William Styron was clearly under the influence of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set This House on Fire, despite its portrayal of very grim events, is rife with dark sarcasm. The narrator, a young lawyer who has been working in Rome for some time, provides a unique perspective.

He is invited by a childhood friend to visit his villa in southern Italy. This friend is a rich, idle, shameless pleasure seeker, an incorrigible lecher, and a pathological liar since childhood.

The lawyer arrives at the villa on the eve of disastrous events and finds himself in the midst of a vulgar gathering of minor celebrities. There, he meets the head of a dysfunctional family, a talentless artist and a psychotic drunk. Later, the painter shares the story of his life, revealing his struggles with alcohol and hallucinations.

The lawyer, the liar, and the lush form a perfect triangle of hate. The story serves as a cautionary tale, highlighting the consequences of allowing a pernicious streak in one's character to take control. If one succumbs to such a flaw, they are doomed to destruction.

A truly heinous case of abuse has come to light. By that, I specifically mean an author's blatant abuse of his readers. The novel in question delves into the disturbing themes of rape and murder. However, throughout the entire book, from the very first chapter right up until the last, the reader will experience a sense of violation that far exceeds that of any of the characters within the story.

This is due to a multitude of factors. There are grown men referring to other grown men as "dollbaby," which is not only inappropriate but also creates a discomforting atmosphere. The scenes of alcoholic drunkenness seem to stretch on for dozens and dozens of pages, becoming tiresome and overwhelming. The female characters are either reduced to mere pieces of meat or portrayed as helpless elfin fairies, lacking any real depth or agency.

Moreover, the author's (and the characters') logorrhea, or excessive and often senseless talking, adds to the overall sense of chaos and confusion. Finally, there is a desperate ennui that pervades the reader, born of the simple fact that they just don't care what happened in the past or what will happen in the present to any of these people. It is a truly disheartening and frustrating reading experience.

I see a significant number of people here who seem to have a great affinity for this book. However, I truly don't understand the reason behind it.

The first half of the book, although somewhat absorbing, is rather unpleasant. Styron appears to believe that it is fascinating for the characters to go on eccentric rants about whatever pops into their minds. But I beg to differ. In fact, I soon found myself skipping all those rants.

The story initially holds some intrigue, and for a certain period, the book was moderately interesting as we witness the naive narrator gradually uncover the truth about his pretentious friend. However, halfway through, the book takes a turn and becomes rather unreadable as the focus shifts to a different character.

This transition begins with an entire chapter filled with the kind of rant that I found so disagreeable.随后, it proceeds with a tedious accounting of an unpleasant and dull tortured artist type. I made an attempt to read this part for a while, but it was so exasperating that I simply skimmed through the second half to see how everything was wrapped up. And unfortunately, it was done in a rather perfunctory manner.

I suppose this might be appealing to Styron fans. But as for me, having never read any of his books before, I can say with certainty that I will never do so again.

This book couldn't let me go mainly because of the vivid character of Mason Flagg. During the reading, he evoked ambivalent feelings and at the same time a deep interest as a non-standard personality.
Logically, he should first of all arouse contempt: a young incredibly rich American tuna fisherman, a bohemian handsome man, eloquent and attracting people with incredible stories that are later exposed as lies. Mason often changes girlfriends and each of them is always crazy about him. Although he can afford to come to blows during arguments, it still doesn't change the relationship of the infatuated victims. However, despite this, this guy still had brakes. He was hot-tempered but not crazy.
So initially I didn't believe that it was Mason who killed the unfortunate peasant woman, although he raped her. Rich people usually live in permissiveness, if they like it, they take it. So getting a beautiful young servant who worked in his house was an ordinary thing. I think this spoiled American could quite consider that this poor woman could only be proud that such a prominent handsome man noticed her. But he couldn't be a murderer despite all this, his hot-tempered character and habit of permissiveness. Besides, Mason was rather cowardly and empty, he wasn't capable of insane passion because of which he could kill, inner feelings couldn't prevail over the external pleasures by which he lived.
I didn't have sharply negative attitudes towards this character, although he was empty and there was no spirituality in him, but Mason was cheerful and friendly, just lived as he liked, as he could. Still, there was something so unusual in him that in the end it was sad for me to read about his death.

I had not delved into Styron's works for many years. It had been at least a decade, if not more, since I last read "Sophie's Choice". Unlike that beloved novel, this one truly presented a challenge for me to complete.

Among the three main characters - Peter, the narrator; Mason, the privileged and sleazy pretender; and Cass, the failed and self-absorbed artist - only Cass managed to evoke a modicum of sympathy from me, despite his heinous crime.

Although there were passages of wondrously lyrical prose, the casual and cruel manifestations of racism, misogyny, and xenophobia were extremely difficult to endure.

Nonetheless, I persevered and did finish it. I find myself curious to peruse the opinions of other Goodreads friends who have also read this novel.

I'm rather certain that it will be a considerable length of time before I dare to pick up another book by Styron.

Not my favorite Styron, but still pretty darn good. Styron has a remarkable talent for delving deep into the human psyche and exploring complex emotions such as guilt. His writing about guilt and its profound impact on how we live is truly captivating. He manages to vividly描绘 the inner turmoil and struggles that individuals face when burdened by guilt. It's as if he peels back the layers of our souls and exposes the raw and uncomfortable truth. Through his words, we can feel the weight of guilt pressing down on the characters, and we are forced to confront our own experiences with this powerful emotion. Despite not being my absolute favorite work of his, it still holds a special place in my heart for its ability to make me think and feel.

