DBC Pierre is an Australian-born writer currently residing in Ireland. Born Peter Warren Finlay, the "DBC" stands for "Dirty But Clean". "Pierre" was a nickname bestowed on him by childhood friends after a cartoon character of that name.
Pierre was awarded the Booker Prize for fiction on 14 October 2003 for his novel Vernon God Little.
He is the third Australian to be so honoured, although he has told the British press that he prefers to consider himself a Mexican.
This was BRILLIANT. I'd be happy to be proved wrong, but I am prepared to say now that it's my book of 2010 - I can't imagine that I'm going to come across anything as unique, inspiring and downright excellent in the next few months.
The story begins with Gabriel Brockwell - dreamer, quasi-misanthrope, unfulfilled artist, paradoxically both a pursuer of ultimate decadence and an anti-capitalist - deciding to kill himself... but not quite immediately. The next 300 pages tell the fantastical tale of Gabriel's self-imposed final days, taking in three capital cities, an incredible cast of oddball characters, an excessive, orgiastic banquet beneath an abandoned airport, and the most bizarre and grotesque menu you've ever seen.
The narrative is wonderful, constantly experimenting with language and packed with unexpected words, succinct yet vivid descriptions, and too many remarkable truisms about human relationships, behaviour/hopes/fears/dreams, and the power of market forces than I could possibly list. The prose is experimental and colourful, yet there are perfectly formed quotes and soundbites on every page. Gabriel's voice is sublime - self-obsessed, negative and hypocritical, but funny, cynical, intelligent and brilliantly debauched as well as sweetly naive and naively charming. He's a literary Withnail, an elegantly wasted raconteur - I fell in love with the character and his flights of fancy, philosophical musings and never-ending brushes with good and bad luck.
DBC Pierre won the Booker Prize in 2003 with , which is certainly very good, and shares in common with this book a strong first-person narrative voice and playful, intricate, inventive prose; but in my opinion, Lights Out in Wonderland is better. I loved the characters, loved the narrative, loved the story. This is an extraordinary novel. READ IT.
(This book was graciously sent to me for free by W.W. Norton & Co. via 欧宝娱乐.com. I think they're going to wish they'd sent it to someone else.)
I hated Catcher in the Rye. I know it's supposed to be some kind of iconic book about about teenage angst or something, but to me Holden Caulfield was just sort of a whiny twit who created most of his problems himself. Boohooo! My parents don't understand me and my lack of effort is resulting in poor school performance and OMG SOMETIMES ADULTS LIE ABOUT THINGS! I tell you this because Lights Out in Wonderland is like all the worst things about Catcher in the Rye combined with a book Chuck Palahniuk might write after a serious head injury.
Gabriel Brockwell is twenty-five. He comes from an upper-class British family, and at the beginning of the book, finds himself in rehab. Deeply unsatisfied with his life, he decides that the best solution is to kill himself. However, before he does that, he feels that he should have at least one brilliant party first. From there, he travels around the globe, inadvertently fucking things up for almost everyone he meets. In between, he whines about how his daddy wasn't nice to him and his job was unfulfilling, and how people liked his friends more than they like him (unsurprising, really.) He has no direction in life! Things have not turned out the way he hoped/expected! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
The writing was not terrible -- there were some interesting descriptions along the way. However, it was often repetitive, but not in an interesting, witty, Palahniuk-type way, but in a repetitive way. Not to mention the mind-numbing, self-indulgent, and wholly unnecessary footnotes. YOU ARE NOT DAVID FOSTER WALLACE.
I'm sure there are a lot of people who might enjoy this book. I am just not one of them.
Really enjoyed this one. Like a weird cross between Catcher in the Rye, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and On the Road, if you can imagine that. Obnoxious protagonist but funny and with real character growth.
There's a lot going on here. DBC Pierre really goes beyond what he did well in Vernon God Little and takes it to the next level: The little footnotes, the recipes, the little system of neologisms he's created, they all add up to make for a notetaking-worthy read. Sure, there are some parts where it starts to slow down (the entirety of Tokyo; the beginning of Berlin), but it quickly picks up speed and heads to a completely ludicrous, yet satisfying wrap-up. And yes, there are some heavy-handed moments of political agenda at work. It's really difficult to bypass this, but I personally didn't feel that it was too distracting to get through the novel. Perhaps it's because I'm a sympathizer, I don't know.
