Customer Reviews

Meat

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was hooked from the first page and before I knew it I was pounding through the pages, barely remembering to breath. The story maintains a brisk pace as the full horror of the town of Abyrne, a claustrophobic and wretched cage, is revealed. Despite the tempo, D'Lacey takes the time to develop all his characters providing both depth and frivolous embellishments, which allows the reader to empathise with their pitiless lives and chronic fear.

This grisly tale left an indelible mark on my psyche, but don't think this is just a superficial attempt to use sickening detail to carry an empty narrative. There is much more to this thought provoking tale, which not only enjoys some brilliant and recognisable insights into fear, but also asks you to consider what for you is an `acceptable' level of suffering.

This book isn't for the timid, and if you are, take your Gaviscon before settling down to read one of the few books that might change your life. To a vegetarian, the title might put you off; if you eat meat, you may be afraid of being lectured. Neither is the case. I'm vegan and didn't think anything about slaughterhouses or animal empathy could shock me, but I am dazed. Meat doesn't set out with a philosophical agenda, it is a great story, with plenty of action, characters, a post-apocalyptic setting and several threads. I'm not going to summarise the plot. It's enough to say that Harry Harrison's novel, which became the cult film, Soylent Green is for pussy cats compared to Meat.

I confess that I didn't initially like the short sections as the story unfolded from the point-of-view of several main characters, but with the pace so rapidly page-turning it isn't a serious complaint. Indeed, there are some fine literary moments inside the narrative. D'Lacey cleverly forces characters to not just step back to contemplate their actions and consequences, but to somehow reach inside, and then outside their psyche in a way I've not met in other novels. For example, speaking of that elusive spark in someone's eyes, but then when they die: `how could you not wonder where that light went?'

I hate Joseph D'Lacey because he's created phrases I'd wish I'd written. For example, we've all been to a works' dance where: `The music had a stretched, laboured sound to it, but it made the workers jump and twitch nevertheless.' He has a gift for inverting concepts that is envious. Savour this example:
`She stopped moving and listened hard. The silence was alive: like someone downstairs was listening for her, not the other way around.'

I am impressed that the end isn't easy to predict even though there is no plot dependency on a twist. Let's say that in my animal activist days, I nearly achieved in practice on the odd livestock farm, and still dream about what this book achieves with a whole futuristic town. This gutsy ambush is delivered cleverly, but not without gallons of gory blood, sometimes friendly blood.

Meat is horror, gruesome, and it has a message, whether or not you accept it. It is compelling reading, and it will haunt me forever.

I've read many horrific things and thought I'd read it all but this one truly frightened me because I can see things going this way in the case of an apocalypse or other such disaster, with those in a position of power taking advantage of those without. Call me gloomy but I don't have a lot of faith in man.

Meat is very thought provoking and reinforces my belief that raising animals in horrible conditions for meat and profit is wrong (though I'm not a full vegetarian this book may just push me and others over the edge).

It was haunting read,horrifying and unforgettable. It dragged a bit for me at the midway point when the focus shifted but overall it was one of those books I hated to put down when life interrupted.

Joseph D'lacey is an excellent story teller. An original story, you will never look at meat the same way again.

I really don't even know where to begin on this one. This is a difficult review to write, without giving anything away.

In D'Lacey's Afterword, he states that he is not a vegetarian - yet. The meat that he does eat is organic and comes from animals that are raised and slaughtered respectfully and humanely.
He also states that "If you don't have the stomach to kill, gut, skin, and dress an animal, you ought not have the stomach to eat it either."
I would have to agree with this statement. How many of us really think about where our food comes from?
I will tell you this - this book will definitely make you think about it!

D'Lacey has written a very intellectual horror novel with riveting characters and gut-churning moments. He dangles the proverbial carrot just out of your reach, so that you want to keep turning the pages until the final mystery is revealed.

I definitely recommend this book! It is one that you will not easily forget!

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What an indelible story. Edgar Allen Poe stories, I still remember, cause me to shudder. Joseph D'Lacey's writing stimulates your mind, churns your stomach and pacifies your spirit. He reveals ugly truths. He suspends your imagination. He demonstrates strength of character, and gives you hope. Horror stories are supposed to be horrible. It was horrific - horrible and terrific. Horror stories are supposed to grip you with fear, it was frightening. It is a horror story which leaves you with vivid images and strong charachters. Write on young man! You are a great story teller. Who needs cayenne pepper or aspirin to get ones blood circulating. I recommend "Meat"

I've just finished reading Meat and I found it disturbing.

Joseph D'Lacey is a talented writer and it wasn't his voice that threw me. It was the subject matter.

The subject matter still haunts my thoughts.

