Customer Reviews

Suicide Girls in the Afterlife

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you like weird fiction, get this book. Let me explain.

First, the idea of the the afterlife limbo taking place in a hotel is great. Maybe it's because I love hotels/motels but still, it's very interesting and leads to a good story.

Okay, now the good things about the novella. The characterizations are excellent. Katina the goth girl was funny. And the devil? Hilarious! But not in a dumb way either. The author has a very keen sense of humor. The dialogue is very sharp. The plot itself is at various times creepy, funny, surreal, and blasphemous. Makes for a good combination.

Now for the negative. I guess my complaint is that it's too short. I can't help but get the feeling that there was some stuff that was cut out or that it was originally intended to be a longer work. The whole pervert guy in Chapter 10 seemed out of place.. but only because it was in such a short work. I would LOVE to have an extended version of this story.

So, in conclusion, this is a worthwhile book that would please anyone who likes sharp wit and surrealism dealing with religion and the afterlife.

Simply put this is a very entertaining bizarro novella. The author Gina Ranalli is talented and it shows so despite my small criticism, I recommend this work wholeheartedly.

Gina Ranalli is the high priestess of Bizarro and this is her contribution to the Bizarro Starter Kit (orange).

The tale begins with the main character, Pogue, being shuttled to what she believes is heaven by a strange but kindly older gentleman. Upon arrival, she finds that both Hell and Heaven are undergoing major renovations so a hotel has been setup to cater to the recently departed souls. The souls of earth's rich people occupy the uppermost floor (akin to heaven) while the suicides and ner-do-wells occupy the bottommost. Pogue meets another young lady upon her arrival, and a young man who lives in the elevator shaft. Together, they travel the various floors of the hotel and meet Jesus and Lucy-fer.

What makes this novella really interesting is the contrast between social classes Pogue witnesses after reaching the afterlife. Where the rich may not have been "godly" on earth, they still retain their status in the upper strata of Heaven after death. The suicides and scoundrels are left to while away their remaining existence in the hotel's picture of hell. Another slightly less obvious contrast can be made between "Suicide Girls..." and Sartre's play "No Exit". The conversations in "No Exit" follow three people trying to decide why they're at the hotel, while Ranalli's characters (knowing where they are) take you on the actual tour.

I felt the effect of the whole was rather tainted by the remaining few paragraphs of the story, but I don't believe it should preclude the adventurous reader from delving into this bizarro novella with both arms fully extended.

This is the second book I have read by Gina Ranalli and like the first it didn't diappoint.
Pogue, who commits suicide, finds herself at a motel while awaiting judgment. She decides to take a tour of the place while she waits and it's during this tour that this funny, strange, bizarre, thought provoking story takes you on a ride that you be thinking about long after you put it down.
More Gina Ranalli, please!

No one knows what waits for us in the hereafter. I can only hope it's something like the Sterling Hotel in Gina Ranalli's "Suicide Girls in the Afterlife".

In this novella we are introduced to Pogue, a young lady who may or may not want to end her life. Regardless, her death is labeled a suicide and she is forced to await final judgment in a modest hotel room while heaven and hell undergo renovation and expansion. Not content to sit she decides to go exploring, grabbing her new friend and fellow suicide Katina. What follows is a Divine Comedy, if Dante had a modern sense of humor.

Overall this short piece is fast paced and runs the emotional gamut. At times hilarious, others disturbing, Ranalli packs a serious punch with her prose. Her inventive take on religious icons also bears mentioning, the way she gently sculpts Christ and the Devil in the Greek mold of fallible divinity while adding a contemporary flair to them.

It is unfortunate that this edition is no longer in print, but can be found in the "Bizarro Starter Kit (Orange)" and digitally for Kindle. Gina Ranalli has crafted a fun, fast, and witty vision of life after death.

*UPDATE: The author kindly informed me that "Suicide Girls" is still very much available for purchase in print. Apologies for the mix-up.

This is probably the fifth or sixth Ranalli book I've read and she hasn't let me down yet. Ranalli writes great characters who are complete individuals not just names on generic 'people' like so much small press fiction. She's able to do this quickly without resorting to gimmicks or borrowing another author's style. This is a writer who I'd bet has written a lot of stuff we'll never see. There's an ease with almost all her work of someone comfortable with their craft - something it takes years to perfect. I do agree that some of her earlier pieces could have been longer but that's more a packaging decision than a comment on Ranalli's work. This is a great price for this great story. In 'Suicide Girls in the Afterlife' you get to follow Pogue through the electric forest and on into the waiting area of the afterlife (Hell's being remodeled). And we find out something we've always expected: the rich have it better even when they're dead. Start reading Ranalli now so you can be there as she becomes one of the best authors of the new century.

Another brilliant and well written book by Gina Ranalli - I wanted the story to continue and was disappointed when it ended. I always enjoy the way in which Gina Ranalli explores subjects that are considered "taboo" in our society. Lots of food for thought...

Proof that Bizarro isn't just black comedy, this poignant story illustrates the multiplicity of a single human's personality in a way that you don't expect. It remains one of the better exercises in psychology that I've encountered recently, because it depicts the unsavoury aspects of drug use and depression without delving into pity. The tone set is similar to that of Barbara Gowdy's story collection, We So Seldom Look on Love, in that it can turn a character with a huge deal of baggage into someone you can understand.

On face value the story seems like an unassuming ghost tale, but a twist added at the end turns everything we've seen up until then into an extended portrait of a troubled individual. And that's the beauty of the story, is that moment of revelation when we can see Pogue, the suicide girl, is much more than we thought she was. It's a depiction of a person we don't often get to see, even in real life we'll often look at just one fixture of a person and claim this is all they are. Ranalli forces us to look deeper than that and I was surprised by what I found in there.

To the reviewer who made the quip about "Huis Clos", bravo! There's a line I wish I'd written!
A seemingly frothy Bangsian fantasy, this novella sits well in its genre thanks to being quietly erudite rather than wearing its references on its sleeve; the social hierarchy of the hotel brings to mind Ellison's "Hitler Painted Roses", whilst its BOHICA ending calls to mind Flann O'Brian's "The Third Policeman," and even its portrayal of the Devil as an angsty goth seems to tweak Milton's nose in playful po-mo fashion.
Ranalli is one of the most accesible of the writers who work in the bizarro genre, and the odd, fun, crisp and knowing"Suicide Girls" is possibly the best introduction to her work.

(aka Ash Lomen)

This novella is a crazy, thought-provoking, and extremely well written journey into the afterlife. Not as good as some of her shorter work... but this is still Gina, and all of her stuff rocks.

So, why should you buy this book?

Christ smokes weed.

'nuff said.

This is a very entertaining addition to the Bizarro genre. Pogue dies running through the electric forest in the rain and wakes to find herself being escorted to a strange hotel. The hotel contains everyone who has died because both Heaven and Hell are under renovation. There is even a Purgatory level. Once at the hotel, Pogue hooks up with a teen who has committed suicide and a few other misfits. They run into a Goth Emo version of Lucifer, who they convince to take them to Jesus.

This is a hilarious story, with interesting characters and some great observations, such as the "white nothing" Pogue sees behind her after she dies and the eventual truth about where they really are. The ending is also very well done, and makes you think about who is really in control of your life. The writing style is top notch. The sentences flow smoothly into one another and the brief chapters make for a great page turner. It took me about an hour to blow through this story, and I will definitely read it again. The usage of fire plugs is also noteworthy.