blood and guts in high school - kathy acker
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I read this novel by kathy acker when it first appeared on the scene in the 1980's, not only did i revel in the literary style of this new yorkist, rampant, angst female, in this her first work, she seemed to sum up the feelings of the age, of the post punk feminist free woman, and how still she suffered within the dominated world of the greedy selfish money-making, hypocrital, self made man-machine, pure genuis pure acker
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Tries too hard to be controversial
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'Blood and Guts...' isn't so much a novel as a loose mix of novel, poetry and artwork. It's form is in many ways groundbreaking. Unfortunately, as with many texts that try to subvert readers' expectations and experiment with form/language etc., a plot has been decreed unneccessary. This text is meant to provoke shock, outrage and disgust in many, but many texts that can provoke these extreme emotions will affect readers profoundly and stay with them for a long time. This will just make most people think 'what was the point of that?' The violence, sex and above all the swearing are just gratuitous and largely ineffective. I'm no prude, but when every other word is an obscenity, the words lose their power. This book is a tedious, overblown 'look at me, aren't I provocative?' exercise. The only reason to read it is the novelty value of having read one of the worst novels of all time.
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In two minds...
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I tried really hard to like this book but to be honest I found its lack of a plot frustrating and it made the book really unenjoyable. I like Kathy Acker's style of writing, which is very stark and honest, and the idea of smattering the novel with poems and maps and drawings quite original, but neither worked for me. I felt the book was being confronting (lots of pictures of/references to genitals) for the sake of it and I struggled to finish it; by the time I had I was really sorry I'd bothered. I wouldn't reccommend this book for anyone who, like me, prefers the traditional narrative form of writing, nor anyone who is easily offended. I can see that this book might have had a point, but i obviously didn't get it.
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Have fun. Read a book
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First of all , this is not just a book ,this we have it's also a map toa trip that never happens.
Was the persian slave trader real , or was it on Janie's mind? We'll never know for sure , but it's a devastating experience to read how people can need so desperatly the love they will never achieve.
I am an esceptic reader , and so i suspect of the real pretension of the writer , but as a book (or whatever...) it caused a major impression on me.I guess we all got a little Janie inside of us.
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