New member here, and The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan :)
Hey guys, another newbie here. I'm a bit of a huge fan of the strange, the disturbing and the wacky (I'm apart of the Palahniuk cult, what do you expect?!) I'm also so excited about this community because it helped me find the Jersey Devil story! I read the short piece years and years ago in a magazine and it horrified me to death, but I've never been able to find it since and, annoyingly, I could never quite remember the ending of the story. Stupidly, it was also 3am when I found this comm the other night so... thanks for that, guys! No sleep for the stupid, haha!
Anyway, I wanted to bring to you Haunted by Palahniuk (my diehard favourite!), but I have a feeling it's already been heavily discussed on here ;) so insteaaaad I'll bring to you...
The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan.
Because I suck at descriptions, I'll snag this from Amazon:
"In the oppressive, claustrophobic atmosphere of an old house, one of the few left standing in a London urban renewal area strewn with rubble, a family of four children, ranging in age from six to seventeen, try to survive on their own after the death of their father, first, and then, their mother. Because the three younger children will have to go into "care" if their mother's death is known, they dispose of her body themselves in the basement of their decaying house and carry on as if their parents are still alive."
I think I'd have to describe it as one of those subtly disturbing novels. The concept freaked me out the moment I heard it and I just had to read it. I think what makes this book so disturbing is the fact that these children are so convincing - they believe what they're doing is the right course of action, that burying their mother in a pile of cement is perfectly normal. I don't want to give anything away - although I'm pretty sure the amazon reviews already do - but this book is slightly very incestuous, as a warning in case you can't stomach that sort of thing.
It's also pretty short - you'll be able to finish it off in an afternoon, but it leaves such an impact on you. It ends on such a big BANG. There's also a movie which I haven't seen - if anyone has, please let me know what you think!
I'd love to know if anyone has read this. I haven't been able to convince anyone to read it and I'm dying to hear other people's thoughts.
Also, and since I'm here (LOL gotta love how I'm avoiding writing an essay by writing a mini one)... what are everyone's thoughts on incest in fiction? I personally find it unbelievably fascinating and disturbing all at once. It's such a huge car crash - you can't watch but you can't look away either. Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie Donald would be another disturbing incesty novel (I could write another review on this if anyone wants it?).
-Christina
Anyway, I wanted to bring to you Haunted by Palahniuk (my diehard favourite!), but I have a feeling it's already been heavily discussed on here ;) so insteaaaad I'll bring to you...
The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan.
Because I suck at descriptions, I'll snag this from Amazon:
"In the oppressive, claustrophobic atmosphere of an old house, one of the few left standing in a London urban renewal area strewn with rubble, a family of four children, ranging in age from six to seventeen, try to survive on their own after the death of their father, first, and then, their mother. Because the three younger children will have to go into "care" if their mother's death is known, they dispose of her body themselves in the basement of their decaying house and carry on as if their parents are still alive."
I think I'd have to describe it as one of those subtly disturbing novels. The concept freaked me out the moment I heard it and I just had to read it. I think what makes this book so disturbing is the fact that these children are so convincing - they believe what they're doing is the right course of action, that burying their mother in a pile of cement is perfectly normal. I don't want to give anything away - although I'm pretty sure the amazon reviews already do - but this book is slightly very incestuous, as a warning in case you can't stomach that sort of thing.
It's also pretty short - you'll be able to finish it off in an afternoon, but it leaves such an impact on you. It ends on such a big BANG. There's also a movie which I haven't seen - if anyone has, please let me know what you think!
I'd love to know if anyone has read this. I haven't been able to convince anyone to read it and I'm dying to hear other people's thoughts.
Also, and since I'm here (LOL gotta love how I'm avoiding writing an essay by writing a mini one)... what are everyone's thoughts on incest in fiction? I personally find it unbelievably fascinating and disturbing all at once. It's such a huge car crash - you can't watch but you can't look away either. Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie Donald would be another disturbing incesty novel (I could write another review on this if anyone wants it?).
-Christina