I found this book to be quite entertaining once I got into it. Welsh takes the reader into the mind of Roy Strang, a man who I could never imagine relating to, sympathizing with, or understanding. The dialogue is cool and not difficult to interpret. Welsh makes a good moral argument about powerlessness and the hatred it can bring into people's lives. The book's two victims, Roy himself and the woman he later brutally rapes, are both turned into violent souls seeking to regain the power that was stolen from them. I thought the rape scene went a bit far. What the main character does is just about the worst thing one human being can do to another. It's hard to believe that a person capable of such things is not pure evil. I warn anyone who may not want to read a detailed account of a brutal gang rape to not pick up this book. I question the ethics of writing such a scene, especially when you are a man. But that will be for you to think about. On Welsh's defence he makes every argument against the brutality of rape as well as the justice system's inability to protect women.
The ending is fascinating and worth debating about. All in all a recommended read. |
Marabou Stork Nightmares Books In Print, Audio Books.