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Last Exit to Brooklyn
Last exit to Brooklyn
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Jason
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rated it 5 stars
Oct 18, 2014 03:29AM
About to start this book, my first book by Hubert. Really looking forward to it. It has an introduction by Irvine Welsh so still working my way though that, sounds like Hubert had a pretty eventful life.
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How is it so far Jason?
Brilliant. Very similar to Henry Miller but not so angry.It is really interesting how it never uses quotation marks. Any speech just blends in with the story. I thought it would make things very difficult to figure out who says what but it hasn't been a problem so far.
You need to remember that this book came out in the early sixties, a pretty conservative period in American literature. This book has stood the test of time and is still raw by today's standards. A real masterpiece.
Thought you was going to say they didn't have quotation marks in the sixties.
Wow! Tralala has such a nasty ending.
That story has haunted me ever since I first read it.
It had a big influence on the work of Richard Price.
Really? I have added Clockers to my reading list as it looks like the most interesting of his books.
I have Lush Life sitting on my shelf at my house. I've never read any Richard Price, is he worth checking out?
If you liked Last Exit you'd probably like Lush Life. He's a more conventional writer than Selby, but was actually his STUDENT, and the influence is there.
I'm reading last exit right now and my only complaint is the use of slang written in a colloquial style. It confuses me a lot because I'm not familiar with the words they use never mind the fucked up way Shelby spells it.
Haha, it took me ages to figure out was TAKRIST was, then he used KRIST and I understood.
I think the colloquial style makes the whole thing sound more musical. There aren't too many writers that have tackled dialogue so fluidly.
I settled into his style very quickly, nearing the end of the book, the last story is my favourite, almost like a soap.
Stunning book, the last story was my favourite, not as brutal and disturbing as the others but how quickly it transported me to the projects was very clever, it was almost liking watching a film.I have decided to build myself up to reading the room, there are a couple of his I want to read before I reach the most disturbing book ever written, it might dull the other books if i read it too soon.
Feeling a bit sad it's over now.
I think the next book of his I plan to read is Requiem for a Dream (mainly cos I have a copy haha) Will add the willow tree to my reading list.
I think two of the most disturbing books I've ever read were The story of the eye and the girl next door. Those two really shook my reality. I'm going to add the willow tree to my list and see what it's all about.
I've added the story of the eye to my reading list. Thanks Ji
Transgressive Fiction
Books mentioned in this topic
Requiem for a Dream (other topics)Clockers (other topics)