All in all, worth the plane trip to the land of Britain to import.
There isn鈥檛 a name for my situation. Firstly because I decided to kill myself. And then because of this idea:
I don鈥檛 have to do it immediately.
Whoosh, through a little door. It鈥檚 a limbo.
I need never answer the phone again or pay a bill. My credit score no longer matters. Fears and compulsions don鈥檛 matter. Socks don鈥檛 matter. Because I鈥檒l be dead. And who am I to die? A microwave chef. A writer of pamphlets. A product of our time. A failed student. A faulty man. A bad poet. An activist in two minds. A drinker of chocolate milk, and when there鈥檚 no chocolate, of strawberry and sometimes banana.
In times geared to the survival of the fittest, not the fittest.
Ah well. I鈥檝e always avoided mirrors but here, naked in a room with a sink and a mirror, I steal a glance. Whoosh, the weasel is gone. Suddenly I鈥檓 a sphinx with choir-boy eyes, as luminous and rude as a decadent old portrait in oils.... By way of rejoicing I pee in the sink.
This is a tale of nihilistic abandon, a thoroughly debauched and bombastically narrated journey through the entrails of Western capitalism. The narrator initially intends for his final evening before suicide to take the form of some minor pub crawl; instead, it turns into a lengthy slog through depravity that becomes so repulsive that the novel is a burden to read. But somehow, just when the entire story seems fixed to implode, it metamorphoses into something beautiful. The finale leaves the reader (or, at least, me) feeling oddly unencumbered and hopeful.
I don't think my lack of enjoyment of this book was due to the quality of the writing, so please don't let my opinion put you off reading for yourself!
However, I think the book is a bit marmite-y and it just wasn't for me and my poor tired brain this week! The writing is incredible. It's addictive and evocative and as you follow Gabriel Brockwell through his self enforced final days on earth you travel at break neck speed through loathing him and loving him and certainly feel like you've travelled London, Tokyo and Berlin in his pocket and seen everything through his eyes and unusual perception.
But for me the writing just kept swaying into self indulgent, pretentious gabbling that I understand is pivital to the character and the style of the book, but it just made me want to skip forward past all the anti-capatalist ranting and back to the story.
Certain elements, such as the fish tank rendezvous (!) are just insanely well written and so descriptive you feel like you've just watched the scene play out in front of you and need to catch your breath!
Like I said, a fantastically written book, but I can't say I actually enjoyed reading it. Glad I did though.
I bought it a year ago, at the Parisian Shakespeare & Company bookstore and I have no idea why it took me so long to get it started.
Never in my life have I come across such a relatable character and so many plot twists. I'm sitting here all stunned, in all honesty: I don't know what to say. I'll just leave you with a few quotes:
"There isn't a name for my situation. Firstly because I decided to kill myself. And then because of this idea: I don't have to do it immediately."
"Smaller lives than yours may come and go, and the seasons within them may flourish and wither. But this night like a moonlit churchyard- this is my night."
"Because look at it, my friend: all that has ever been called love of life, is a love of things that won't happen. A love of dreams."
"How I wish I could hug her. What I wouldn't give to hug her now, that smiling, woolly person. And how important are the hugs we never had. Because some things do matter. Some things matter very much. While others don't matter at all."
No. No. No. This was an excruciating read. Where to begin? DBC Pierre's protagonist, like Holden Cauflield, is winey, pathetic, and unremarkable. This is the first book I've read where I rooted for the main character's suicide plan. And lousy with unnecessary footnotes! You have to earn footnotes! I stopped reading them early on. I did not want to give the author the satisfaction. Furthermore, Pierre's writing, like his characters, are wrung through the surreal, hallucinogenic washboard one too many times, that we stop caring. There is no ground or foundation for their humanity to stand upon. A 500 page dream sequence gets old. Perhaps Pierre wanted the reader to experience a sense of relief at the last page, just as his main man may have felt. This was more than relief however. This was excitement that I never, ever have to read another word from this author.
