I finished reading Requiem for a Dream on the plane on Saturday, and am still amazed by how good it was. I’ve still got scenes running through my head over and over.

It’s a fast-paced stream of consciousness style book, with very little punctuation or use of paragraphs. This goes some way to ape the drug-users’ states of mind, and there is a distinct switch from rapid to slow whenever someone takes a hit.

Which is frequently. Very frequently. If graphic descriptions of hard drug use offend or upset, this is not the book for you. Selby does a fantastic job of putting across the euphoria that each person feels each time they score, and also of the desperation they feel to get that score.

The subplot of the mother’s character, feeding a different addiction, is horrifying, especially the resolution. During the last 30 pages, I was genuinely becoming upset each time the narrative switched to her. Anything else I say would spoil it.

The obvious comparison I made in my own head is to our cult British heroin novel, Trainspotting, which I unashamedly adore. The book is fantastic, as are the film and soundtrack. I’ve heard good things about Requiem’s film adaptation, so I will have to check it out soon.

So if you haven’t already picked up Requiem for a Dream, I highly recommend it. ( )

This was a difficult read for me. I dislike having to wade through phonetically transcribed dialects such as the 70's new Yawk druggie lingo in this book. I want to spend my reading time following the storyline, understanding the characters, and considering the ideas, not have brainpower siphoned off simply parsing what the hell the characters are saying. I also find Selby's refusal to use apostrophes annoying. [Another phenomenal novel I read recently, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, also avoids the use of apostrophes; I'd love to know what the motivation for this is]

But Selby has my absolute admiration for his brave and honest exploration of human misery, of the ways in which we fail each other and ourselves, of good intentions gone awry, of the lies we tell (again, each other and ourselves), and the sorrow we try to cover up in ways that ultimately cause more sorrow.

I've heard several people say that the characters are "unlikeable", and I could not disagree more. They are believable, complex (the Marion character in particular is much more fully drawn than in the movie), deeply flawed but deeply human, and should inspire compassion in someone who is compassionATE. If someone finds the characters "unlikeable", I'd venture a guess that that person hasn't had many authentic relationships in their life. This book is definitely not for people who prefer social pleasantries, masks, and superficial relationships. To know someone deeply is to know their pain, their flaws, and their broken-ness. Selby knew people. ( )

Selby's "Requiem" is a devastating look at addiction and an allegory illustrating the consequences of focusing more on receiving than giving, more on materialism than altruism. There are two parallel, but intertwined, story lines, both of which begin innocently, with apparently bright futures, but dreams and hopes are quickly shattered. Sara Goldfarb, a lonely widow, spends her time watching tv and eating. One day she finds out that she may be chosen to appear on a game show, so she becomes obsessed with losing weight via diet pills to fit into her "red dress." In a separate chain of events, her son, Harry, and his two friends, Marion and Tyrone, concoct a get-rich plan that involves selling heroin. They become hopelessly addicted, experiencing intense horrors along the way. The prose was initially confusing, as it is presented in gritty street slang as a meandering stream of consciousness, with no distinctions between speakers, but I gradually got used to the language and flow. This fable was depressing, and the downward spiral is painful, but the lesson is well worth it, and highly recommended. ( )

Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby Jr. caught my attention after I watched the movie version of the novel two years ago. According to a website that I found, Requiem for a Dream was one of the most controversial novels of the 1960’s. Even though the novel was really explicit sexually and as far as drugs, I couldn’t put it down.
The main characters, Harry Goldfarb, Sara Goldfarb, Marion Silver and Tyrone Love, all suffer from addiction. Personally, I thought that Sarah’s and Marion’s addiction was far worse than Harry and Tyrone’s. Although Harry is the main character, his girlfriend, Marion, and his mother, Sara, tried so hard to make him happy. At the end of the novel, all of the characters have a climax. Marion’s is unfortunately prostitution. She came from a rich Jewish family and she had so much going for her, but Harry’s addiction got in the way of Marion’s dreams to become an artist and move to Italy.
Sara believed a scam that she would be on a television show. Her false hope really made me upset. I mean this older woman was just waiting and waiting to be on the show, and she tried to lose weight to fit into her red dress that she wore at Harry’s graduation. She unknowingly became addicted to speed after it was subscribed by her doctor to lose weight. It was successful so she took more and more. My reaction to this addiction was that hers was the worst. She became addicted by accident; all she wanted to do was be back to her former weight and that’s what made me react sympathetic toward her.
I think the way Harry treated his mother and Marion was horrible. He was constantly craving sexual acts from Marion and since she loved him, she just wanted to make him happy. His mother missed him so much and he thought of her as a burden. Harry took away Sara’s television set in order to sell it for money to use for cocaine and heroin. Every time he would take it, she would have to go to Coney Island, which wasn’t far from their house and buy it back. He treated his mother, a lonely widow, with no respect, and that made me realize that no matter what you try to do, sometimes people don’t appreciate the kindness people offer their family members.
Overall, I reacted pretty strongly to this novel. I really just couldn’t put it down. After reading the language and the unique spelling of words to look like how the accents sound was great. There was so much cursing, and violent parts, but that’s why it was so controversial for the 1960’s. ( )

I usually grab a book and I don't put it down 'til it's finish or I found a dull moment and new book.

I can't seem to read more than 2 pages at a time of this book. It has a good plot, but I don't like the style. Usually not even a good plot would hold me to a book if I didn't like the style but there is something about it that keeps me comming back ( )