The book, its writing is a terrifying and complex imagination, but it presents a unique work that arouses shock and often causes astonishment. It is a crazy work but it is also innovative!

This book takes the reader on a wild ride through a world of the author's own creation. The ideas and concepts presented are so outlandish that they leave the reader gasping for breath. However, despite its madness, there is a certain charm and creativity to the work that cannot be denied.

The author has managed to blend together elements of horror, fantasy, and science fiction in a way that is both captivating and thought-provoking. The story twists and turns, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat from beginning to end. Whether you love or hate this book, there is no denying that it is a work of art that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it.

This is my very first encounter with JCO. I am truly astonished that a writer of such popularity can manage to get away with such transgressive writing.

When compared to something like American Psycho, which I personally consider to be complete garbage, JCO's work is far more interesting.

However, she doesn't quite succeed in capturing that flat affect characteristic of a true psychopath as effectively as Patricia Highsmith does in the first Ripely book.

This implies that JCO (unlike PH) is not herself a sociopath - and thank goodness for that!

Anyway, I find this work surprisingly good. I still don't understand why her books are rated so poorly. I will definitely read more of her works to gain a better understanding.

I'm looking forward to delving deeper into her unique style of writing and seeing what other surprises she has in store for me.

Maybe with more reading, I'll be able to解开 the mystery of why her books don't receive the recognition they deserve.

For now, I'm simply enjoying the ride and being intrigued by her bold and transgressive approach to storytelling.

Quentin P. is on parole due to a racial aggression, but what lies hidden behind this man, who appears tender and with the watchful eye of his attentive grandmother, goes much further. Quentin is a sexual deviant, a serial killer who gets excited by raping and murdering men. As if that weren't enough, Quentin P. has a dream. He wants to turn one of his victims into a zombie without free will, who obeys him in everything. Like a kind of Dr. Frankenstein, but even more perverse.

I'm not going to lie to you, it's one of the most unpleasant stories I've ever read. Terrifying would be an understatement. And not only because of the fact that violent and cruel scenes constantly appear that turn your stomach, which is also the case, but because getting into the skin of a psychopath at these levels, who tells his story in the first person, is a completely uncomfortable and distressing experience. And yet, despite all the bad it has put me through, it is a merit.

The tense atmosphere throughout the novel is curious. The feeling of hating the protagonist narrator while wanting to save his victims. You suffer because you know what's coming and you don't want it. I think there is important work behind capturing the mind of a killer of such caliber and making it believable and realistic, despite his perverse acts. That difference between what he said and what he thought, that point of manipulation, is very well achieved.

The only thing that has failed me is that, within the cruel story it tells, it is a bit monotonous in terms of plot, and there are no major twists or situations that bring about much change. And this, added to the unpleasantness of the story, can make it a bit tiresome. Do I recommend it? Only if you enjoy sordid stories like I do, because in that case it will compensate for the bad taste. It won't be the last thing I read by Joyce Carol Oates, although I hope the next one is something more digestible. Recommendations on where to go from here are welcome.

How to Avoid Being Bourgeois

This topic may not be as terrifying or "monstrous" as one might think. It's not a shocking revelation that takes us "into the mind of a serial killer." It's not "harrowing" or "disturbing" in the traditional sense.

Rather, it's a strained and earnest attempt to envision a life that would completely overturn bourgeois values. However, this attempt falls short because the imagining of the Other is already an inherent part of middle-class American life. Even the most unexpected lines lose their impact as soon as they are read, as it becomes evident that they are the product of a novelist, living in an upper-middle-class suburb and relying on years of research into serial killers.

If Oates truly desires to write outside the confines of modern middle-class America, she should take inspiration from writers like Roussel or Bernhard. Although they are two distinct examples, they share two crucial characteristics that highlight the awkwardness and artificiality of "Zombie." Firstly, they are firmly outside bourgeois values, with their characters being true psychotics who couldn't care less about the social fabric. Secondly, they don't have to exert so much effort with every line and image, trying to break free from normalcy. They are already irreversibly abnormal.

