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thedrunkenreadersreviews · 7 months ago

Text

A long review of "Exquisite Corpse" by Poppy Z. Brite

NOTE: This review contains spoilers for "Exquisite Corpse." At the time of publication, the name of the author was Poppy Z. Brite. During reprints of the book, such as the copy of it that I have, the author's name still appears as Poppy Z. Brite. The author now goes by the name William Joseph Martin with the author name of "Exquisite Corpse" remaining Poppy Z. Brite. His website refers to the previous publication name of Poppy Z. Brite. This review respects Martin's pronouns (male) and name. His publication name in the title is only a reflection of the name of the author that still appears on new editions of the book as well as on the author's website. Going forward, the author will be referred to as Martin with male pronouns.

*Pours margarita out of the pitcher and into the glass. Sip, sip*

I know, right? Where the hell did this one come from? Well, it is a bit older but I was recommended it by a few people so I thought I'd give it a read. I am one of those people who can read extreme horror books and show no facial expressions whatsoever. I grew up watching horror movies, my Dad not noticing my three-year-old eyes peeping between the staircase railings as he watched Scream and The Exorcist on the big screen in the living room. I'll read about serial killers, watch the documentaries, and dig up all the dirty details. I guess this is why I love history so much; so many forgotten, unexplored details. But I digress.

*Sip, sip*

This book compiles a bunch of elements and throws them all into a pot like the numerous ingredients going into gumbo (get it? 'Cus ... 'cus it takes place in New Orleans mostly ... anyway). But while most of it works and Martin has a fantastic command of words there are some areas that fall flat.

*Sip, sip*

First, the praise.

Martin is a fantastic sentence writer. What I mean by that is, yes, he has an excellent command of words and yes, the sentences flow beautifully, and yes, sometimes you sit there and think, wow, that was an incredible sequence of words to explain this emotion or event or character or whatever it is. Martin can write an incredible sentence ... that does not mean that he is an incredible author.

*Sip, sip*

Now, hold on. I'm not suggesting that Martin is a bad author. I will confess, this is the only book I read by him. However, I will die on the hill of what I just said---Martin writes great sentences but the story is a little flat in the case of THIS book.

*Sip, sip*

The length of the novel, I must say was perfect. Nothing in the book was fluff, every detail was essential to understand the characters and the story. Also, with a book containing the subject material as this one does, less is more. If the book is too fat, too filled with gory details, the hardcore readers who won't flinch (like myself) will be able to push through, no problem. However, the exploratory reader might find themselves stepping away because the material is too thick. Length, in this area, is everything for this reason. Martin seems to understand that----mostly.

*Sip, sip*

The characters. For the most part, they are ... okay.

Focusing on the main ones, of course.

*Sip, sip*

Compton has a real Jack the Ripper vibe to him, is entirely self-serving, but not really balanced. What I mean by that is, his character is kind of two-dimensional. He doesn't really go into the "why" at any point. His backstory is lacking and his psyche is very, I'm doing this so I can do this to do this. There is no concept of consequence or inner struggle. Which, I understand, he is a serial killer. However, those types of people have more thoughts than just what I refer to as "road map thinking." Road map thinking is - I'll do A to get to B which will get me to C so then I can get to D. It's ... dull. Really, the only time Compton becomes interesting is when he meets Jay because that kind of throws a twist into his thinking. But even so, upon Jay's death there really isn't any diving into it. Compton kind of just leaves and says he's going to try to be in this state of meditation to be with Jay but here's the thing: the two of them interact so little that I was thinking, "Woah, when did any of this happen?" Granted, Compton is absolutely inflating this idea of love with what I'd say to be found obsession (Someone like me! We must be soul mates!). But even that is not fully unwrapped. Compton is the only character with a first-person narration in the book (which, I don't think did it any justice), while everyone else is viewed through the third person. I think it would have been great if Compton was in the third-person or everyone was in first. That way if one character is thinking one way because that is how their mind works, we should see how the others' minds work.

*Sip, sip*

Jay, by contrast, has a real Jeffrey Dahmer vibe. Like, tremendously. Even down to his looks, his method of killing, his reasons for killing, his disposal of the evidence and corpses. Anyway, he was also very flat with not a lot of backstory.

