Customer Reviews

Ecstasy Club: A Novel

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Well, you have to notice that people either love or hate this book. That means it generated a strong emotional response either way, which for an author, is always a goal. I simply loved it. If you read through expecting all of it to be realistic, you'll be disappointed. If you read through expecting a wild romp with some unforgettable scenes describing the philosophy of the 90's "rave culture" - you'll enjoy yourself quite a bit. Keep in mind that the book is narrated from a perspective of a person who is rather heavily drugged most of the time - I think the people who state that it is not 'believable' are missing the point completely. This book was a page turner that kept me up all night until I read it, start to finish. Simply an incredible piece of work, and I would urge any open minded people to give it a chance. The writing style is crisp and easy to follow, making it an even more enjoyable read. One of the best books I've picked up in weeks. Five stars, all the way.

Have you ever looked at how the events in your life are unfolding and discovered in yourself the unshakable conviction that there are no coincidences? After reading "Ecstasy Club," you may look back on your discovery of the book as an integral element in a larger pattern; a pattern so seamless that you cannot see it as just an orderless juxtaposition of "random events."

Rushkoff uses this tale of cyber-savvy twenty-somethings who commandeer an abandoned piano factory and turn it into a wired commune and rave cult headquarters as a vehicle for infecting the reader with a virulent set of consciousness-transforming memes. It's okay if you don't know what a meme is. You'll have an intuitive understanding after you've read "Ecstasy Club."

Rushkoff doesn't stop to explain memes, the significance of novelty, Ericksonian hypnosis, the attractor at the end of time, or really much of anything. If you're already familiar with these concepts, you'll get a warm self-satisfied glow as you think, "Nobody's going to get all these references." If you're encountering these concepts for the first time as you read "Ecstasy Club" you'll experience the electrifying thrill of discovering that the world is a far stranger and more wonderful place than you'd previously realized, and you'll think "Wow!"

I haven't read anything else by Rushkoff but I have to say that I enjoyed this book immensely. What you get for your [money] is: Insight into the rave (and other) subculture(s); conspiracy theories (from the Philadelphia Experiment to a not so subtlely masked version of the scientologists); a full education pertaining to the effects of experimental, mind-effecting drugs; graphic depictions of group sex; an introduction to social programming and its effects; and a glimpse into the idea of consciousness evolution. This is like Robert Anton Wilson's _Prometheus Rising_ written as fiction.

If the concepts are new to you, you may be left behind (or may be forced to reread) but I don't think this stuff is too far out of anyone's grasp. Just remember that all of this stuff isn't fiction. Many people believe in some of these concepts and live these types of lifestyles, it's just that most people aren't aware they exist. My favorite line in the book is, "... the kind of thing that everyone talks about doing when they're in college, but then never does because they get swept away in the current of real life's events." (That's paraphrased a bit) Been there, done that?

The Ecstasy Club by Douglas Rushkoff is the fastest read book I have ever encountered. I consumed and devoured every word, every scene, every concept. This book put priority over almost everything in my life at that time. Rushkoff's ideas and concepts were extremely hard to grasp, but that is exactly what kept me interested.

This novel was the first I have ever read about the current club scene: raves, drugs, sex, and Rock 'n Roll (or in this case Techno). One may think that this novel is strictly written for the teenager, but I believe that it may attempt to explain the culture of teenagers to any adult who is interested. I believe, though, that if an adult attempts to read this novel, it will have an "all or nothing" effect; either the adult will grasp the idea completely or reject it out of ignorance.

The novel contains a journey theme. This journey consists of a group of kids traveling to throw raves for their enjoyment as well as their profit. On the symbolic level, it is a quest for the truth about life; an answer to all the questions concearning the fate of our world. In the end, the truth is not uncovered by the "deprogrammed" (Ecstasy Club members and alike) outdoing the "programmed" (cultists and fascists), but by an evolution into a mutual understanding between both groups.

When this novel was first recommended to me by a friend, I expected it to be good, but definitely not this powerful. The Ecstasy Club had me overwhelmed with the most complex thinking concearning the realites of our world that I will ever grasp. It takes a very smart, open-minded person to enjoy the novel in its entirety.

"So do we need an educated elite to censor out the bad information, or are we evolved enough to accept or discard prescriptions for change using nothing other than our intuition? Maybe it's YOU who are unduly afraid of the dominance of favored, state-sponsored memes. If we accept the basic premise that out mindset extends, eventually, to the reality we inhabit, then wouldn't your attribution of the psychedelic revolution to a fear-mongering elite and subsequent admission of your own powerlessness in the face of such adversity ultimately result in the full manifestation of the very forces you hope to quash?" This quote was the first realization of the truth regarding reality that I was in the process of revealing. Sadly, though, the truth is not easy enough for me to just simply tell you; it must be uncovered by diving into the deep, complex dialogue Rushkoff uses throughout the novel's multi-level development.

After reading some of Douglas Rushkoff's non-fiction work, specifically "Coercion", I was looking forward to checking out his story telling skills. I haven't read a lot of fiction lately, so this book was a nice change of pace.