Writing outside middle-class values is no easy feat. I wrote a similar review about Osamu Dazai's "No Longer Human." From this perspective, gestures of anarchy and pessimism, as seen in popular culture with figures like Chuck Palahniuk, Christpher Nolan, and more recently Todd Phillips, are merely tropes of self-destruction imagined within first-world middle-class culture. A single line of Roussel is far stranger than anything in Oates.

An extremely unpleasant book awaits you. It drags you, with an absolute dearth of any Hanniballian romance, into the petty and insignificant mind of a serial killer. The main character's sole desire is to dominate pretty men. He is as cheap, tiresome, disorganized, and lame as a middle-aged man leering at you in a Denny's. This book manages to completely destroy the romance of serial killing. It's like that scene in Sandman where Morpheus takes away the illusions at the "Cereal Convention," except here the illusion is truly taken away, not just handwaved as one of Morpheus's gestures. Picture a man with a dead-end job, greasy stolen glasses, and a beige van with a flag decal in the back window. This is serial killing in all its beige, potbellied, ALL CAPS & badly punctuated glory.

This is, based on a true story, the self-narrative of a mass murderer: a homosexual necrophile-cannibal whose fetish is for the killed to be his zombie doll. As the atrocity culminates, I can't help but notice that, in the best reading, this Sioran would be a lover.

Alas, God, for the wasted time that my insatiable curiosity stubbornly leads me to.

Your mother is a bitch, Outs.

It's a disturbing and dark account that delves into the mind of a truly twisted individual. The description of the murderer's fetishes and actions is both repulsive and captivating in a morbid way. The mention of wasted time due to curiosity adds an element of self-reflection, perhaps hinting at the narrator's own awareness of the futility of their fixation. And the final insult towards "Outs" mother seems to come out of nowhere, adding an extra layer of mystery and aggression to the story. Overall, it's a piece that leaves a lasting impression and makes the reader question the depths of human depravity.

The story is told in the first person, with Quentin as our protagonist.

The entire plot unfolds in a chaotic and disorderly manner, as if it were a personal diary, explained by Quentin's voice. The scenes he describes are situations from his past, present, and the thoughts of a sick mind like his.

This book is inspired by the real story of Jeffrey Dahmer, an extremely ruthless serial killer from Wisconsin. I searched for information about his real story and then read the book. Thanks to this, I was able to make some sense of what I was reading because the author's way of narrating this book is so complex that it is difficult to understand what she wants to tell us. Of course, the author does this on purpose because her intention is to explain to us what Quentin feels from within his own mind and his mental chaos.

There are scenes that are extremely hard and difficult to read because they are very explicit and it is hard not to empathize with Quentin's victims. Despite this, I enjoyed the book because the minds of these people arouse a lot of curiosity in me.

The best thing was to read it together and be able to discuss at length all the many unknowns that always trouble us when we talk about serial killers: are they mentally ill or do they know what they are doing at all times?

This story is highly recommended if you like novels that are hard and especially those that are inspired by real events.

This was truly a page-turner for me, a captivating read that I devoured in a single afternoon.

It is written in a diary style, from the perspective of a highly believable childlike predator. I have read a great deal of true-crime literature and consider myself quite knowledgeable in criminal psychology.

I was truly impressed by the restraint exercised by the author. They only recorded events from the sophomoric emotional state of a stunted and sad murderer.

This is a well-executed work that I will relish using as a foundation for exploring the author's other creations.

Fans of this book would do well to give "Perv: A Love Story" by Jerry Stahl a try. It might offer a similar engaging and thought-provoking experience.

Overall, this book has left a lasting impression on me and has piqued my interest in the author's body of work. I look forward to seeing what else they have to offer.

