Customer Reviews

Drawing Blood

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I stumbled onto Poppy Brite quite by accident. I read the cover summary of her first book, "Lost Souls?" and thought it sounded interesting. I read that title in two days. Luckily, her second novel, "Drawing Blood," had just been released. I picked it up and finished it in one day. When I put it down, my first thought was, "Good, but not as good as 'Lost Souls'." But as the days went on, it was "Drawing Blood" that continued to reverberate in my mind. I have now read it over 10 times and find more depth with every reading. Brite has the ability to create characters that feel as if they are your best friends, and creates locales with the mastery of a poet. A big Anne Rice fan, I was amazed by Brite's ability to accomplish far more with her characters and settings with less verbosity. Never once did I skim any of Brite's books. Don't get me wrong, I am still an Anne Rice fan, but with Anne Rice, I often found myself skipping over pages that detailed one cornerstone of a building. Also, unlike Rice, Brite does not mince words about her characters' lives. Whereas Rice hints at same sex attraction between her characters, Brite creates no allusion...her characters are out-and-out gay just as her straight characters are definately straight. "Drawing Blood" is an amazing character study, an endearing love story, and a treatise on psychological horror. Think of it as "The Shining" of the nineties with a distinctly GenX flavor.

I recently re-read this book, and I was amazed all over again at how good it is. Okay, Poppy may very well be the most obsessed writer since David Goodis (I'm not sure she could write a book without going into her manias about "beautiful gay boys in love" and how cool it is to get drunk and smoke pot and overglorification of the whole superficial goth scene), but she writes so incredibly well that it's pretty easy to overlook those things. Poppy's the kind of writer who makes you jealous... if you write, it's inspirational to read her because you continually run across a finely-turned sentence or a certain description that just floors you, and you want to try and top it. And, you usually can't. I'm now re-reading _Lost Souls_ and enjoying it, too, even though I think this book is still the best thing she's written so far. I reccommend all her books, and if you like Poppy, then you're sure to love Caitlin R. Kiernan as well - _Silk_ is incredible. Poppy's not for everyone, I think - it's strong stuff in many ways - but if you can handle it, you'll be well-rewarded.

I think I must be one of those few poeple who like Drawing Blood better than Lost Souls, Poppy Z Brite's much more touted debut novel, although Lost Souls was very good also. Lost Souls was basically a coming of age story spiced up with some twisted vampire lore. Drawing Blood, on the other hand, is a love story; and I've always been a real 'sucker' for a good love story, gay or straight. As always, Brite's characters are vividly drawn and colorful, and her prose is so smooth and mellow that you hate to see the book end.

I've read where some have criticize the over abundance of gay sex loving detailed in this book. But, hey, I'd read those any day over that terrible scene of Steve raping Anne in Lost Souls.

When I first read this book some time back I found it original, chilling and a tight piece of work. Coming back to it now I can't help but find it rather tedious and at times naive. The storyline itself isn't the problem, it is the way Brite narrates that makes me cringe. Obviously fans of the book, and Brite as a writer, are not going to agree with me on the next point but I find she relies on stereotypes far too much and her characters, although displaying some degree of depth, are quite two dimensional. The love scenes between Zach and Trevor are particuarly excrutiating. The narration here is juvenile and it almost seems as if she is rushing to make a point and move on to the next scene as if she is reading the text not writing it. The scenes are not well crafted and this is the feeling I got from the novel as a whole. To me it feels like a novel written by a randy teenager who has no idea how to craft a three dimensional story and has drawn from every stereotype available.

I consider this to be one of the greatest books ever written. Poppy Z. Brite is so descriptive in her writing that I get so lost in her novels. This is the first one of hers that I read, I got it about 5 years ago, maybe more. It was the hard cover edition and I read it and fell in love with it. Then, like an idiot, I lent it to a friend and I never saw it again. I bought the paperback and i read it so many times that it almost fell apart. I am just so entirely moved by the love story within these pages. I love the way Trevor goes back to his home town to deal with his demons and then Zack just finds his way there. I also completely love the way she works in Steve and Ghost (from Lost Souls) I think for the first couple of weeks after I read Drawing Blood I was afraid to go to the bathroom. I still get a little scared every once in a while looking at the shower curtain rod, he he. As an aspiring writer, I can only hope to write something of this caliber.

Ah, nothing like a good little haunted house story. The sort of tale written by the likes of Poe and told by campers around campires all over this great land.

Unless you went to a really odd summer camp, you never heard a haunted house story like this one.

"Drawing Blood" is the story of Trevor and Zach, two emo boys in the days before emo existed. Zach, on the run from the law, meets up with Trevor at the house where Trevor's father killed everyone but him when he was a little boy.

