Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ready for a Kick in the Head?, June 10, 2004
If you are not familiar with Lydia Lunch, then you may be in for a rude awakening. Lydia's specialty is brutality - brutal honesty, brutal emotions, and a brutal no-nonsense delivery. She revels in kicking down pre-fabricated houses of illusion and letting the cold harsh light of day in to expose all festering wounds, withering sins and those nasty little trolls that like to hide in the shadows. Her imagery is an assault to the more refined senses. Jane Austen she's not. I've heard this book described as fiction, then as non-fiction, then as a fictionalized autobiography. I don't think it matters, really, because it's all true somewhere, in some way, to somebody. Tales of people abusing other people, abusing themselves, struggling to crawl out of the gutter only to stumble right back in. Messed-up heads, bruised hearts, ravished souls, all going around in circles reliving the same nightmare over and over again. Some survive, some don't, some break free while others pray for salvation. And there's Lydia declaring that if you want saving then you gotta do it yourself. Wake-up and smell the stench, folks. Some accuse her of possessing no compassion, no humanity, no sense of beauty. But I think it's there, just painted in various shades of gray instead of the black or white to which many are accustomed. It's there, just raw and aching and unadorned. Sometimes you just have to be cruel to be kind.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Modern Adventure Story, December 19, 2000
An adventure story is not like cartoons on Saturday morning. An adventure is truly dangerous and forces the participants to face their worst fears in exchange for pain, enlightenment, joy, freedom, and a new set of treacherous obstacles. Lydia Lunch brings us along her twisted sexual landscape in Paradoxia where everything is allowed to the point where it almost kills her and others die or episodes of extreme ecstasy and pleasure transpire. What she achieves through the series of violence, sex, and psychosis is what we all should be trying to do instead of working some job. She illustrates the consequences of living an autonomous life, thereby refusing the status quo and security of the "straight life" in exchange for living life to its extreme boundaries of death, pain, and suffering. And where has it all gotten her? Well, I believe she's what you call an artist. Paradoxia is also partially a documentation (and I assume everything she is saying is basically true) of New York in the late 70's and L.A. into the early 80's when artists still had a chance to be just that instead of working 40+ hours/wk just to pay rent. She was living an adventure not a routine, and paying for it every step of the way. In return she received her personal freedom, which simply meant continuous struggle with either other people or her own mind. Life ain't easy. Paradoxia stands as a constant reminder to continually recreate your life, to live it as an adventure, in order to retain control of it from your psychotic lover, your totalitarian government, or your own personal demons.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Edgier than I expected, so raw it's still steaming, January 2, 2000
I was given this book as a Christmas present from my parents. Those of you who've read it will know how incredibly ludicrous that is. Of course, I requested it for Christmas not knowing what to expect, and they being none the wiser purchased it. If they only knew . . . But the book itself was much more than I expected and much less than I expected. Its graphic recount of Lydia's experiences is almost nauseating -- I found myself thoroughly disgusted with her, which is something great because it takes A LOT to disgust me. But I was compelled to read on, finishing it within two days (for it is a rather short read). It's like sick fascination -- when you're drawn to watch, in horror and in wonder, the mutilated remains of a car wreck victim being scraped off the road. I couldn't bring myself to stop reading. I wanted to know if she'd found some sort of redemption, had any sort of revelataion, or had come to terms with her rage. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Lydia is a woman after my own heart -- not because of what she's done or how she thinks, but because of her need for expression and to purge her mind. In Paradoxia she's done this with such brutal honesty you have to at least respect her for it. Even if you still hate her by the end of the book, you'll appreciate what she's just given you -- a little slice of her viscuous soul.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
