Customer Reviews

Fishy-fleshed

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Fishy-fleshed is not like other novels. But then, none of CM3's novels are like other novels. They are more like bizarre cult films, only you can't put them into VCRs or DVD players and watch them. You have to read them, because they are books.

If the words "book" or "reading" make you want to punch someone, don't worry. Fishy-fleshed is fast paced and entertaining. You can read the whole thing in an hour or two. Nearly all of Mellick's books are like this; short and sweet. But don't be fooled. He's able to pack more into a thin novella than most authors could in a bulky tome. You can read his books over and over and find something new every time.

And did I mention the pictures? Most of Carlton's books are illustrated. The images in Fishy-fleshed are not like anything I've seen before. They are the thoughts of the narrator, plucked from his head and presented visually. I really can't tell you how strange they are. You'll have to see them yourself.

Get this book, and every other Mellick book, and you'll never be bored again.

What happens when you mix together schlocky 50's science fiction movies, otherworldly future landscapes, a mischievous sense of humor, religious satire, fluffernutter, and a generous dose of time travel? I have no idea, but I really like this book, "Fishy Fleshed", by Carlton Mellick. It's kind of like the mixture mentioned above, except much better, and without the fluffernutter. Mellick, a young author with an evergrowing and well-deserved cult following has written another irreverent story in his own genre of bizarro literature. It neither takes itself to seriously nor gets lost in childish meanderings. Mellick strikes a balance that is only possible through natural ability, and his stories continue to show that he has that ability. If you would like to enjoy something that is different without even trying to be, kind of like fluffernutter, then purchase this book now.

FishyFleshed is a beautiful glamorous and excellent performance on words of Carlton Mellick III's ability to write a 244 page "novel" and have the font so big that you can only fit around 5 lines of text per page and you will still be able to understand the character and relate to him. this book was written in 3 days with very little sleep and cocain-stregth-caffine pills to replicate an author with a.d.d.. the book is written in thought logs about a man in the future named cocoan who lives in a ocean world where people can walk on water, clone people, clone food, and revive people from the dead. in a world cured of all a.d.d. and all diseases cocoan chooses too keep his a.d.d. because he doesn't want the fishy ones to get their stench and fishiness on him. he thinks the world is better with his a.d.d. and he doesn't need to be cured. cocoan and his wife whyrie travel back in time to find the messiah to see if he was real and to bring him back to the future to question him, but things start to go wrong and twist and turn out of control in this half parody half science fiction and half nonsense book. one o the greatest books I have ever read.

I just happened upon a copy of Carlton Mellick III's "Fishy-Fleshed." It was the first novel of CM3's work that I've read and I was glad I chose it - or did it choose me? Anyway, Fishy-Fleshed takes place in a future where the population has exploded thanks to scientists and doctors being able to cure all known diseases. In a world where people usually only die of old age, society must extend its boundaries out to sea and build cities and towns on the ocean surface, which is where Mellick sets his novel. But science has also dispelled many of the myths and legends of mankind, things that make our differing cultures and lifestyles so interesting, thus resulting in a rather bleak and boring existence for the inhabitants of "Ocean City." Some people, like the main character Cocoan (which translates to 'Somebody who kills the snails'), withdraws into himself, a self-preservation technique that he credits to his refusal to be treated for Attention Deficit Disorder; while others seek ways to travel into the past to investigate ancient mysteries like the existence of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Conflict arises when Cocoan's wife drags him along on such a time-travel journey and the reader is treated to symbolic parallels to the Virgin birth, like can clones conceive? Without giving anything away about this imaginative journey into bizarro science-fiction/fantasy, suffice it to say, we end up learning whether Cocoan's method of self-preservation will perpetuate the endangered human race. Or did I just read too much into this? Regardless, I highly recommend "Fishy-Fleshed" to established fans of the bizarro genre and to new readers who are curious about what bizarro fiction has to offer.