Ecstasy Club takes place in Oakland, CA where a bunch of lost soul Gen X'ers start a commune in an abandoned warehouse where they search for the meaning of life while raving the nights away and consuming as many drugs as humanly possible. The story twisted around drug induced psychoses, cult leaders, crazy government conspiracy theories and wild rave parties.

Rushkoff has proved that he can write a fictional story just as well as he can write about current topics. I really enjoyed the book and look forward to his next fictional work.

I was a little disappointed when it was all said and done. I admit that I read the book in like two sittings (which I rarely do), but I guess that can be attributted to two things. First, that I kept thinking that it would get better. Rushkoff is a good writer, but his non-fiction is much more worthwhile in my opinion. I got tired of hearing watered down excerpts of his non-fiction work (Cyberia & Media Virus both much better and entertaining than this) interspursed throughout the book. Second, that the material was too much fluff. There are some great insights and perspectives offered that are both noteworthy and entertaining but in the end it was too much like a Hollywood movie that spoon feeds you every little plot twist in moronic detail. It doesn't surprise me to have just learned that (oh my gosh) Mr.Rushkoff has done just that, slated it for the theaters, but watch your wallet's 'cause with the likes of William Gibson hyping this book the movie is bound to be another "Johnnie Neumonic"­ another study in mediocrity.Don't get me wrong I enjoy Mr.Rushkoff's work in the non-fiction arena and I think the novel thing was something he probably had to try. Yet, I grew accustomed to the depth of the subject matter in his previous works and had I not read them first perhaps I would have been more satisfied. All and all nice try but not a real winner in my opinion

oh my lord, the anguish I endured, sitting through this drivel! I cant wait to tell the whole world about it, to share my pain! The beginning seemed promising for me, as I was eager to escape a world of office work, but things got awful. Everyone was so full of themselves and all this talk about creating time machines... I mean, I can appreciate diverse characters leading cutting-edge lives, but... three quarters of the way through I started skimming then just skipped to the end. They wanted to have rituals with this aborted baby and... somebody stop me!

For the time being, Ecstasy Club is a bit under the radar. Fans of Rushkoff and those circles are aware, but it isn't a particularly famous novel. I believe one day that will change and this book will get the recognition it deserves.

As we drift away from the time period of the 90s, the generation of my youth, and our memories glamorize and stereotype, eventually this book is going to be remembered as one of the defining works capturing the soul of that era. The cultural identity of the 90s will not forgotten.

You see, I was there and we all thought rave was going to be our punk. That was going to be the next big thing, our contribution to the ages, and it was going to change the world. But it wasn't, it didn't, and in the end it only burnt itself out and then it died. That is the tragedy Rushkoff so brillaintly portrayed in Ecstasy Club.

I find it hard to believe that this is Rushkoff's first novel, yet that's what he says. It has all the cyberpunk-hacker-coutnerculture-mystical themes you expect from Rushkoff, but it's so terribly readable. The love drama of Zach and Kirsten and Lauren and Duncan; the conflict between our protaganist as damage control Levite and the charming cult leader guru Duncan ready to shift our dimensional reality. And the itricacies of the pseudo-Scientologist conspiracy and insanities of the drug culture perfectly bend your mind enough to question yours and Zach's realities. The novel isn't just a good intelligencia journey though, its actually a fun read. I breezed through the book, eager to see what happens to the diverse cast of characters next, laughed at the clever refferences, and was sad to see it end too soon.

Ecstasy Club is simultenously one of the most mentally engaging and entertaining books I've read in a long time.

Rushkoff's nonfiction is always engaging, and his new comics are spot-on, but personally I hope he has a few more novels in him.

i was one of those guys who wanted to play with things that were harmful to me when i was a kid, but never got around to it. once i grew up a little, i became one of those guys who wanted to go to rave parties, but i was too busy NOT going. in my recent resurgence of curiousity, i figured i would pick up the ecstacy club and have a look. what i found was a very interesting depiction of sex, drugs, trance, rave parties, orgies, squatting and tons of acts of stupidity on the parts of various nicely fleshed out characters.

i dont remember the main character's name, but he's the smartest one out of a group of drug addled twenty-somethings who want to transcend the mortal plane though drugs and parties...and make a bunch of money along the way hosting these parties. there is a character named duncan who THINKS he's the smartest one in the group, so naturally he becomes the arrogant "cult" leader.

the main character just wants two things - to leave this life behind and to make duncan's girlfriend lauren his own. and this is the struggle until more obstacles come up out of nowhere to threaten our players.

i liked the story though i had no idea where it was going somewhere after midway through. new challenges arise as new characters are introduced and it just seemed for a while there that there was no end in sight until a particularly far-fetched final act checks in. it could all have been a believable story if not for the last fifty pages or so. check it out if you are bored of salinger and hemingway.

A roller coaster ride through drugs, future concepts, morality, and cults. I loved the odd mix of characters and the piano factory setting. I never knew about the "rave scene" until reading this book.