Reread March 2024:

Well, the review of my initial read of this still holds true. However, perhaps because I was already aware of what was going to occur, this time around, I was able to focus on what actually transpired. OMFG, Quentin is an absolute monster! The scene where he devises and executes the abduction of LITTLE SQUIRREL with the intention of turning him into HIS ZOMBIE was shockingly extreme. Joyce Carol Oates is truly a superstar. Her mind! She must have conducted extensive research into the thoughts of a male sexual psychopath. This was even better (or is that the right word?)... okay, this was even more confronting than my first reading. Can I say I 'loved' it? JCO set out to achieve what she desired. It's a classic, but not for the faint of heart.

6 Stars - updated rating, but Handle with Care.

ps. Supplement with spooky music blasting through your headphones, preferably late at night

Zombi

At the beginning, it was very different from what I expected.

The way of narration is also interesting, although very disturbing. I had to stop reading twice because what you read is not that it scared me or was too intense, but it is narrated in such a personal and close way that you feel as if Q—P--- is getting into your head, when it is supposed to be the other way around, the reader is the one who has total access to the thoughts of Q--- P--.

And then the development, you are navigating between the memories of Q, his plans, his daily life, the selection of ZOMBIE, and suddenly the story takes a turn. There is an ending that feels more like a pause, and it is different.

It's not that the book is enjoyable. I don't see how it could be unless you are as crazy in the head as Q. But the idea is well executed and it achieves that feeling of discomfort.

Besides, the detail of the drawings is great.

4.5 stars.

Book Winner Bram Stoker.

Reto Popsugar, book with Z.

Leer «Zombi» es convertirse en Quentin P_, un hombre joven con evidentes trastornos mentales que le llevan a ver la realidad como algo casi ajeno. Quentin es un depredador maníaco guiado por comportamientos sexuales violentos, la oveja negra de una familia acomodada en la que las apariencias son de gran importancia.

A través de 57 capítulos cortos, y casi a modo de diario macabro, Quentin desvela los retorcidos engranajes que mueven su mente, transportándonos a una perturbada visión del mundo. La primera persona que utiliza Joyce Carol Oates es sumamente inmersiva, aunque en esta ocasión es casi imposible empatizar con el personaje (evidentemente, no hay intención de ello por parte de la autora). Es la suya una narración trepidante, que requiere de cierta complicidad por parte del lector debido a lo descabalado de los pensamientos del protagonista, y que durante algunos pasajes impacta por su crudeza.

Algo que me encanta de «Zombi» es la increíble habilidad de Oates para presentar a un narrador que se muestra muy poco fiable desde el principio. Esto hace que me cuestione si lo que cuenta el protagonista es real o no, es decir, cuáles de sus "hazañas" son auténticas y cuáles responden a meros deseos. Esta ambigüedad me parece muy difícil de conseguir en una novela, y es posible que a algunos lectores no les convenza, pero bajo mi punto de vista es una genialidad muy meritoria.

Respecto a esto, hay que aclarar que una buena parte de la trama viene inspirada por la vida de Jeffrey Dahmer, el carnicero de Milwaukee, uno de los peores asesinos en serie de los Estados Unidos. Aunque Oates mezcla acontecimientos conocidos de la vida de Dahmer con otros que son pura ficción.

Reseña completa en "Dentro del Monolito": https://dentrodelmonolito.blogspot.co...

I HATED this book!

It was, without a doubt, excellently written. It accomplished precisely what it set out to do - it scared the living daylights out of me!

This is a profound character study of a social deviant. I'm reluctant to spoil it for anyone who might read it, so I'll refrain from revealing the ending. But make no mistake, this is definitely not the kind of book you'd pick up while lounging on the beach, working on your tan. There's no escapism here.

Instead, you're thrust face to face with the evil and cunning of the sociopathic and psychotic mind. Be prepared to take a long, hot bath in Dettol after reading it, and then curl up in bed under the covers, next to your favorite stuffed animal, with your thumb in your mouth, your night light on, and your mommy on the phone until you finally drift off to sleep.

Kudos to Joyce Carol Oates for what I consider a brave, realistic, creepy, and excellently executed foray into the criminal mind. But despite all that, I still HATED it... in a strange, perversely good way.