Rich Bottles Jr., author of "Lumberjacked" and "Hellhole West Virginia"

This is easily Mellick's most poetic novel. In the introduction he say that he wrote it in three long days and that he was trying to mimic the train of thought of some with ADD. But the prose don't feel rushed or scrambled at all. It's more stylized than his later stuff and at times his choice of words is a bizarre but it always works. I hope he writes more books in this style in the future. Kerouac and Burrough wished they could write with spontaneity and at the same time the clarity this book has. Though I'm sure they might not have been into the subject matter.
The story takes place in a futuristic world where everyone walks on water. I didn't like this idea much. I had trouble visualizing it. My favorite chapters take place either in doors or the past.
That's right, it's a time travel book. And one of the best I have read. In it, the narrator and a bunch of scientist go to the past to find Jesus Christ. It gets really weird. And even spooky at times.
The book is at times critical on religion but not cynical. I found the book to actually be very spiritually charged.

First off, I just have to say, if you want to pick up this book, pick it up now. The current edition has splendid artwork, and a weird opening in Ywellish (translated to English) that may not appear in future editions.

That being said, this was definitely one for the weird. In the futurist Ocean City, everyone can cure any disease imaginable, walk on water, and bring the dead back to life. A group of researchers decide in the midst of all that is their life, that they want to know if Jesus truly existed, and if so, what was he like and if they could clone him back to the current era. How does Daniel get trapped into going back to the past? Why are there zombie sharks that swim around Ocean City? Why are their multiple copies of people, and which ones truly are the real ones??

This novel is written through the mind of the main character, Daniel (Cocoan), by way of his thought processes. It's a little haphazard in trying to read, but definitely a fun read if you like bizarro novels, and if you're a fan of Carlton Mellick III. The artwork contained in this edition also is fun to look at after you read the chapter and how Daniel describes everything that is going on through his mind.

Time travel for the surreal new age!

Fishyfleshed gets better each time I read it, which is actually often enough to the point where I wrote about it as a recommendation to my English teacher for a paper. How many books did you read in school that included a complete translation of it in a "lost" language? None like this, I can assure you.

Mellick's writing, while highly creative and almost always entertaining, is not perfect. My one issue here is the very beginning of the book. After reading it countless times I still can't figure out why this is, though. It's pretty necessary to the plot to indicate why a bunch of scientists and one retard are in the past looking for Jesus, but it's always something I want to skip. Get right to the good stuff with squid people and Cyborg Jesus.

I wouldn't recommend this as someone's first Mellick book, or even bizarro in general, but for those seasoned veterans, you'll probably get a kick out of it. I know I continuously do.

I adore Fishy Fleshed with its illustrations and humour.

This book has got one of the most amazing concepts where it has been translated from another language! ( which you can actually find in the book itself) and follows a species of people who are so technologically advanced that they can actually walk on water and all come from a place called " Ocean City".

The story revolves around a child like man and his wife who is apart of a scientific organization who wish to go back in time to find out the facts of the Messiah and make a clone of him to bring back to the future.

Packed with enjoyable characters and sentences that you cannot help but laugh out loud at, Fishy Fleshed is an amazing book that any bizarro fan should buy!

This was the first book I had ever read by Carlton Mellick III and I must say I will definitely be reading the rest of his books! I started by reading the back cover and it was right! Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down! This one book has certainly got my full attention into the world of bizarro and cult fiction.

Having read and loved Satan Burger, read and had positive feelings for Sunset with a Beard and read and owned ambivalence over The Menstruating Mall, I didn't know what to think going into Fishyfleshed.

The best thing about the book is that it only takes about an hour and a half to read. The first twenty pages are gibberish, the book is littered with scribbles and the rest is double-spaced 14pt font like a kid trying to cheat at a school essay.

The book was written, as it says in the forward, as a stream of consciousness. It shows. There is little subtlety and the imagery has nothing behind it. The form is dreadful. There are little flashes of interesting topics, only to be brushed aside and forgotten.

It is just a _stupid_ work. I've seen him do better. I cannot recommend this to anyone.