Just finished Pulp (2 Viewers)

I have just finished Pulp and this seems to be an appropriate thread to comment in. [Sorry, I moved it. - ed] There's a scarcity of debate on Pulp on the forum generally, which is kinda strange ... like the book. Does this mean that comparatively few people have read it, or perhaps that those who have don't like discussing it all that much?

Following Women, I found this a difficult book to keep on reading. I had to force myself to pick it up and I only read a chapter or two at a time. I really wanted it to finish and be over with as it's so damn repetitive.

Even though the title and the dedication prepared me for the style, I found myself thinking of Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album - a bunch of stuff churned out to satisfy a publishing deal and, like the curate's egg, good in parts.

Early on I thought I was about to be taken on a wild ride of the sort that Hunter S Thompson excelled in creating. However, the level of craziness plateaued out not long after and it became pretty humdrum, even predictable.

When I consider that he wrote it while terminally ill, I can appreciate the many allusions to death and the ending make sense in that context, however after closing it for the final time I found myself wanting to feel that there is more meaning in the book that I can discern.

Maybe that meaning will emerge as I read more of his earlier stuff. Maybe not. Maybe it's just his final laugh at the lunacy of life a he saw it.
 
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In my estimation, "Pulp" is simply a meditation on death and its inevitability with some dark and low-brow humor throw in. Socratease's comment referenced by Roni is also spot on. I often wonder if it wouldn't work better in a graphic novel revival.
 
I often wonder if it wouldn't work better in a graphic novel revival.

Great idea!
Are you reading this Robert Crumb?
This would be a great project for you to tackle after the bible book!
 

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