Complete: Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote

Ever since I wrote my junior research paper on Capote’s In Cold Blood (Which I got a 97 on, the highest in the class. It was the best paper I ever wrote, especially being it was the most important paper I had to write in my high school career.) I became enamored with the tragic life of Capote. 

His debut Other Voices, Other Rooms displays the promise and talent of one of the the greatest American writers of the 20th century. The parallels to Capote’s life are crystal clear, with protagonist Joel Knox moving from New Orleans to live with his mysterious father (Mimicking not only the author’s physical appearance, but his childhood of being placed in the care of others), tomboy Idabel (Clearly representing Capote’s close friend author Harper Lee, who also represented Truman through the character of Dill in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird), and the gay undertones surrounding cousin Randolph.

What makes Capote’s debut novel a breath of fresh air to read are his beautiful descriptions, metaphors, and similes. While most authors of the 20th century took to a more minimalistic approach, cutting down on illustrative language to get to the bare story, Capote decorates his story with paragraphs and paragraphs of language that allow readers to dive deeper into the characters. 

While at some points confusing transitionally, particularly at the novel’s end, this vagueness adds onto the novel’s theme of the coming of age.

Other Voices, Other Rooms floats like not many novels (Especially debuts) can.

Next up: Diary by Chuck Palahniuk

On deck: Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

Complete: Rant: The Oral Biography of Buster Casey by Chuck Palahniuk

First off, I fucking ENVY Chuck’s fucking amazing style of writing and the rawness it breeds. He’s unapologetic in the way he writes about the nitty-gritty of society. This man takes a single concept and twists it into something surreal yet believable, giving it multiple faces and dimensions. None of his stories have just one aspect; they branch into a million other fractions. His style of writing mimics the way someone tells a story to a faithful listener. It’s like a stream of consciousness but filtered through the darkest part of society.

I have yet to read Fight Club (I know, I know. I’ll do it this summer!), but I consider Invisible Monsters to be my favorite book ever. Last summer, I read Lullaby, which shares the urban legend quality Rant holds.

Rant is more than what it is described as from the short summery on the inside cover. It’s more than the alleged story of a currently dead guy who lead an urban demolition derby and spread a super rabies virus. Those aspects actually take a back seat to the real story.

If you think Homestuck was screwy with all the time travel weird shit, just wait until you read Rant.

It’s sci-fi without coming off as sci-fi. It’s genre breaking. Not until the middle of the book do you even realize that Rant doesn’t take place in modern society. No, Rant takes place in a dystopian future, akin to Fahrenheit 451, where people get their kicks from plugging the back of their necks into preloaded virtual reality experiences and are split up into two classes of people: the Daytimers and the Nighttimers.

I don’t plan to spoil anything in these reviews, but what we’re dealing with in Rant is the story of an urban legend in more aspect than one thanks to time travel, a modern day God, a super rabies virus, and “Party Crashing.”

Rant, which in a way is like the sci-fi version of Fight Club without being the same story, is infectious from page to page (pun not intended because of the who “rabies” thing).

Expect more Chuck Palahniuk in these posts. I plan to pick up Fight Club, Diary, and Damned.

Currently Reading: Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote

Currently reading: Rant: The Oral Biography of Buster Casey by Chuck Palahniuk

On deck: Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote