20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An eerie, arhythmic mess that I could not put down., January 23, 2004
When I finished this novel I didn't know if I loved it or hated it. I had never had that reaction to a work of literature before. I did know that I could not put it down, and that means a lot to me. I needed to know what happened to Lauren and Michel.
If a book doesn't capture me in the first twenty pages or so I tend not to stick with it- I think writers either have it or they don't. This book pissed me off but also made me track down all his other novels- a singular experience for me. So far I have been equally elated (The sea came in at midnight) and dismayed (Rubicon Beach) by his works, often in the same novel (Arc d'X).
I'm not only discussing "Days Between Stations," here...
Now then- as regards Erickson: his writing is lush, highly rich and poetic. He weaves astute psychological insights in with chaotic and seemingly random hyper-conscious details when describing the inner workings of those who populate his works. The characters and worlds that Erickson crafts veer from heart-wrenching and lovingly-detailed to maddeningly, utterly book-tossingly, non-sensical. Out of nowhere- the most surreal occurences materialize and take over the narrative, often destroying my patience and aggravating the living hell out of me.
Yet there is a pay-off. He weaves fantastic stories and he does it in a way that is wholly his own- no one writes like Erickson. For all his flights of post-modern fancy I can't help but get wrapped up in the intricately-realized, labyrinthine details of the lives in his stories. days Bewteen stations is a great example of this- the chapters on the making of the silent film and the betrayal that finalizes it... I was stunned. For all Erickson's words (and he is wordy as hell) there is something still lurking between the musings and the poetry and the cast of strange, naked souls that inhabit his dystopian visions of the world as it was and will be... I can never put my finger on this pulse of his and that wil always bring me back to him. It really angers me at times- because I think a great deal of the wreckless way he imposes discontinuity and hellish non-sense is, well, kinda empty and pointless. But it makes for a ride like no other.
A caveat- I tend not to go for woefully pomo writers and Erickson is cerainly one of those. I stormed away from "Arc D'X" (despite LOVING the first fifty-odd pages) God-knows how many times before finishing it. Still haven't finished Rubicon Beach. His interviews (there are many online) don't really clarify things but I suspect he wants it that way.
I reccommend him.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting, September 6, 2001
Erickson's gift for seamlessly weaving multiple characters and myriad sub-plots, brilliantly unifying the apparent chaos of his worlds, can be breathtaking. In Erickson's visions, there is always a sense of order, of fate that lies beneath the anarchy and madly pulsating landscapes that he creates.
I have begun to accept that, like all great art, I will never have any assurance that my understanding of this book is what the artist actually intended. Perhaps that was his intention all along...
I am hesitant to begin a new book for several days...I need some time to let this one sink in. I find that this reaction is becoming a habit with all Erickson novels that I complete. This book, like "The Sea Came in at Midnight", continues to haunt me.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
days between breathing, December 5, 1999
By A Customer
well that would be true if it had taken me more than a day to read the thing. truth be told i wolfed it in 4 and a half hours, and was palpitating the whole way. i've never read a book that worked so well on so many levels - my heart was with Michel the whole way through, and my head was reeling from the twisted skein of time that swept me along. the scene with michel taking a lifelong train journey was the most powerful descriptions of threatened love and identity i have ever read, and haunts me still. read this book - your life will be better for it. after i'd finished reading it i had to write an essay on it, as i couldn't find a single other essay on steve erickson, so now he's officially the subject of my dissertation, but after i'd finished that i ordered half a dozen copies and distributed them to everyone i knew who needed to read this book. and although i don't know you - this means you too.
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