Meat is set in a post-apocalyptic society in the small town of Abryne. There is no separation of church and state, and there's a power struggle going on between the parsons and the meat packers. And the boss meat packer is one scary dude.

The main hero fights an internal battle. On the one hand, he despises what he does for a living, punishing his body as penance for his wrongs. On the other, his family's survival depends on his remaining complaisant. His struggle rings true, and I couldn't help but wonder how I would respond in such a terrible situation.

Joseph D'Lacey describes the slaughter house in very vivid terms. All five senses are involved and it isn't easy to read. I could picture each stage of the process, and let me tell you it gagged me. That said, I believe it was worth it.

Meat is peopled with believable characters. D'Lacey avoids stereotypes. Good is never only good and evil never veers into the ridiculous. I cared what happens to the hero and his family, to the cattle, and even to one of the parsons.

To sum it up, Meat is a contridiction of brutality and compassion. It is a read well worth a little nausea to get to the just and beautiful end. I recommend you read Meat.

I surprised myself when I chose to read this gruesome horror story that is MEAT. Horror is far from my usual choice of preferred genre. I had heard something of the content and was intrigued so dared myself to take a step into this realm of reading material.
MEAT is a grim, gruesome, compelling and riveting read. It is a horror story with a strong moral substance. I don't agree with the criticism that the realisation of the source of meat came too early in the book. I think knowing the source made the detailed description of how meat is processed all the more horrific; I sat grimacing through sections of the book. All of the characters are very well defined. The antagonist is truly evil, the protagonist a man to applaud; one with whom the reader will want to follow and join in his crusade. I was not disappointed when I reached the end of this well told tale.
Perhaps not a read for the faint hearted, the detail is very graphic.
Though the story is obviously fantasy the parallels of life as we know it are clearly drawn making the reader appreciate the horror of this well researched topic.

MEAT is a strangely compelling read. Despite weaknesses in the narrative, it draws the reader in, shows them a bizarre yet intriguing world, and makes them read to the very last page.

It's frustrating, though. D'Lacey works hard to make you slowly realise for yourself who the 'cattle' are, but the publishers know no such subtlety--it's practically trumpeted on the cover. There's only one possiblity after that, and you wonder sometimes why D'Lacey doesn't just come out and say it. Saving the revelation for the end, when we've known about it for pages and pages, doesn't work. Art vied with commerce, I suspect, and commerce won.

Slaughterman Richard Shanti works the bolt gun, stunning these 'cattle' at the MMP (meat processing plant) day in, day out. They call him 'Ice Pick' because he can look into the cattle's eyes, say a prayer, and stun them without flinching. If he can't sustain this, or conceal his growing interest in the cattle as individuals, he'll be joining them in the slaughter pens. But he can, it seems. He's also being investigated by a Parson from the Church that's vying with MMP for control of the small, isolated town that depends on the slaughterhouse for food--but he doesn't know this. There's a revolution being planned by a small group of dissidents, but it's mostly underground. So what's driving the story?
Ultimately, it's the writing. D'Lacey makes you look. The realistic details of the slaughterhouse are at odds with the unlikelihood that a town surrounded by a post-nuclear wasteland would indulge in this highly-inefficient method of food production. There are ten thousand meat animals being fed by cereal grown on arable land that shrinks every year. For me, it just doesn't add up. Also, where does the rice come from? If D'Lacey hadn't worked so hard to convince us of the details, such flaws might more easily be passed over. But on another level, it doesn't matter. We're grounded in the small realities of a fantastic world where it's possible to eschew meat and 'eat God', deriving both nutrition and virtue from light and air. Whether this is genetic mutation, divine intercession or simply self-delusion, doesn't matter. We're not in the real world here--we, and the characters, are inhabiting a fantastical nightmare.

Women don't do well in this dystopia. Shanti's wife betrays him for meat, the Parson only gains redemption at the moment of death, and only Shanti's twin daughters are deemed sufficiently worth saving at the end. Unfortunately, they're virtually ciphers. The truly heroic figures are Shanti himself, who runs miles every day to try to expiate his guilt, and Collins, leader of the dissidents.

The novel ends with a series of revelations, two of which have been obvious for most of the novel, and one that comes as a complete surprise. As this implies, the novel lacks subtlety. But it's a damn good read, for all that.

[Reviewed by Debbie Moorhouse]

If any book had the power to make me go vegetarian- it would be this one. This is a very disturbingly creepy horror novel that made me squeamish at parts. The author did well in not making this specifically a moral story but there were definite undertones of the higher road to take.

I can't honestly say that I loved the book but it is one that I won't forget for a long time.

If taboo topics unnerve you- then leave this book alone. Otherwise- happy eating.

Note: Received free from publisher