Pierre uses this manic allegorical novel to look at the excesses of capitalism and one of its leading acts of decadence鈥� fine dining! Twenty something Gabriel's ideologies take a big hit when his anti-capitalism activism actually starts making money; this is the final straw for him and he sets out to end his life after one last binge... which takes him to Tokyo and then Berlin. Maybe to literary for me, or maybe I need to re-read it... nothing like as good as . 5 out of 12.
I am very happy to have finally finished this book. I loved Vernon God Little, which I read a long time ago. I had been looking forward therefore to reading this book, but I hated it. I did not like the characters, the premise or the storyline. The only redeeming factor was the quality of the writing. The numerous footnotes were incredibly irritating. 4/10.
This is a novel about decadence which has reached global proportions.
Gabriel Brockwell is a 25 year old anti-globalisation activist whose daddy never loved him. He is a hedonist, partial to cocaine and booze in whatever forms they come and we meet Gabriel as he wakes up in rehab (which his father has organised and paid for) and we learn of his desire to kill himself after one last, big blowout.
We follow his flight from rehab, and from England, to Tokyo where his childhood comrade 鈥� Nelson Smuts 鈥� works as an epicurean with desires to reach the top echelon of elite, high-octane catering which exists in the underworld side of the industry.
Smuts introduces Gabriel to 鈥楳arius鈥� a wine from a vine so precious it grows with the assistance of virgins鈥� pheromones and transports the imbiber with visions of its Cote d鈥橝zur slope. In Tokyo Gabriel enters a night of gangsters, poisonous fish and gangsters poisoned by fish which lands Smuts in jail.
To save his friend he must somehow pull off the impossible and find a mythical nightclub suitable for the party to end all parties hosted by a sinister party organiser and international playboy, Didier Laxalt, who alone has the power to free Smuts.
Gabriel鈥檚 voice throughout is what carries us through this novel. He has learnt that he is not worth very much to anyone, least of all himself, and his perception of our consumer-driven world 鈥� where 鈥楥onsuming went from being a privilege, to a right, to a duty鈥� - is penetrating and direct.
The story is often ridiculous, delightful and yet disgusting, and always interesting. Gabriel is a great character, an anti-hero of sorts, who causes chaos yet manages to party on throughout.
It's not a book I would recommend to everyone - if you don't like strong language then you should steer clear - but it is one hell of a ride and a novel which I will be thinking about for a long time to come.
Boy, was this book an adventure. I really felt like I was right there with Gabriel on his whole journey from London, to Tokyo, to Berlin. The author made me feel like only I was "in-the-know" and privy to all the psychotic ramblings he had to share. The fact that this book starts off in a mental institution pretty much sets the tone for the whole book. Yeah, Gabriel's effed up, but he doesn't care. He's going to kill him self, ha ha. No worries.
Gabriel isn't really a likable guy though. He's mostly a prick and likes to say "bourgeois" more than Ayn Rand. The footnotes are numerous and, for the most part, irrelevant (I just finished so I sure know about irrelevant footnotes. *cringe*)
If only I could get my hands on some panda paw or koala leg, I could try out some of his recipes for my own Bacchanalian feast.
2nd time reading this. I gave it 4 stars originally but on 2nd read through it truly deserves 5. Just brilliant. Loved every moment. Unique, vibrant, inspiring and surprisingly joyous.
Just as outrageously decadent and too much as how it portrays capitalism and modern day consumerism. It麓s a bit too much for me, but I can appreciate his stylish approach of the subject.
Reading this book was an ordeal, and I鈥檓 glad it鈥檚 over, but I think it was worth it to undertake. DBC Pierre鈥檚 first book, Vernon God Little, was a masterpiece. I loved it, and I still do. It was a tiny bit slow to start, and it was a bit of an ordeal too, but the plot was captivating, it had a variety of intriguing characters and some little side plots to keep you interested. I also loved and heavily identifies with the main character.
In LOW鈥� I didn鈥檛. I legitimately hated鈥 can鈥檛 even remember his name, was it Gabriel or Frederick? I just checked, it is Gabriel Brockwell. I鈥檝e no idea why Gerd Sprecht calls him Frederick. I guess I don鈥檛 care. That comes to play a lot in this book. I. JUST. DIDN鈥橳. CARE. Gabriel is utterly pathetic and unlikeable. TWICE, in this novel he is asked of any likeable qualities he has, or even may have had at some point in his life and can come up with not a single freaking thing. In his whole life and personal definition. What kind of man is this?
