Book #27: Rave by Rainauld Goetz
Rave by Rainald Goetz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A book based around rave culture, translated from the original German.
I wasn't fully sure what to make of this one, as it felt very experimental, without a particularly linear plot, except that the main characters seemed to be constantly going to raves/gigs, so most scenes involved either DJs, sex, music, drink or drugs. One of the characters seemed to be a presumably fictionalised version of the author.
However, the narrative was interspersed with lots of stream-of-consciousness dialogue. So, the style changed quite a lot throughout the book, and it seemed to jump around a lot, even into flashbacks (it seemed) at times.
Throughout the dense narrative, there seemed to be some very relevant points raised (at one point there seemed to be a lament about the common problem with closure of gig venues). I had mixed feelings about this one, though. The dialogue was the sort that makes me want to keep reading, but it's one of those books that you probably won't remember much about after you've read it.
Overall, it felt like a bit of a chaotic, disorderly novel, although since it's based around raves and drug taking, that might have been the idea; a book that's completely wild. Worth trying, but you might end up slightly nonplussed.
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