*Sip, sip*

I guess I found myself disappointed with these two main characters because, yes, THEY ARE EVIL, and one of the most important things that we can do as people is examine that evil. What led to that? What messed up their minds so much that they deviated so incredibly from the path? What happened to Dahmer that led him to do those things? What was wrong with Bundy? What the fuck was going on with Gacey? What the hell was the Zodiac killer's deal? Why was Jack the Ripper so fucked up? Why are these questions important? To try to stop this from ever happening again. There are always going to be serial killers and evil people, but the more we understand evil the more we can combat it and, more than that, prevent it. I wanted to know what happened to Jay and Compton. What brought them here but we don't ever get a peek and that peek, I think (for it is the case with me) is what interests us, as an audience and (hopefully) non-evil people when exploring these areas. Like, Damn! Who fucked you up so bad that this is what you do now? It is our desperation to solve the mystery, to find logic in the illogical, and to make something nonsensical make sense.

*Sip, sip. Sip, sip*

Tran. Damn. I barely had sympathy for Tran. Did I want him to die? No, absolutely not. I wasn't necessarily mourning him, however, or pleading for him to have a miraculous escape. If he did manage to get away, that would have been cool but I didn't really mind that he died in the end. Why? Well, that whole conversation with his dad. Tran kind of took this whole "woe is me" approach and I was just like "weird take ... but okay ..." I think his father had every right to be concerned. Tran, after all, was a very young adult who was obviously queer during the time a strain of a deadly disease that was running rampant through the queer community. The letters his father found, though he did not know the age of the person, were written by an adult to his young adult son and spoke in tremendous explicits. And Tran's father never tells Tran he has to leave. Tran just takes it upon himself to do so.

*Sip, sip*

In no way would I ever support a parent disowning, disapproving, or even ridiculing their child for being part of the queer community. That is horrible. It is alluded to that Tran's dad (T.V.) does not approve or like the fact that Tran is queer---more than that, T.V. does not seem to like the fact that his son is having all of these explicit things done to him, is taking hard narcotics, engaging in sexual activity with a deadly strain going around, and not knowing if Tran has ever brought any of that stuff into the house with the two younger kids around. T.V. also goes on to blame himself, saying that if Tran is doing all these things, he must have failed as a parent. 99% of this makes logical sense from a parent's standpoint. Do children deserve privacy? Yes, absolutely. Do all parents snoop into their child's belongings from time to time? Yes, absolutely. Why? For these very reasons. It's not a lack-of-trust thing. It is a been-there-done-that thing and I-want-you-to-do-better. In T.V.'s and other immigrant parents' cases, I think it is more of a I-sacrificed-a-lot-to-get-us-here-please-don't-waste-this-opportunity thing. And, it can also be a combination of both.

*Sip, sip*

And Tran dropping that whole "well, you came into my room and went through my things so you don't trust me" line when he lied to his dad literally like a minute before, come on.

*Sip, sip*

He's a teenager. Yes, I get it. I really do. Teenagers lie to their parents and they do stupid things and they don't think their parents know anything and that they know everything. I was a teenager at one point too and I, for the most part, thought the same thing. I guess what really turned me away from caring so much about Tran is never does he think, "Maaaayyyyyybbbbbbeeeeee my dad was right about something." Not everything, but something. Nope. Never.

And he constantly, constantly puts himself into stupid situations. And he is a cheater. I have no forgiveness for cheaters. Doesn't mean I wanted him to die, I just felt nothing for him.

*Sip, sip*

Luke. Ugh! I liked him a little in the beginning but then the more I read about him the more I hated him. The fact that he tried to kill Tran, the fact that he was EVEN WITH Tran when there is that tremendous age gap! And once again, all for the sake of "woe is me." I know he is pissed off at the world for the shitty card he was dealt but I'm supposed to care about a character who tried to kill someone he claims he loves because he's pissed that he has a disease that will most likely kill him? Pass.

*Sip, sip*

The bulk of these characters have so little redeeming qualities or any, I don't know, substance. Compton is just evil. Jay is just evil. Tran is a typical teenager. Luke is just a bitter idiot.

The one character I loved and I mean LOVED and was always so happy to see was Soren.

He was the best part of this book and it is because he was so different from the other characters. Soren never takes this "woe is me" standpoint like Luke and Tran but he is not evil like Compton and Jay. He is just a freaking fantastic person who tries to help everyone. When you are stuck reading about a bunch of characters who just complain or have such dark thoughts, that one ray of sunlight, that one character that is different than the others has such a gravitational pull.