Well, we do get to know him a bit by the end. I suppose the reason why it takes so long to see anything in him is because it takes so long for him to see anything in himself. The whole point of his 鈥渓imbo鈥� is that he has no self definition to float towards so he meanders meaninglessly and nowhere in particular.
This book is about him growing up in a way, finding that way to define himself, and without meaning to, he starts in the very first sentence. Albeit, he starts this growing up process with a decision to kill himself, which is not very mature at all, but the important part(though we don鈥檛 know its important yet) is merely that it is a decision. Gabriel ceases to be a bit of flotsam floating where he may, and he strikes out. He鈥檚 not grown up yet though because his only goal before death is to basically get really wasted, which is a stupid and childish last wish. He is so arrogant and stuck-up, thinks he knows everything, but he doesn鈥檛 even know who he is. I hated him so much I resolved to stop reading this book several times. What kept me going was DBC.
His writing is so surprising. It is full of unexpected twists, full of completely INSANE figurative language. I can鈥檛 understand why anyone would choose to write the way he does, and so I must conclude that he does it merely because that is the way he thinks it out onto the page. He is doubtless a seriously messed up dude. Or at least was idk maybe he鈥檚 changed like Gabriel. I thought several times throughout the book that maybe he IS Gabriel. It could be semi-autobiographical. Though please please please let none of the banquet scene be true. I was so disturbed by that sequence it actually made me want to cry, and if I had been PMSing while reading it I鈥檓 sure I would have been sobbing on the floor.
So now that I have ranted for - oops, a full page - how I hate the book and yet love the author, I鈥檒l actually get into this analysis.
Just want to get some observations out of the way. I found it too easy how well Gottfried comes to know Gabriel. I was distressed by the books lack of characters, and I wished that we could have had a slow growth of Gottfried, but then I suppose that would have shattered DBC鈥檚 construction of drawn-out depression and failures followed by a spurt of epiphany and growth. I believed the analysis in Anna, mostly. The other thing I didn鈥檛 like was SOOOO many conversations between random people. I could not understand it. I felt DBC was trying to let us absorb the culture of East Berlin, but I DIDN'T CARE and it may have been/ definitely was the worst waste of space in this book. Don鈥檛 turn yourself into something you鈥檙e not. And this book was not a conversational history of Berlin pubs. Or at least it shouldn鈥檛 have been.
I want to start with the title. Wonderland is where he dreams of going all throughout the book. The last place he wishes to be. The place of his send-off from his limbo to the underworld. When he gets to wonderland and truly sees what is there he proclaims 鈥淥ur elegant place has become a level of hell.鈥� And it could not be more true. If DBC painted with oil instead of words his banquet would resemble the famous triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights where the delights of some become the horrors of many others.
Lewis Carroll uses wonderland (in a widely embraced interpretation) as a metaphor for the place where one grows up. That鈥檚 what happens to little Alice. That鈥檚 what happens to Gabriel. He really didn鈥檛 know what he was getting himself into, but it got into him none-the-less. When he writes 鈥渙ur elegant place has become a level of hell鈥� he doesn鈥檛 only reveal his dissallusion to wonderland, but also his true feelings to his new friends and this old relic of a bye-gone age. He loves it how it was.
UNBEARABLE PRETENSION gives way to a clarity that lets him see the world around him for what it really is. His. For the taking if he wants it. 鈥渙nly one thing underlies death. And that is an absence of love. An absence which I have in abundance.鈥� When Gerd and Gottfried pull him out of the lake (though truthfully it鈥檚 not clear if Gerd is even there or if either of them actually do anything to physically get him out of the water)it doesn鈥檛 matter that they physically pull him out (if they do) but rather that they are there, that someone noticed he was gone and went to the trouble of thinking about looking for him. He is loved. And that is all it took to save him, to change him, and to make him change his own fate, to 鈥渁ctivate his reserve powers鈥�. 鈥淣obody is stuck with anything as it is. We all must stand up and take control.鈥� 鈥淜ill the spiral.鈥� It鈥檚 very similar to the VGL quote, something like 鈥� In a world where everyone was phsycho I was too much of a damned coward to be the god of my own life.鈥�
There are a lot of parallels between these two books. A pathetic young man grows up. Learns that he has power in his own life, and uses that power to make his life better, and also to make the lives better of those who were good to him. Both books have crass and unexpected poetry to them. Both books get better as they go on. Both characters are quite distant until pretty far into the book, and both are similar to each other in several ways (Though Vernon still has all of the goodness of a quality and Gabriel has all of the bad).
Both books get quite abstract towards the end, to a very disturbing degree, in that it is a caricature of the grotesqueness of human possibility, and the stark realism of most of the book tricks the mind into seeing the absurdism as another possible reality too. God help us if either ever come true.
Both books have a saving grace. This is, that in a story where a character experiences constant failure, pain, and becomes more and more of a disappointment to the reader and himself鈥� there somehow emerges a happy ending. In VGL it so surprised me that I cried real tears of happiness and gasped like a child at a show. In LOW it was a release. I could let out everything that I didn鈥檛 even know I was holding in. I just kept sighing. Relieved that it was OVER, and that the terrors had ceased, but also I had a feeling that the terrors had also ceased for these characters, characters I had begrudgingly learned to care for. They all did what was right. Not only for themselves, but also for the world. In the end I was proud of Gabriel. Proud of this pathetic sweaty bastard who had fouled up so bad, so many would have given up. But he had a secret strength, one that had just never been fueled before. They gave him love, and he gave everything he had. Chance, drive, ingenuity, and all he could. I was proud of this pathetic mass of useless flesh I had spent 330 pages growing a steady displeasure for because he became good in a way that he didn鈥檛 have to. He changed himself for the better, and I guess if he can do it, it makes me feel like maybe someday so could I. And that鈥檚 why this terrible horrible no good book is actually worth reading, because if the scum of this very earth can learn to love and to serve others, and himself all in one short night of madness, then I know I can too. And this horror and brilliance gives me hope for myself, and for this whole retched world.
It's usually very hard to pick a favorite book , but there's a simple reason why.
Every time I read this book I come away with something new. I think of Gabriel differently , I think of the points he makes differently. When I was young I didn't get him , then I did get him and I liked him , then I did get him and I didn't like him. Last time I read it, Gabriel grated on me. He seemed so full of self importance despite all his humble babbling. but who knows how I'll feel next.
Sometimes he makes perfect sense. sometimes he is making perfect sense to distract from the fact that he has made mistakes and that he's failed to take accountability of. Sometimes it doesn't matter how self involved the point is because it's actually that good a point.
When he gets told off near the end, sometimes he deserves it and sometimes he does not. Sometimes shmuts is a psychopath weirdo and sometimes he's the Adonis Gabriel wishes he was and sometimes he's exactly who Gabriel already IS, though he himself cannot see it.
This book is more like a friend to me. One I meet with over coffee and squint at, thinking " are they different or is it just my eyes?" between us I don't know who is growing older.
A masterful work that's worth visiting and revisiting.
The fascination of a death row inmate鈥檚 last meal spread out over a week or so - debauchery and weirdness dialled to eleven. A funny, depressing, life affirming read.
This book was recommended to me in the highest terms by a friend as she was reading it. "Sex and drugs in Tokyo, London, and Berlin" she said. Shortly afterwards I stumbled over it in the library and picked it up immediately. I will admit that based on the title and my friend's description I expected a different experience; one more in touch with the Wonderland reference made on the cover. What I found was something altogether different, but not in a disappointing way. The protagonist of this book will either suck you in or put you off right off the bat. The protagonist is very conflicted and hypocritical, with a downright mesmerizing voice. While cynical, his capacity for insight is staggering and each chapter contains very striking observations that will really make you think. I was able to connect with him very easily, and I think that whether or not you can connect with him will be the deciding factor in whether or not you will enjoy this book. The writing style of this book is impeccable. The author experiments with all kinds of ambrosial words and the book is full of beautiful descriptive sentences and excellently quotable dialogue. I really can't stress enough how much I enjoyed the way the author wrote, and I will definitely seek out his other works for this purpose. One of the selling points of this book is in the fact that it takes place in 3 major cities, London, Tokyo, and Berlin, though the vast majority of the book takes place in Berlin. While Berlin is an excellent location for this story and the author does a great job in making you feel like you are there, I would have liked to see more of the other cities; the time spent in London is minuscule and all of the action in Tokyo takes place in a single locale. As for the plot, while it drags a little in the 3rd quarter, the overall structure of the book is different and outstanding. This is a book more about concept than about plot. It explores the consumer culture, the nature of excess, and has a strong anti-capitalist air. There is a profound layer of debauchery used in equal parts to seduce and repulse the reader. It makes no effort to be politically correct and has no qualms with removing you from your comfort zone in order to get across its message, and doesn't always explain its reasons to you for doing so. While the book has a dismal tone most of the way through (after all the book begins with the assertion that the protagonist is planning to kill himself), it ends with a bright note of optimism that shines through the grit of the rest of the narrative; I thought it was an excellent ending to an imperfect but great book. I am very excited to see what this author does next and would definitely recommend him to other readers, though his style is not for everyone, particularly the faint of heart.