Set This House on Fire was truly a laborious read.

At its best, it was pretentious writing. The term "wordy" doesn't even come close to accurately describing Styron's writing style.

I spent a whole month reading it, and I felt the need to take a shower afterwards, such was the draining experience.

The book is filled with dull characters who lack any redeeming value.

If you're not proficient in speed reading, then this book will seem to take an eternity to get through.

It's a real struggle to wade through the overly complex sentences and convoluted plot.

The story fails to engage the reader on a meaningful level, leaving one feeling frustrated and unfulfilled.

Overall, Set This House on Fire is a book that I would not recommend to others, unless they have a particular penchant for overly verbose and uninteresting literature.

Okay, so in fairness I did quite like this book.

However, I did not like its length or repetitiveness and so it is docked a star. Styron essentially spends the first half of the book narrating from Peter's POV and then the second half narrating from Cass's POV. He does a good job of revealing by the end of Peter's section the true nature of the crime and then Cass fills in the details and back story. In theory, this would be okay. But the book is a hefty 567 pages and each section could have been its own stand-alone book. There is a significant amount of overlap and repetition. Obviously, since he tells the same story twice, this is to be expected to some extent. But also, Cass's section was unnecessarily long due to several highly detailed nightmares. These nightmares are, essentially, the same recurring dream, which adds little to the overall narrative.

The psychology in the book is interesting and Styron follows a bunch of great themes. He explores money and power and sex, and questions whether happiness lies in the acquisition of one or the other (or all three). He also delves into the nature of guilt and suffering, as well as the struggle with addiction.

My favorite quotes from the book are below. They offer insights into the characters and the themes explored in the story. For example, "I suspected that there was a lust for a kind of ownership in these big gestures of Mason's, I also realized with some shame that my willingness to be owned was stronger than I ever wanted to admit." This quote reveals the complex relationship between power and submission. Another quote, "it was Sade's revolutionary concept, his genius, to see man not as what he is supposed to be--an inhumanly noble creature whose nobility is a pseudo-nobility simply because he is hemmed in and made warped and sick in an impossible attempt to free himself of his animal nature--but as he is, and forever will be: a thinking biological complex which, whether rightly or wrongly, exists in a world of frustrating sexual fantasy, the bottling up of which is the direct cause of at least half of the world's anguish and misery." This quote shows Styron's exploration of human nature and the role of sex in our lives.

I gave this book 4 stars. The author is truly a master at capturing human observation and motivation. This aspect of the book was so engaging that it kept me reading from start to finish. The plot and premise were absolutely riveting, drawing me in and making me eager to see what would happen next.

However, there came a point in the book where these elements that had been so skillfully laid out seemed to stretch on and on, and some parts felt rather superfluous. It was as if the story had lost its momentum and was just meandering along.

Overall, it is still a worthwhile read, especially as a study in the dialectic of the human soul and spirit. It offers deep insights into the complex nature of humanity. But unfortunately, it lost a star for getting bogged down in the middle of the last third of the book.

Also, it must be noted that some of the stereotyping of groups of people, such as women, nationalities, and races, as well as the racist language and attitudes of the characters, were quite jarring. While this may realistically reflect how some humans are, it can still be uncomfortable for the reader.

I was thoroughly enjoying this novel. It seemed to me a "mash-up" of "The Great Gatsby" and "Beautiful Ruins", with its elegant language and engaging dialogue.

However, my enjoyment took a bit of a hit when I got to Part 2. While I understand that this is a study in guilt and redemption, I found that the internalized ramblings of inebriate Cass were rather tedious and self-indulgent. They went on and on for pages and pages, almost as if the author was lost in Cass's thoughts and couldn't find a way out.

Thankfully, though, the novel finally came to a satisfactory ending. It tied up the loose ends and provided a sense of closure that made the whole reading experience worthwhile. Overall, despite the hiccup in Part 2, I would still recommend this novel to others who enjoy a good story with complex characters and a touch of literary flair.

A convoluted mess of a book, which was roundly panned when it came out after the incredible debut of "Lie down in darkness". I vividly remember throwing myself eagerly on this book, full of anticipation. However, as I delved deeper, I found myself giving up, totally puzzled, a third of the way through. The prose was excellent as always, with Styron's characteristic elegance and sophistication. But, unfortunately, the characters felt totally flat and un-engaging. They lacked depth and authenticity, failing to draw me into their world. It was a disappointment after the promise shown in his previous work. Fortunately, Styron redeemed himself with Nat Turner and Sophie's Choice. These later works showcased his true talent and ability to create complex and memorable characters. They were masterpieces that solidified his reputation as a great writer.

Strange, meandering, violent, drunken story.

It was a narrative that took the reader on a wild and unpredictable journey. The plot seemed to twist and turn in the most unexpected ways, leaving me constantly confused and disoriented.

The violence within the story was excessive and gratuitous, adding little to the overall narrative. It felt as if it was included simply for the sake of shock value.

The drunkenness of the characters also detracted from the story. Their actions and decisions were often irrational and illogical, making it difficult to empathize with them or understand their motives.

Overall, this story was not to my taste at all. It lacked the coherence, depth, and emotional resonance that I look for in a good piece of literature. I found myself quickly losing interest and struggling to finish it.

I much prefer stories that are well-structured, with characters that are complex and relatable, and a plot that engages and challenges the reader. This story, unfortunately, did not meet any of these criteria.