Why Are There People Like Frank?
Written: Oct 19 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Wry, poetic mixture of fantasy and reality
Cons: Bitter ranting, redundant at times
The Bottom Line: Abandon hope, ye who enter here
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| leftomaniac's Full Review: Frank's World: A Novel Books |
Doom, doom, doom, doom, doooooom….
Oh, sorry. Didn’t see you come in. I was just chanting “doom” over and over again. Helps cheer me up.
Why would chanting “doom” cheer me up, you ask? Because I just finished reading “Frank’s World.” And believe me, this book makes death and destruction look like sunshine and lollipops.
Yessir, this is one bleak piece of reading material, no doubt about that- self-described as a “backyard Barbie turned tunnel hooker,” it blazes with loneliness, emptiness, and the cold feeling of knowing just enough to realize your own ignorance- this book is a rotting Swanson’s TV dinner, a child being beaten with a sack of oranges, a phone jack in the back of Bush’s brain, a lion chewing antelopes on National Geographic, Mickey Mouse with a boner, Malibu Barbie with and STD, George Washington beating slaves, a six-fingered fist, in a word- it’s Frank.
Stop. Breathe. And ask yourself- did you think that last sentence was too long?
I’m not asking you to critique my writing skills, just warning you that if you found that hard to read, you’ll have a lot of trouble with Frank’s World. It’s written in a format you’ve likely never seen before- one that gives the reader the impression that Frank’s World is being read to you by the wild-eyed man on the street corner who yells commercial jingles at passing cars. It goes off on endless tangents, rattles off page-long lists, and reads like it’s being said in one, long, frantic breath. The longest sentence that I noticed was thirteen pages long. You heard correct- thirteen. And I don’t even know if it’s the longest one in the book- I just happened to notice there was a sentence that was thirteen pages long. It takes some getting used to, but by chapter two it’ll seem natural- and depending on who you are and what you like, it’s worth it.
I’ll say this much- this book is never going to get worldwide acclaim. No, I’m not trashing it, nor am I trying to play up some “obscure-er than thou” angle for you. I’m just saying that Frank’s World is just unpleasant enough to shake off a lot of readers. But despite it’s sour, ill tone of voice, it’s a truly kickass story- a reality played up and exaggerated to the point of fantasy, but with fact at it’s core as well as fiction. It begins with a baby.
This baby, this fleshy lump, this Frank, is no ordinary young ‘un. No, no, no- this child makes Damien Thorn look like Dennis the Menace. He’s society’s smegma- an embodiment of all the evil, cruel, selfish, greedy and violent secretions that come out of a corrupt world. You just won’t believe how loathsome and disgusting, yet oddly engaging Frank is.
At any rate, we watch Frank grow and mature, going through all those landmarks- his first Disney movie, his first day of school, his first time being sent to the principal’s, the first time he molested his school’s librarian, stop me if I’m boring you… He becomes a child, a teenager and soon an adult, and is then let loose on an already well-ruined planet so that he can help destroy whatever small, persistent good might remain in it.
With his endless references to true-life combined with hyped up and exaggerated social trends, combined with objects of pure fantasy like giant evil lizards that run the world, Frank’s World has it’s tendrils firmly locked in ours, but branches out into something completely different. Filled with wry bitter ranting that sometimes drags on, this is probably best read a bit at a time. More than once it gives in to redundancy, and more than a thousand times it makes you wish George Mangels would just smell a freaking rose or something. Still, I think by the end you’ll be happier having read it than otherwise.
Forthwith I declare Frank’s World to be suitable for left-wingers, social workers, conspiracy theorists, culture geeks, fans of epic poetry, bored teenagers and people who read too much Sartre. Turn back if ye be a sitcom junkie, an optimist, a cat poster aficionado, or just someone who’s easily frustrated.
Have a nice day, now. Doom, doom, dooooooooooom...
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
leftomaniac
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Location: Somewhere Not in a Human Colon
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
I exist for the sake of your entertainment, enjoy my geekiness.
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