Really, I had a love/hate relationship with this book; and finished it merely to prove it would not win. Surely most of us have fought that battle with a book or two; sometimes to give up and other times to carry on.
There were moments that I thought a paragraph, or 2-3 pages flowed nicely. Sometimes the writing felt so disjointed I had to put the book down and come back for it to make sense. Though I actually rather liked the style of using foot notes for separate rants - and that was an aspect of the writing, and my own oral ranting and personal thought patterns that kept me reading. I wrote down a few quotes to keep, not many. Other times I thought to myself, how can this character possibly be 25? He's acting 15, or 20, and I really just want to smack him upside the head, frankly.
Not only that - what really bothered me, more than the immaturity or maturity of the character (articles which can be excused, because it is after all, a character), but the blatant xenophobia and ridiculous cultural stereotypes. Really? A sex scene involving an Octopus bite in Tokyo? How unoriginal and banal. Doing drugs in a former Nazi compound, and then starting to listen to Rammstein? Really? Listening to Rammstein and making middle school Nazi jokes - I'm so impressed.
Sure, attempting to stick it to Capitalism, playing with the notion of living inside a suicidal arc and general themes of learning to grow up and get on with it appeal; but frankly could have been done in a shorter storyline with a lot less drivel and clear lack of global understanding or travel experience.
I picked this up as somewhat of a beach read, get through Immigration queues read, and I was slightly embarrassed to pass it along to another traveler, and said as much when I did. It has it's moments and a few quotes - but beyond trying to save sanity when stuck in an 8 hour queue of some sort I wouldn't read it again. Perhaps I'd say otherwise were I 18, or 22 - but at 26 I just can't be bothered with some of the nonsense this character spews. I rather agree with the female character in the book that pretty much wants to smack him upside the head the majority of the time - and to avoid spoilers I won't say more than she's far more patient with him than I ever would be.
A 'Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas' for the age of the World Financial Crisis. This book is slowly restoring my faith in DBC Pierre. I was wary, having been burnt by his second book after loving his first, and reading a bad review of this latest. Yet when Lisa said "I hated this book but I think you'll like it," I read the first sentence, and then the second and third, and saw immediately in the narrator a like mind. As a self-confessed black sheep of society, as well as of my family, like-minds are few and far between, so I have borrowed the book and burrowed into it, much to my delight. Some may find it misanthropically immature and aloof, but people have accused me of such qualities in the past so perhaps that's the attraction...
Now that I've finished it I must admit that a less generous fellow than myself might, quite fairly, say that much of the third act does get bogged down in the kind in stodgy plotting reminiscent of one of those romantic-comedy-heist films where the audient is meant to be distracted by the hollow moralizing and miraculously high level of fortuitous coincidence and loose-end knot-tying by staring at Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones or Sinatra, or in this case remembering the poetry that pulled one into the novel in the first place. Not that I would say such a thing myself, being the forgiving fellow that I am (although it did lead me to dance between three or four stars this morning.)
That section aside the book did find it's legs for me at the very end. Overall the fluid style of it's earlier sections make it a more than worthwhile read. I was very glad I'd stayed till the last page when I did get there.