As events progress the two not only discover more about what happened that horrible night but also, and there's no non-cheesy way for me to put this, discover the joys they can have in each other's arms (see? Told you).

The book has some very hardcore sex scenes. I write what I shall obliquely refer to as "erotic fiction" as a hobby, and this stuff is only slightly less explicit. It also has some amazingly unpleasant imagery and disturbing scenes.

All of which, frankly, team up to make this one darn fine read! It's not the best horror novel, I'm sure, but it is the best Poppy Z Brite book I've read (all of three so far... sorry, Poppy! I know I need to read more).

It is, however, perhaps a book best read with lights on.

I stumbled across this book like some people stumble upon Christ or Buddah. It was there at the right time just when I needed it. The first thing that caught my eye as I scanned the cover was the relationship between Zack and Trevor. Being a closeted and confused 19 year old I knew I could buy it with out looking "gay". When I got it home I started reading it and didnt put it down until I was finished. It felt like Poppy had gotten right inside that corner of my head I thought only I knew about. The feeling of loss, love, madness, disconecction. It wasn't just the gay aspect either. Trevors struggle with his ghost of a father, Zacks inability really to connect with the world except through hacking, Parker, Birdland, comics, it's all here. It's the first book I ever read that made you feel like it came with it's own Jazz soundtrack.(I later read Poppy's Lost Souls..it introduced me to the Cure) It's also the only book I've ever read that takes you into a cartoon underworld. (Litterly!!) When I was done I knew beyond all shadows I would make it..and that their was someone out there waiting and looking for me. Buy this book..give it away as gifts..hell, give it away on the street corner. Magic..pure one hundred perecent hit you in the soul magic.

Brite has held the position of being my favorite practitioner of horror since I first read her novel Lost Souls. I have now read everything she has published, and love her just as much. She writes in a beautifuly poetic quality like none I've seen before.

This novel is a very modernized retelling of the Haunted House story (with its own original emements), a beautiful love story (between two guys--be warned now if this offends you), and the metaphoric refference to a seperate comic world called BirdLand (but it does not remain only a metaphor for the entire story.) The characters are all very well drawn: a boy who's father, in a drunken rage, kills his mother, brother, and himself; an interesting computer hacker; a New Orleans stipper helplessly in love with her gay friend; and a Jamaican-American/local marajuana dealer with a good heart.

I recommend this book to anyone who has previously enjoyed Brite, and anyone who has yet to discover her.

First and foremost, this book presents to us the goriest, most brutal, emotional, and amazing love story. Brite's elegant prose and voice, as well as her deep sensory details are the big part of why this book is so good. This is my first time reading one of Poppy Z. Brite's books, and let me tell you, I am hooked. From the very first page of this amazing story, I was hooked, and I read it in less than two days. Never in my whole life has a book brought out my five senses so much. Throughout this book, I experienced just about every emotion, from sheer and utter terror, to absolute sadness. There were quite a few parts in this book that made me bawl or laugh hysterically.

Now to the content. This is a gay love story, and that may be self-explanatory right there. But, keep in mind that this is also a haunted house/ghost story. Also keep in mind that Trevor and Zach don't meet until almost halfway through the book, and from there, the book gets REALLY emotional and at some points, very graphic and disturbing. One warning: the sex scenes described in this book are so vivid and detailed that you actually see them playing out right before your eyes. The bloodshed and violence is also vividly described, and at some points you may find yourself squirming constantly. This book is not for the faint hearted, or easily shocked. Poppy Z. Brite's normal genre is not just horror, but true, raw, extreme, gut-wrenching, splatterpunk horror. However, this book doesn't give you all the graphic grue, gore and sex outright. It gives it in pieces, then hits you full force in the last 100 or so pages. On that note: once you get to the part where Zach and Trevor both get mushrooms, expect to be put on an acid trip like you will never forget. Also, expect to be disturbed. Some of the stuff this book has to offer stays with you. FOREVER.

Overall, this book was fun, and absolutely one of the most amazing horror novels I've ever read, if not the most amazing. I look forward to reading more of Poppy's work! READ THIS!!!

I was pleased with this book overall. It was one of the first books I have read by this author. The book flowed rather well and kept me interested throughout. Poppy has a pretty good sense of describing things really well. I could litterly see myself in Missing Mile, NC living the hellish nightmare of that dreadful place. The story like others have said, has great character devolpment. The only thing I found disappointing was that the novel jumped back and forth between the characters a lot and it needed more to the actual haunting of the house...anyway to me at least. Overall this was a really good book, fast paced and well written. I will definetly check out other works by this Poppy Z. Brite.