Another book recommended by a family member- this time my husband. It's one I felt quite unsettled by, and at the end still unsure exactly what to make of it. It is well-written, interesting and hard to put down. Until you start to feel utterly disgusted. Geek Love is about a family of freaks, in a traveling circus. There is a boy with flippers instead of arms, an albino midget, a pair of siamese twins, etc. But their parents intentionally used drugs, chemicals and radiation during pregnancy in order to create a family of freaks. If that isn't horrifying enough, the manipulative, greedy and egoistic characters are pretty unpleasant, and there are lots of disturbing situations, including the building of cults, incest and intentional self-mutilation for attention. I really didn't understand most of this book and found most of the characters unlikeable. I only finished it because A. said what a great book it was, but I found I couldn't really agree with him. I'd like to know what others think of it, do let me know if you've read it as well.Rating: 2/5 ........ 355 pages, 1989
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Wow... sounds disturbing. You'd think it was about 2 geeks falling in love from the title!
ReplyDeletePeople raved about this book when it came out...cool indie types. I read it but barely remember anything except a slight frisson of distaste.
ReplyDelete355 pages! I admire your endurance.
ReplyDeleteLauren- I thought the same thing when A. first told me about it- a romance about computer nerds or math whizes. So wrong.
ReplyDeleteI plan on reading it at some point this year, so I'll make sure to share my thoughts then.
ReplyDeleteI read this one a couple of years ago and reacted much like you. I just wasn't sure what to think of the thing when I was done. It had its interesting moments but some of the characters and their actions were distasteful enough to keep me from really "enjoying" the book.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely not read it again...once was enough, maybe more than enough, in fact.
Sounds like a skipster. Thanks for the warning. I would have expected a romance between a couple of computer techies, also.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually interested in reading it.
ReplyDeleteSounds... weird, but I like weird.
I like feeling uncomfortable when I read.
I couldn't get past page 50 or so because I so detested the parents.
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