Customer Reviews

Justine

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I discovered Alice Thompson's JUSTINE quite by accident -- and I'm rather glad I did. I was put off at first when I read about its relation to DeSade's writings -- I didn't really want to read a re-hash of that. Upon further inspection, I decided to give it a try.

It's not one of the best books I've read in the last year, but I thought it was quite well-written and interesting. The narrator was just odd enough (in an English way [no offense to you UK residents!]) to make him slightly endearing, even with his rampant obsessive qualities. Without giving away the outcome, I'll add that I suspected what it would be -- but I didn't feel this detracted much from the suspense of the story.

There is quite a bit of eroticism at play here -- but it's understated and subtle, not overt. Those readers who might shy away from something labelled 'erotic', thinking to avoid soft-core (or worse) pornography need not be concerned. The erotic/sexual content of the novel is tasteful and not given to over-wrought, photo-like descriptions -- Thompson has exercised subtlety and taste here.

I didn't notice that the author was a member of the Woodentops until I was well into the book -- it's nice to see someone who has had some success in one artistic genre branching out into another, exercising her talents and imagination.

I must admit that I have not read any of de Sade's works, so my review may be colored by that fact. However, I felt that the narrator's voice was tiresome and uninteresting. His take on being an appreciator of beauty wore thin on me. Even with a mild deformity, he was uninteresting. I figured out the story line ahead of time and felt nothing about any of the characters. I wasn't expecting an erotic novel, but I was hoping to get what the book jacket advertised, "the wit of Wilde, the sublimity of Poe." It didn't even come close. Save your money or look elsewhere for something more engaging. Sorry.

Justine, by Alice Thompson, is a very interesting read. I especially liked the way reality and fantasy are interwined and can hardly be separated. It was a very nice book, though I'm sure my reading it in a Hebrew translation has flawed it's charm. But even in translation, the writing is very flowing and it was simply impossible to put the book down (though I did have a test to study to, at the time). All and all, a very recomended book for th lovers of good fiction.

Not since Yukio Mishima has a modern writer celebrated a world of blood and night and death that fairly pulsates with such dark, sexual glamor!

The hero of our story is rich, cruel, spoiled, and decadent. His life passes in languid self-indulgence, buying fancy paintings and lying around the flat smoking opium. Then one day he catches sight of a stunning woman named Justine. By an amazing coincidence, she happens to look just like the girl in his favorite picture. Our hero believes that only art can make beauty last forever, and that sex with Justine will be even more exciting than lying around the house and smoking opium in a room full of beautiful paintings!

Almost by magic, our hero transforms from a slack-jawed dilettante to a tough private eye, prowling the mean streets of London in search of a golden haired temptress named Justine. But a chance encounter at a humble hamburger stand pushes him towards Justine's twin sister, Juliette. Juliette tricks him into a castle full of torture devices, where our hero . . . oh, but I can't go on. Read this magnificently decadent feast of sexual titillation for yourself!