I purchased Lights out in Wonderland on the basis of how much I enjoyed DBC Pierre's first book Vernon God Little which was recommended to me by a friend. While this novel doesn't quite scale the satirical and darkly humorous heights of his Man Booker prize winning debut, it nevertheless provides an excellent platform for Pierre to target the excesses of our modern post-capitalist civilisation.
His protagonist Gabriel Brockwell, a conflicted 20 something anti-capitalist demonstrator/philosopher/slacker, has reached rock bottom. He is completely disillusioned by a society which puts money above all else, to the point where even his own anti-capitlaist allies and friends betray him simply so they can embrace consumerism in all it's forms. Brockwell narrates the novel in first person and analyses and philosophises just about all human behaviour he observes. However this rarely becomes tiresome as Pierre brilliantly conveys these observations in various thoughtful, insightful and occasionally timeless passages at the bottom of the pages. The result of Gabriel's human analysis is to some extent if you can't beat 'em join 'em, and he decides to embark on the ultimate debauch with his childhood friend; a quest to enjoy all the finest things in life for one more night before ending his life. This journey takes him to places as far afield as a Tokyo restaurant and a disused airport in Berlin - the setting of his intended final blowout. It is in the descriptions of these locales and the people within them that the power of Pierre's imagery really comes to the fore. The man has an exceptional way with words. Some of the passages in this book manage to be both beautiful, frightening and haunting all at the same time and should be read slow and savoured, much like a fine wine, which is appropriate given Gabriel's intentions. At times Pierre comes across like a more potent form of Hunter S Thompson, complete with added overdoses of satire and wit.
I believe Pierre's greatest skill as a novelist is his ability to truly immerse himself within his protagonist - to infuse their words with healthy doses of humour, wit and satire but never at the expense of plausibility given their age and circumstance. In Vernon God Little, he somehow managed to convincingly channel the mindset of a confused, inquisitive, crude and alienated teenager from a remote Texas town, who had been accused of a horrific crime that he did not commit. In Lights Out, he accomplishes a similar feat in a completely different character. There are many parallels between the novels in the sense that both the central characters embark on coming-of-age journey's (albeit for entirely different motivations) that explore human nature and motive. My only problem with this novel is that it's difficult to believe that Gabriel truly intends to end his life once the party is over, he's simply having too much fun.
This book is like a guilty pleasure. As I read it I began to feel it was the literary equivalent of a seven course meal in a three Michelin star restaurant, consumed with copious amounts of vintage champagne and caviar, then concluded with cheese, vintage port and finally a fat Cuban cigar. Some may find the writing style overly indulgent and feel that Pierre has a tendency to ramble on, however his commentary on the excesses of our civilisation is razor sharp. I watched an interview with him regarding his inspiration for this novel and he simply felt that western civilisation has become stuck in a rut, or a perpetual 'limbo' as Gabriel would put it. As people we are becoming defined by our consumption. We are no longer progressing, we are standing still and history would suggest that all great civilisations eventually collapse or implode, often as a result of their own excesses. Lights out in Wonderland is a celebration of that excess, and regardless of what you make of its satirical commentary, its delicious paragraphs make it a joy to read.
Pretty ok. Pros: The premise itself--guy decides to kill himself but not right away--is a thematic strength to get us started on a decadent journey. It add some tension and verisimilitude in the arrogant and nutty way he acts. Too often in novels, main characters just do nutty things without any excuse, and, at the least, being in a state of mind freed from consequences, trying to savor every moment as final, gives an excuse to going to decadent and brave extremes.
In this same vein, another strength is that though the protag might feel as though he's freed from consequences, he is faced with them all the time--it keeps some tension throughout the narrative to have his best friend in jail due to his own actions.
Cons: Drugs, drugs, drugs. Now, I lack some experience in this regard, but it seems implausible to me that this dude can drink and do so much coke for hours/days without being really, noticeably worse for wear. The scenes of him throwing up in a trash can, nose bleeding, happen days after his initial bender and it seems to me that he would have to look/feel horrible after his first breakfast of wine and coke.
Also, annoying, mansplainy footnotes that assume superior knowledge of capitalism, human nature, food, drugs.... I get that it's supposed to be (?) ironic since they are coming from a character who clearly does not have it all figured out (or are these supposed to have been written after the notes themselves which are mentioned in the narrative as being the book? If so, the perspective of the narrator in writing them doesn't reflect the supposed change he undergoes by the end), but that doesn't mean I want to listen to a guy with his head up his ass.