*Sip, sip*

And Martin ruins it.

Soren and Luke. Oh, I almost rage quit. I was so close to rage quitting. Soren having feelings for Luke, no problem. Soren asking to sleep with Luke right after Luke abused him and confessed he is going to try to save his relationship with Tran ... what? Luke going through with it after just confessing to Soren that he is in love with Tran? The fuck?! Luke being into it even though he has never expressed any interest in Soren or ever alluded to the fact that he even finds Soren attractive? WHAT?!

Like, it is explicitly said I believe twice, maybe even three times in the book that Luke has a fetish for Asian boys---and Soren is white.

*Sip, sip. Sip, sip. Sip, sip.*

I think this book did more harm than good. All of the main characters are gay men, which is absolutely, one hundred percent perfectly fine. All of the main characters are overly sexual and just scramble all over each other. I am not judging people who enjoy the promiscuous lifestyle, who enjoy sharing themselves with others, and who just seek the gratification of pleasure. To each their own. But to overly sexualize your gay main characters on top of not providing them with much depth is just ... bad. It feeds into the stigma that all gay men are promiscuous and just sleeps with whoever and prey on younger, vulnerable boys.

*Sip, sip*

So ... was it good? The words were great! The imagery was spectacular. The vocabulary is top notch and the story itself had the potential to be excellent! But the plot is not carried by the characters. Give Luke something beyond bitterness and hopelessness, which, I'll admit, is alluded to in the end. But only for like 2 pages. Not enough for me. Give Tran something beyond "woe is me." Give Jay more than just stab, sex, and eat. Give Compton more than just sex, stab, maybe try a piece.

And my goodness, don't give your ray of sunshine character such desperation in their romantic affairs.

Gay people, like everyone in this world, be it straight or queer, have depth to them. That is just one piece of them. There is so much more that could have been explored with these characters. I wish we could have found it.

*Sip, sip*

And I think that goes for every queer character which is part of the reason why, as you can tell from my page, I love Hazbin Hotel. I love Alastor (ace). I love Angel Dust (gay). I love Charlie (bisexual). They have SO much depth to them. They have so much within them to explore and bring forward and it's not just about who they desire to have as a partner or lack thereof. I don't want writers or creators to just full on this "well, they're queer so they have depth" idea.

And I'll leave it with this. The Hazbin Hotel post-Season 1 finale Q&A.

Blake Roman who plays Angel Dust was asked what he considers to be Angel's greatest flaw and strength.

Roman replies that AD's flaw is he refuses to accept that he is in as horrible of a situation as he actually is and will make light of it and not let people in.

However, his strength is, well, his strength! "Once he does allow that wall to come down, he is a fierce friend. You know you've got him."

Oh! Depth!

And Amir Talai who plays Alastor is asked, "What are [Amir's] thoughts on being part of the ace-rep through Alastor [...]?"

Amir, who is not ace, wonderfully replies, "It means a lot to mean a lot. [...] If you're aro-ace, that doesn't mean you're lame. It just means that there is a part of you that is different from what is considered typical. [...] And people ask, 'How has that affected your portrayal of him so far?'. Well, it hasn't."

Jessica Vosk, who plays Lute, shortly after jumps in and tells Amir, "But it's kind of nice to hear you say that when you were asked whether or not it has informed you with what you do or how you changed it. You said it doesn't because it's not like that is why Alastor is ..."

Amir: "Right!"

*Sip, sip*

In essence, a character's queerness is part of them, yes. But it is not ALL of them. That is not just who they are and to diminish them to just that one aspect of them is incredibly belittling. One of the main issues I have with the production of queer entertainment, [for example, the new "Mary & George" series] is that it is overly sexual as if that is the only thing that queer people have to offer. No. Queer people live like anyone else. And depending on the queer person, some may even have very little to no sex at all! There is no reason to saturate queer material with sex. This book mentions the word "dick/cock" in a sexual (not insulting, but purely sexual way) nearly 100 times.

*Sip, sip*

If you can stomach some gory details, I'll recommend the book but I don't think it is a book that you should read before you die. It's a book with a lot of sex and swearing and some blood. So ... yeah.

Cheers.

*Sip, sip*

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