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Topic: The Book of a Thousand Sins, by Wrath James White (Read 399 times) |
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The Book of a Thousand Sins, by Wrath James White
« 11/10/05 at 5:16pm » |
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Delve into the tantalizing works of Wrath James White with this thrilling romp through 15 of his most disturbing stories. Devilishly thought provoking, this collection explores some of the darkest aspects of lust, faith, death and human nature. Travel with the downtrodden and the disillusioned through personal hells of their own making, populated by terrifying monsters and skulking demons. Not for the faint of heart, this collection is a wild ride.
I just got off the phone with Social Services, because being a good Samaritan I thought someone should be looking out for the best interests of little baby girl White. Apparently they cannot put her into protective custody until Mr. White actually does something physically. Until then he'll be allowed to speak, think, and yes, write down his disgusting, vile form of entertainment - publish it for the whole world to see - and enjoy every minute of it as a free man. And the little sadomasochist inside me says, "Yah!"
Before I go any further in this I must warn John Q Public, this book is not PG13. This book is not even R. Welcome to NC17 fiction! This book would make Rob Zombie blush, move Ozzy Osbourne to biting the heads off nothing other than marshmallow peeps, and I'm pretty damn sure that both Jack Ketchum and Edward Lee giggled their way through this. Yes, it's that graphic. But not all of it is over the top, some is subtle and the graphic happens in your mind, after the fact, when you're not expecting it…
With too many stories to give you individual breakdowns, I am forced to lump some of this together, but I promise to pull some gems out for you. Scattered repeatedly throughout my notes are 'ewwww' and 'hmmm' and even 'nice' as the storylines jump from perversions that even Hell doesn't want to fathom to thought provoking comments or ideals that incite epiphanies and theological debate. Personally, I preferred the less sexual because, damn, even I have a line and White crossed it with a picnic basket and a smile on his face! An example of this would be "Fly" in which he tried to pass off pornography as horror and it fell [pun intended] flat on its face as the ending wasn't nearly as climatic as the characters [also intended] and just leaves you wondering what the point was. On the thought provoking side we have "A Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man," where you may find yourself smiling inside and pondering what you would do as you watch as a priest becomes a sinner to prove to a sinner that ideology is a dangerous thing.
The aforementioned imaginary line and preference were also part of a problem I had with many of the characters. While well done, I just didn't care about them. This was perhaps most evident in the title story "Book of a Thousand Sins". Good horror with over the top horrific, but degrading deviancies that threatened it all because lack of S&M knowledge paired with an anti-pain person's inability to understand why you would enjoy that made it impossible for me to care for the debaucherous characters. However, I found that while I didn't necessarily care for the main character in "The Sooner They Learn" I did understand him. This guy gave me guilt, in that I felt I should discipline my kids more, but also that I knew exactly where he was coming from and rooted him on.
Written in the grimy atmosphere of humanity's sins, this will leave you sparkling clean - because you have to shower after every other story. This is one of those books that makes you feel dirty, both physically and mentally. You grimace and yet keep reading through your squinted eyes. Stop, look away, pretend you didn't just visualize that, and then continue on with shame. You call a shrink because you want to one day, again, enjoy the company of your spouse. It's not the oppressive or degrading that paint the scenes, it's the sense of satisfaction that every character has that makes your skin crawl. Of course, short stories must have a decent pace, and trying to rush through the gross parts speeds things up for the reader, but the reality of it is there is no down time here. Note the grimace above, you must keep going, you must see if it gets better, worse, or changes into some new kind of Hell altogether and warrants another shower.
Part of that pace is storyline, but White's style of writing also contributes. For someone that writes some of the most disgusting things I've ever read, he does it with language that flows with literary grace. My favorite story was "Couch Potato" and is a fine example of this. Without apologies, White tears through your emotions from sympathy to hate, humor to shock, blending everyday language and poetic imagery as his words wrap around your mind and cause you to pause and appreciate them. This story alone not only got me to call BloodyMary and profess my genuflection to White, but is reason enough to read this collection. While I didn't take any stars for this next part, I did want to make sure and comment on it. If you look a little harder at what White was doing with his style, his voice, his moment inside your head, it seems as though he was blatantly using irony and horrific settings on social issues to make some points. While I hate to be preached to, I only felt the sting of this slap in the face during a few stories and he did try to hide his lessons within the shock value of excessive force and beautiful language.
One of the most interesting stories was "Resurrection Day" in that it took a very overdone theme, zombies, and breathed completely new life into them. They weren't rotting, they weren't eating flesh, and they were somehow… the victims. One of the most disappointing stories was "Munchausen by Proxy," where White took several pages to draw out a single thought that was clearly stated in the title and I found the story both predictable and futile.
I not only understand why BloodyMary handed it over with rubber gloves on, I completely disagree with her - as usual. It's not too much in general, but it may be too much for many readers out there. Unless you really enjoy erotomaniacal savagery, I just don't think this is your cup of tea. If you do, and please don't tell me - I'm happy living in my little fantasy world were I think everyone likes rainbows and bunny rabbits - then this is something that you should check out, and not for the pornographic portions, but for the storylines, ideals, morals, and graceful language that surround them. I give it a - based on the average ratings that each story got. Go ahead, I dare you…
Pre-order/Order | Two Backed Books | Author's Site
Posted by: HorrorWench The Big Bad Posts: 824
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