Last Exit to Brooklyn (novel, cover, best, prose)

[amc760]

Extremely controversial novel.

Who has read it, and what are your opinions?

I found the book to be extremely stomach turning, but I actually enjoyed the book.

Extremely gritty, and showed a side of urban life in Brooklyn most don't want to think about.

[delusianne]

LOVED IT! I ran across "Tralala" at about 16 in my parents' Best of Evergreen Review and I'll never forget the mix of horror and delight - this is it, the most lurid thing I've ever read! And yet beyond the colorful misery and the rhythm of the prose it had an honesty and power - it was not judgmental, not leering, not sentimental - it was tender toward Tralala.

He wasn't one of the sacred circle of "Beats" but he was published around the same time (maybe tangentially?) and I think many folks discover him when they're first meeting Allen, Jack, Old Bull Lee et al. Dear Jennifer Jason Leigh played Tralala in a movie, but I fear disappointment so never have had the nerve to rent it. (Have you seen it?)

"The Queen Is Dead" I loved - and "Strike" - and I remember the last story in the collection, about the old woman in the horrible apartment building. In fact "The Queen Is Dead" is probably the best unrequited love story I've ever found.

I'd always thought LETB was a collection of short stories, not a novel. Huh. I dont get it.

The movie Requiem for a Dream was excellent - maybe a little clean and pretty but how complicated to express!

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by amc760

Extremely controversial novel.

Who has read it, and what are your opinions?

I found the book to be extremely stomach turning, but I actually enjoyed the book.

Extremely gritty, and showed a side of urban life in Brooklyn most don't want to think about.

You think the book was tough to take? Try the movie.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by delusianne

LOVED IT! I ran across "Tralala" at about 16 in my parents' Best of Evergreen Review and I'll never forget the mix of horror and delight - this is it, the most lurid thing I've ever read! And yet beyond the colorful misery and the rhythm of the prose it had an honesty and power - it was not judgmental, not leering, not sentimental - it was tender toward Tralala.

He wasn't one of the sacred circle of "Beats" but he was published around the same time (maybe tangentially?) and I think many folks discover him when they're first meeting Allen, Jack, Old Bull Lee et al. Dear Jennifer Jason Leigh played Tralala in a movie, but I fear disappointment so never have had the nerve to rent it. (Have you seen it?)

"The Queen Is Dead" I loved - and "Strike" - and I remember the last story in the collection, about the old woman in the horrible apartment building. In fact "The Queen Is Dead" is probably the best unrequited love story I've ever found.

I'd always thought LETB was a collection of short stories, not a novel. Huh. I dont get it.

The movie Requiem for a Dream was excellent - maybe a little clean and pretty but how complicated to express!

Whew, 'clean and pretty' are not adjectives that I would apply to that film, especially the last 20 minutes.