The ending was jumpy--I thought the lack of transitions in the first half of the novel was a reflection of the narrator's own drunken/drugged disorientation, but perhaps that's just the style of the author. I appreciated the shorter chapters to draw to a close, but it felt like it left some things poorly resolved, like the Smuts situation (why wouldn't they get mad at ending everything early and wouldn't they trace it back to him and refuse to provide evidence as a result? Did I miss something?), and what happened to the tortoise in the end. I suppose I kept expecting a black mass sort of resolution where things would devolve from mere consumption to actual murder and that the narrator would be the main course...I mean, I'm glad it was just a the tortoise (did she smuggle him on the plane somehow?), but still.
The recipes were an ok device--they reinforced the food porn theme and conveyed a certain feeling of being there that descriptions of the finished product could not. At the same time, the recipes, featuring cooking humming birds and tigers were in some ways incomprehensible since of course I've never eaten or cooked a tiger. I'm not sure this alienation is entirely a detriment, but it's not entirely a strength either.
All in all, this was a fun book to pair with some decadent short stories, and definitely commented on the theme in self-awareness, but weirdly didn't turn out to actually be a decadent novel, not really. Perhaps that's a good thing.
In feite zou ik het daarbij kunnen laten maar we zullen iets meer doen.
Het is het verhaal van Gabriel Brockwell, late twintiger die opeens besluit (terwijl hij opgenomen is in een instelling voor geestelijke gezondheidszorg) dat hij dood wil, maar niet onmiddellijk. Dat besef is het begin van een onzinnige reis die van London naar Tokio en uiteindelijk in Berlijn strandt.
Gabriel als karakter deelt met ons zijn constateringen en zijn autobiografie die allemaal in een zelfde richting wijzen; het belang van de magisch limbo. De limbo maakt dat je regels kan breken, wetten overtreden en zaken kan bereiken die anders onmogelijk zijn. Wat hij wil bereiken, is een onzinnige laatste paar uren en een passende dood zodat zijn leven afgelopen is. Gezien Gabriel jaren heeft gezworven in post-moderne linkse kringen, besluit hij dat hij in zijn laatste uren de waanzin van het ultieme kapitalisme zal omarmen.
Echter het boek ontspoort wat na een derde; waar het eerste deel de fun zit in te lezen hoe Gabriel als een waanzinnige zonder enige consideratie voor normen en regels door de wereld heen banjert en alles op zijn weg overweldigt; is de rest van het boek dat niet. De rest van het boek gaat opeens over het helpen van een oude vriend door het organiseren van een decadent feest in Berlijn waar ondermeer tijgerwelp op het menu zal staan. Dan is er ook de relatie met figuren die een oude kiosk in Tempelhoff hebben een love interest die ik geforceerd vindt en een naar het einde toe morele preek die ik tezelfdertijd interessant had gevonden had het in een academisch werk gestaan, maar nu wat middenin werd gedumpt en zo subtiel was als een suske en wiske moraliteit moment.
Het tweede dat mij niet helemaal beviel, waren de constateringen van Gabriel, soms waren ze leuk anders interessant maar na een tijdje kwam het allemaal maar potsierlijk over; natuurlijk is dat miss net de bedoeling en is het een voorbereiding op de plottwist die naar het laatste luik opduikt maar toch... Plus ook, voor iemand die besluit dat de regels er niet meer toe doen en de waanzin limbo dient gevolgd te worden, heeft Gabriel er bizar veel moeite mee om ook maar aan iemand te vertellen dat hij dood wil. Ok goed miss zou dat de limbo doorbreken aan de andere kant er waren echt wel moment waar hij actief de limbo en het verhaal liet stroppen omdat hij niet durfde toegeven waarom deze waanzinnig reis is aangevat.
Tja wat moeten we hier nu mee? Geen idee eigenlijk, het voelt voor mij aan alsof het eerste derde en laatste luik geschreven waren, maar het midden echt vooral diende om het boek te vullen. Het kan miss gewoon ook dat existenti毛le verhalen niet mijn ding zijn.... in dat geval snap ik of apprecieer ik niet genoeg het boek voor wat het is.