Customer Reviews

The Basic Eight: A Novel

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The New Yorker called this one of the best first novels of the year, and I wholeheartedly agree. I read this book awhile ago, and I've been watching, with amusement, the love-hate relationship that people are having with it on this site. What seems clear is that some people are completely misunderstanding this novel. To call it shallow, silly and stupid is to insult the narrator, not the book. I think Handler does a splendid job of hiding a gripping story in between the lines of his character's diary--a character who is, after all, a high school girl, and it needs to be read twice, not because it's William Shakespeare but because there's a twist ending which makes you go back and see how well the author planned the whole thing out. This novel isn't for everyone--only for people intelligent and engaged enough to tell the narrator from the author. (And no, just for the record, I'm not the author's friend, agent, whatever...)

. . . but anyone who loves black comedy should read it -- twice. At first, this book seems like it's just going to be a wild romp through high school -- complete with kids who throw lavish dinner parties in sculpture gardens and drink cappuccino at coffee bars with names like Bean and Nothingness or Death Before Decaf. Only hitch is, we already know that the seemingly sweet ("fat", dowdy, lovesick) anti-heroine, Flannery Culp, has been convicted of the Satanic murder of her crush, Adam State in one of the media events of the century. How could this happen? The rest of the book is a puzzle, and we get it in pieces. From Dr. Eleonor Tert (a formerly drug-addicted flight attendant turned guru), Winnie Moprah (no relation, I'm sure), and even Guiness Book-reciting Flora Habstadt (who, Flannery assures us, was never one of the Basic Eight). And especially, from Flannery, who interrupts her perpetual prison solitaire game to explain how her love notes to Adam, experimentation with absinthe (Poe's drug of choice), her calculus teacher's command to "do something" (surely he didn't mean murder), and particularly, her coffee dates with the glamorous Natasha lead to . . . well, read it and find out.

Having read the first eight Lemony Snicket books to my daughter, it occurred to me that the literary output of the author's legal, literary, and social representative, Daniel Handler, might be equally delightful. I was not disappointed. *The Basic Eight* is a gem of a book. It grows on you as you read, building eventually into a book that cannot be put down--particularly toward the end of October in the narrative--and it leaves you thinking about it long after you've read the last page.

Mr. Handler, moreover, is a wonderful writer. The plotting of the book is masterful, and the pages are littered with beautiful, apt phrases/sentences--pearls, one might say--which one wants to linger over--over which one wants to linger. (For example, on p. 280: "I craned my neck to see who this person was, raised by wolves in some San Francisco wilderness and finally escaping by public transportation.")

Some reviewers have complained of inconsistencies in the narrative over the figure of Natasha--I'll not be more specific, as this isn't a spoiler. But, while I haven't reread the book to verify that everything is thus explicable, I think the point is that the whole story is being told through Flan's rather unreliable perspective. Surely that is explanation enough?

Reviewed by Debra Hamel, author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece

I have never truthfully said this about any book that I have ever read, but honestly, I could not put Handler's "The Basic Eight" down. The whole book is written with such an unexplainable beauty and sadness that you cannot resist falling in love with Flannery, the main character, and the people she cares about. We are made aware of the story's inevitable tragedy in the very beginning, though Flan's narration becomes increasingly dubious as the story evolves. However, this adds perfectly to the darkness and foreboding of the book's climax.
Handler captures the essence of high school friendship and heartbreak with great sympathy and I found that even the mundane events of the story touched my heart.
"The Basic Eight" is the most tragic and beautiful book I have ever read. It will stay with you for a very long time.

this book has special meaning if you actually went to "roewer," (or should i say lowell?). even now, 17 years after daniel handler graduated, certain aspects of lowell remain the same and will seem eerily familiar to those acquainted with mr carmack (carr), who is, unsurprisingly, still a perverted molester, and mrs keyak (kayak), who still wears enormous sunglasses inside the building. i can't really imagine enjoying the basic eight if you're not a current or former lowellite, as the writing gets almost cutesy in its sarcasm. still, worthwhile.

I was ready to NOT like this book, because of the reviews that said how clever and precious it was. And, at first, I hated the characters as much as I would have as a teenager. But once the scene was set and the action started going down, I couldn't stop reading. I have to say that this book was just plain well written and drags you into its world, even if (like me) you might have preferred to stay out. The emotional candor the narrator speaks with (with which the narrator speaks) while losing control of her mind is terrifying and absorbing.

There are a few clevernesses sprinkled about that call more attention to the author than the story (the last time I saw him was at the corner of California and Styx? Come on.) but even with those flourishes the story remained strong. So much emphasis has been placed on the "dark comedy" and "pretentiousness" of this book that I was surprised to find it such a solidly written work. So even though I didn't want to like it, I have to admit it's got me beat. It's a good book!

Wow. I am absolutely floored. This book is incredible. From the first page, it leads you into a world that is so close to real, you're unsure when you close the book where you really are. Natasha reminded me so much of a highschool friend of mine, I could feel her breath on my face, the glint of her huge blue eyes, as I read.

This is Handler's "Lolita". Everything from the jailhouse diary to the elusive Dr. Tert is a direct, and very wonderful nod to Mr. Nabokov's masterwork. Literary allusions are gleefully sprinkled through the book, making me feel as if I was in on some wonderful joke with the author. Symbolism runs rampant through the pages, creating levels and depths not usually seen in a "basic novel". The Biblical apple rolling across the courtyard as Adam's name is screamed, apple imagery dotting the pages foreshadowing Adam's ultimate demise of original sin, action vs. inaction and its effects, etc.

One hopes that V___ is possibly a nod to Violet Baudelaire, rich, orphan of the Lemony Snicket series, but I could just be hopefully musing...:-)

This is truly an astounding read. Worth reading twice to "get" everything Mr. Handler packs into the pages. Enjoy.

Easily one of the best books I have read in the past 12 months. Cleverly constructed so that are surprised by the ending--I had to read the sentance twice to make sure I got it right--the book is flawless in its portrait of the upper middle class teen in San Francisco who hold formal dinner parties. The story of Flannery Culp is not an easy read, it takes time and intelligence--but you are rewarded. I laughed out loud at the sections that skewer the US media and our penchant for the easy answer. Handler gets the girlish lingo with which our heroine recounts the saga of her unrequited love. And let's face it, we've all been there, we've all met an Adam State and we've all wanted to bash his brains out--but somehow we didn't. You will have to read this book twice, so that you can enjoy its superb construction. The language is lush, the story compelling and the ending--well, my dear, read it and find out for yourself. Buy this book. You won't be sorry.

This is one of the most interesting books I've read in a long time. Even though you know the basic elements of the plot from reading about it on Amazon, about how Flannery Culp kills the "big man on campus" the book is still unpredictable and fascinating. This book is almost entirely diary entries, yet so well-written that they really convey the mood, scene, and plot. While I was reading it, I was trying to figure out why I hadn't heard more about Daniel Handler; he is a very talented writer and brilliant at conveying tone. The book is at turns sexy and violent, but mostly sarcastic and somewhat snide. All and all, very funny and a great read. After I finished reading it, I wanted to pick it up and reread it again.

I was introduced to this novel at a Magnetic Fields concert where the author read selections from the book. I was glued to it from the opening page... it's a fascinating look at high school cliques, friendship, and the psychosis of being a teenager. There's a quote inside that says something about needing to read the book twice - and I agree. The second time through was even better. Highly reccommended...