I'm doing my silly dance around the room again. Because I was asked by THE AUTHOR to take a look at her book again. I feel so proud that people ask me for this. A) it makes me feel important in the vampire literary circles ;-)= B) it saves me money - don't judge, I'm a teacher - our salaries are a joke C) free stuff makes me as happy as a "sale" sign on the cute shoes I've been oggling for months. So, let's get professional and start with the review.
It's official. Aussies have a totally unique voice in vampire literature. I think I stated my suspicion when I was reviewing the Australian books in the past and now it got confirmed. This was so unexpected! The European vampire tradition is quite clear - vampires are to be feared, we love the Gothic elements. I think we've already overcome the shock after what the Americans did to the genre - the whole romanticization thing. And now the people from "down under" are showing us their twist to the genre. The impotent and useless vampires.
The story follows Ullysses, a total douche bag I wouldn't want to be friends with and honestly it seems that those few friends he has stay with him because of inertia (or any other power that keeps you going or not going because it's ever been so) rather than for his cheerful personality. He works a few days a week as a pizza delivery boy and his life centers about a bar called BAR. No other hobbies apart from sleeping with friends detected. There is nothing nice to say about him so when he gets turned into a vampire after a mature decision by a very very old vampiress (has this word finally reached the dictionaries or do I still have to use female vampire?), it comes as a shock. Who the hell would like to spend the next hundred years (that's how long you keep your creation with you) with this man (those of you who are familiar with Russian literature will surely know about "useless person, лишний человек")?!
But his creator tries to educate him in vampire matters (sometimes in a not so nice way - those of you who are sensitive to abuse shouldn't probably read this book) and even wants him to find a job. Because no, he hasn't miraculously got any superpowers overnight. It doesn't happen that way. Even blood is introduced slowly. And one's position in vampire society is gained painfully.
The fascinating thing about this is that vampires basically run the world - they decide who lives and who dies (they secretly control the population) and even in what way the person dies. That totally creeped me out! You can guess that one of the worst crimes is for a greenie to kill a human who wasn't supposed to die. So when Ullyses does that, he and his maker get in hell of a trouble.
I tremendously enjoyed the book since it was different from the stuff I normally encounter. I must admit I didn't even mind when Ullyses was mistreated by his maker - somehow this happening to a character I didn't like didn't make me cringe in the least. The incident at the end however... if rape is a sore subject for you, avoid it. But if you are a tough cookie, like unusual things and want to see how a character who you instantly hate can keep you turning the pages, grab it. You won't regret your decision.
Oh, and I've nearly forgotten! The book I got is a paperback but the pages are so thick that it screams quality - and I was really reading it with my fingers pressed to its spine so that I woulnd't break it and mar the book :-)= Also, the cover is so shiny and reflective that when I was trying to take a picture of the book, all I could see was me with a camera on the cover, hence the weird angle I'm sporting here because no matter how many lights I turned on or off and where I went I can always see the person with the camera.
GENRE: Is there a genre for giving a total loser a go at eternity?
FANGS OUT: sarcastic, unusual, so different
FANGS RETRACTING: I'd prefer more twists
TOTAL SCORE:
FANGS RETRACTING: I'd prefer more twists
TOTAL SCORE:
No comments:
Post a Comment