Ecstasia [Paperback]

Francesca Lia Block (Author)

Book Description

Block is an award-winning, cutting-edge young adult author who has already attracted a large adult audience. Her first adult novel, Ecstasia is a jolting contemporary fantasy about sexuality, love and death that follows the lives of a band of young musicians living in a city of carnivals and circuses, where the only crime is growing old. Advertising in Locus magazine.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

As members of the rock band Ecstasia, Calliope and her brother Rafe have only one worry in life--growing old in a city where youthful hedonism is the rule and the signs of aging mean permanent exile to the city's dreaded underworld of sewers and tunnels. Greek myth collides with "sex and drugs and rock'n'roll" in this first adult novel by controversial (and award-winning) YA author Block ( Weetzie Bat , HarperCollins, 1989). The author's heady style lends a poetic quality to this graceful story of love in an all-too-material world. Purchase where there is a demand for experimental fantasy.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

This begs not just to be read, but to be re-read, and savored. (Publishers Weekly, starred review for Echo) The sorceress of iridescent language is back again. (Kirkus Reviews for Echo) Transcendent. (The New York Times) A sensualist’s paradise. (Spin) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Roc Trade (May 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451452607
• ISBN-13: 978-0451452603
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,960,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Francesca Lia Block, recipient of the prestigious Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award. has been publishing novels, short stories, essays, memoirs and poetry since 1989. Her work has been translated into many languages. Ms. Block lives in Los Angeles where she teaches writing workshops that are also available online.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the search!!!, March 12, 2001

By 

S Cook "ninjagirl" (Dallas, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ecstasia (Paperback)

This was possibly the most difficult book I ever tried to find. But I doubt I could have picked one more worth the trouble! As a huge Francesca Lia Block fan for years now, I've always heard of these 2 impossible to find books, Ecstasia & Primavera. Finally I located them this past December.

Block has always crafted her words into beautiful modern day fairy tales of love and music but never has it created such a enchanting result as with this novel. I think part of the reason is because she completely creates a new world... one of carnivals, music, love, and youth. But there is also a scary flip side to this world. One that the 4 lead characters are struggling to accept.

If you are a Block fan and have yet to read these 2 novels you should really, look into them. I think they are essential reading of the authors.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Need to Look Deeper..., May 31, 2006

By 

Seymour "C.M." - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ecstasia (Paperback)

Ecstasia was another Block masterpiece. Many of the readers I have talked to simply tell me that there is too much going on, all fluff and no substance - I'm afriad I must whole heartedly disagree. The text is hard to understand at first because it is stuffed with metaphors and other literary devices that sometimes trick the mind. I have read Ecstasia a few times and it gets better with each read. You have to look between the lines with this novel. The message is not instantly clear, but this is common in her writing. The reader must go through a mental journey with the characters. They need to expierence the love, the want, the fear, the pain, the challenge that the members of Ecstasia do. The characters themselves are wonderful, with their faults and strenghts, and sheer will to live outside a world of age restriction. The words are beautiful, like always; the descriptions, the poetry/songs, the emotions, the everything. Once again Block makes me wish I could weild such skill with a pen. This is an amazing read, wonderful in so many ways. I highly reccomend it to those willing to take on a literary challenge. If you thought it was garbage well, let me quip this "One mans trash is another mans treasure", and this novel, once given a good twice over, glistens like gold.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the surface reader, July 7, 2005

By 

Alexandra (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ecstasia (Paperback)

Francesca Lia Block's novel Ecstasia is her most difficult to read. The story is told through visions, songs, poems, letters and third person passages. Due to the many metaphors and unique storytelling, the plot can be difficult to follow. I have chosen to interpret the deeper meaning of the book in my review rather than summarizing it, which has already been done thoroughly.
Block, who lives in L.A., says Ecstasia "was born of my lifelong love of Greek mythology and of music, combined with an exploration of deeply personal issues."
Many of the names in this story are of Greek origin. Under, for example, originates from underworld, the Greek word for the world below the living. A further example is Calliope, the muse of epic poetry in Greek mythology. Her name means beautiful, originating from the Greek word for beauty, kallos.
Elysia, the desert and Under are described as far away, fairy-tale lands. The characters have extreme personalities that accommodate the worlds surrounding them. These worlds may seem far fetched, but I believe this novel is to be interpreted as socially critical.
The people and environments Block describes are today's world. Elysia, the gorgeous city full of glitz and glamour, its inhabitants physically flawless and young, represent Hollywood and the beauty industry. "The only crime is growing old."
Under, the place one grudgingly goes when one no longer fits Ecstasia aesthetically, represents the people and the things we can no longer consider valuable due to their age.
The band called Ecstasia is made up of Paul, Rafe, Calliope and Dionisio. They're poster children for the modern music industry. They're young, good looking and healthy. They have lovers, go out a lot, drink and sing catchy songs about love, flowers and beauty, regardless of their actual knowledge on those topics. Their careers will not necessarily be over when they are no longer able to play instruments and write songs, but when they are no longer young and gorgeous.
Today's average singer is very similar. Stars like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera make headlines for their looks and the parties they went to, rather than for their songs. They often lip synch during concerts, allowing them to dance easily in their explicit outfits. Their careers wouldn't be over if they weren't able to write good songs anymore or if they suffered from liver poisoning as a result of a drunken night out. Song writers and hospitals can fix that. Their careers would be over, however, if they got fat or old.
Lily, Rafe's girlfriend, represents a model. She's a skinny, delicate girl who entertains people with her body. On page 45, she says, "We're supposed to be thin, like kids," during dinner, after Rafe tells her how surprised he is that she actually eats.
Those are just a few example of how symbolism is important in this story. There are countless others, such as Orpheus, which symbolizes opium. I wouldn't want to bore anyone or give away too much of the story, however.
The bottom line is that Ecstasia is a complex, socially critical and intriguingly told story. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys thought provoking tales with no definite plot (such as the movie "Swimming Pool," directed by Francois Ozon, for example,) because they can mean different things to different people.