelings and emotion - both physical and psychological - of the main characters. Brendan Connell manages to get the reader inside the characters mind, making him feel the way the characters feel and maybe understand a little bit the nature of the obsession
I can't say it was the greatest book I've read this year, but I can say I loved it and I think anyone should at least try it. I can say it was the first fiction book I've read on this subject. I'm glad this was the first.
The book deserves 5 stars, but I felt the need for more on some of the stories. When I say more, I mean more exploration of some of the feelings of some characters, of some stories and obsessions. But I definitely loved this book.
This book is not for everyone. Don't get me wrong, everyone can try it. But some of the stories made me cringe or flinch at some point. Not all, just some. The stories don't linger too much on unnecessary details, which is very good, because it doesn't stray from it's purpose: showing the darker side of humans. I loved the different settings, because it gave more meaning to the idea that anyone, anywhere can have any type of obsession.
I also loved how the author managed to describe the feelings and emotion - both physical and psychological - of the main characters. Brendan Connell manages to get the reader inside the characters mind, making him feel the way the characters feel and maybe understand a little bit the nature of the obsession
I can't say it was the greatest book I've read this year, but I can say I loved it and I think anyone should at least try it. I can say it was the first fiction book I've read on this subject. I'm glad this was the first.
The book deserves 5 stars, but I felt the need for more on some of the stories. When I say more, I mean more exploration of some of the feelings of some characters, of some stories and obsessions. But I definitely loved this book.
December 2, 2010
Thirty-six very short stories through thirty-six different cities. Brendan Connell has written a selection of shorts dealing with some very strange obsessions, loves, and sexual arousal.
In Jerusalem a carpenter spies a woman without limbs and has found in her his true love. In Edinburgh a man’s life ends tragically over his obsession with the letter W and in Barcelona a man gives up everything he has, including his fiancé for the love and arousal that only absinthe can provide. There are crimes committed in Athens, Moscow and Xi’an for strange acts of sexual gratification. We read of men and women whose sexual arousal come from such things as meat, flowers, casts on broken limbs, and body parts such as overly large noses and hairy armpits.
Well-written and at times poetic, Brendan Connell has delved into the depths of the human psyche and come back with some very strange and interesting stories. You’ll laugh, you’ll gasp, and you’re sure to cringe but you will have a great time reading METROPHILIAS.
In Jerusalem a carpenter spies a woman without limbs and has found in her his true love. In Edinburgh a man’s life ends tragically over his obsession with the letter W and in Barcelona a man gives up everything he has, including his fiancé for the love and arousal that only absinthe can provide. There are crimes committed in Athens, Moscow and Xi’an for strange acts of sexual gratification. We read of men and women whose sexual arousal come from such things as meat, flowers, casts on broken limbs, and body parts such as overly large noses and hairy armpits.
Well-written and at times poetic, Brendan Connell has delved into the depths of the human psyche and come back with some very strange and interesting stories. You’ll laugh, you’ll gasp, and you’re sure to cringe but you will have a great time reading METROPHILIAS.
December 26, 2010
This may not be a book for everyone but I would enthusiastically recommend it to the more adventurous readers out there. It's at times exciting and disturbing. It's strange. It pulses. Brendan Connell jumps from city to city shining a bright light in the dark corners of human obsession. Connell playfully shifts between prose and poetry with ease. Thirty-six cities in all. Here's a taste of New York:
"A maggot heap millions strong a beast of glass and steel black pollutants puss. Taxis buzz bees on asphalt steaming miasma eyes mask not just for faces a city that wakes up early goes to bed late at night a great bed of burning coals."
Each city is a story. Each story is notably short. If you let it, Metrophilias will slip by much too fast.
"A maggot heap millions strong a beast of glass and steel black pollutants puss. Taxis buzz bees on asphalt steaming miasma eyes mask not just for faces a city that wakes up early goes to bed late at night a great bed of burning coals."
Each city is a story. Each story is notably short. If you let it, Metrophilias will slip by much too fast.
July 21, 2016
I got this book through First Reads, and I was intrigued from the second I unwrapped it. It sat on my shelf for a while, and I finally decided to crack it open one day. Inside are stories, each a few pages long, of various love affairs in various cities. But these are not the usual type of love; instead, they deal with fetishes, unusual love not understood by outsiders. It was an interesting concept to tackle, but not always easy to follow. Some sentences are just jumbles of words that, although related, clash together and are distracting. The literary value is dampened by simple errors that detract from the stories.
March 9, 2025
Brendan Connell knows his decadence!
My favorite pieces in this collection are the humorous ones that parody Decadent Movement stories: the man who falls in love with a vase; the man who falls in love with a decapitated head; and the man who falls in love with his sword. These stories bring to mind Rachilde’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐽𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑙𝑒𝑟, about a woman who loves a vase, and Jean Lorrain's “The Man Who Loved Consumptives,” about a man who loves “only those who are close to death.”
Why is it decadent to fall in love with inanimate objects? Because loving the so-called "aberrant" is the ethos of decadence.
My favorite pieces in this collection are the humorous ones that parody Decadent Movement stories: the man who falls in love with a vase; the man who falls in love with a decapitated head; and the man who falls in love with his sword. These stories bring to mind Rachilde’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐽𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑙𝑒𝑟, about a woman who loves a vase, and Jean Lorrain's “The Man Who Loved Consumptives,” about a man who loves “only those who are close to death.”
Why is it decadent to fall in love with inanimate objects? Because loving the so-called "aberrant" is the ethos of decadence.
October 10, 2010
The points on the cover are the matrix of geographical points in the book. The cities in the book are the points of the stories in the people. The people in the places in these stories are the groups of people who inhabit our cities. These stories in this collection are connected by the points on this map. The cover of this book is the mapping of the points of the stories. The stories are the point...[read the rest of this review in The Southeast Review: http://southeastreview.org/2010/09/bo... ]
September 27, 2010
Metrophilias is a whirlwind of a book. The prose is so fast-paced and lyrical that at times it is poetic. It is reminiscent of a carnival tilt-a-whirl, the story spins your head and before you know what happened the ride is over. It is not for everyone but you are someone who occasionally likes to fly by the seat our your pants, this may be for you.
March 27, 2011
I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book as thirty six small chapters each about a different city and people looked destined to confuse me. So I broke it down into separate chapters as this is not a novel. It's all about how you think before you read (I think!).
For more see; http://www.larissaslife.com/2011/07/s...
For more see; http://www.larissaslife.com/2011/07/s...
April 11, 2013
Balzac notoriously maintained that at the source of every great fortune there is a great crime. Here we have the outgrowth of a parallel intuition: at the heart of every great city is one hidden erotic obsession. Brilliant, daring, relentless and supple, METROPHILIAS presents a kaleidoscope of all consuming desires, each specific specific to a famous city. There is nothing like it.
May 7, 2010
A very unusual, very good book.
July 10, 2011
Elegant and odd --- definitely one of the more interesting books I've read. Full review here: http://fluidityoftime.blogspot.com/20...
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