Rating: 
Summary: A Glimpse Into Hell
Review: I, like some of the other Reviewers was immediately gripped with a desire to read this book after seeing Darren Aronofsky's film. I remember reading a review of the movie calling it the "Feelbad" experience of the year, well this book is a "FeelWorse". This is definitely one of the most powerful works of fiction I've ever read -it left me far more shell-shocked than the movie and even depressed for some time afterwards.
What struck me most of all was the light/darkness aspect of the storyline which pretty much mirrors the experience of using drugs or other stimulants. The first part of the book is generally upbeat with only some hints as to what beckons for our protagonists in the future. Indeed there are many moments of humour and Selby seems to promise some hope and happiness for Harry, Marion, Tyrone and Sarah which is partly why what eventually ensues is so utterly gut-wrenching. I was also struck by the religious overtones to this story, there are a couple of verses from scripture at the start of the book which I read and re-read trying to extract the real meaning, but which I now think are quite straightforward. The message seems to be that simple faith in God is a surer compass than any attempt by human beings to create Heaven on Earth or in Harry's case the quest for a pound of pure. I kept thinking over and over again of the commandment 'Thou shalt not have False Gods before me' while reading this book. Is Heroin not unlike the Golden Calf from the Old Testament? With all it's allure and false promises it seems to be just as appealing to mankind and equally as destructive.
I found myself on the point of tears on many occasions during the final odyssey into hell but was particularly moved by the passage where Marion prostitutes herself in return for drug-money. Arnold her shrink, is concerned by the tracks on her arms and scarcely wants to believe the reality of her condition.
She responds to his protests in a way that chills the blood; "Because it makes me feel whole...satisfied.".
This is all the more disturbing because she has already been presented as such an intelligent self-confident young woman who lacks for nothing. You realise that she has crossed that magic boundary into the world of self-delusion.
There is no brighter tomorrow for these characters, just the constant spiral towards destruction. This book will drive an icicle into your spine - I definitely recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilinat Novel! Selby has a wonderful talent!
Review: I saw the movie before I read the book. The movie is my favorite movie. I wanted to read the book long before their was a movie, but I had a hard time finding it. I saw the movie, loved it, and finally found a copy of the book in a bookstore. I bought it and I loved it.
It is one of the saddest books I have ever read. Selby has a talent. He shows us each of their dreams and we watch it all fall apart. He leaves little pieces of hope, but the characters fail. He lets the reader realize that their lives are over.
Selby starts the novel when the characters believe in nothing but their dreams, and we watch as everyhting falls apart. The story of the three Junkies, Marion, Tyrone and Harry are very sad, but Selby threw in another story that is absolutely horrifying. Harry's mom, Sara, becomes addicted to diet pills when she's going to be on television. She wants to wear the dress she wore at Harry's Bar Mitzvah, but she's too thin. She constanyl refers back to her dead husband Seymour and she holds onto the hope and the lie that her son is succesful.
I love the book becuase it has a warning. It is an important warning. I think of this book a lot.
Kurt Cobain described addiction a little monster, and this book uses a similar analogy. It shows how that little monster can totally destroy someone's life.
In a way this book is a horror story, a story about monsters. This just happens to be the scariest monster I've ever read about.
I would reccomend the book to anyone. It is a fascinating read, the dialogue is wonderful and the story is shocking and brutally honest. Selby is a genius.
Rating: 
Summary: Well worth reading...
Review: Most of the themes in the book are cliches which have been done to death elsewhere by now already, but this 1978 book is nonetheless well worth reading. Cleverly written.It would have been nice to know the characters' appearance. Apart from Sara, there wasn't much detail as to what they look like.
Rating:
Summary: An intoxicating portrait of addiction
Review: The film version of "Requiem for a Dream" is what aroused my curiosity in this novel that I had never seen on a library shelf prior to the small release of Darren Aronofsky's masterful motion picture. But now the movie tie-in paperback is flying off shelves thanks to word of mouth about the film, and for good reason: Hubert Selby, Jr. has written an astonishingly accurate portrayal of a failed search for the American Dream. He does this in the form of drug addiction, and he calls it exactly what it is, a disease. And it's a terrible epidemic that rips the lives of four people completely to shreds, causing devastating, heartbreaking, irreparable damage. Having a sort of off-hand experience with drug addiction myself, I was very absorbed by the way Selby structured his novel, cramming the dialogue into the paragraphs (some of the them endless) without quotes to denote separate speakers. It's a form of writing I'd never seen before, but it aids the book perfectly, giving it the jumbled tone of a strung out addict gasping for breath at every word, almost totally incoherent. You get used to it after a while, and it makes for a disturbing experience as we accompany Harry, Marion, and Tyrone on their downward spiral to becoming dope fiends; and the most heartbreaking story of Sara Goldfarb's addiction to diet pills. All the while in search for that great fabled place where no hassles exist and all is approval, where safety exists in love, and the whole world loves you. This was heralded as one of the great American novels of the twentieth century. I think it is. It's a detailed portrait of addiction from the ground up, a shockingly well-developed character study of all four main characters, and a message piece as well. This is the stuff of great, influencial fiction. More people should be turning off their reruns of "Friends" and reading books like this. It's an infinitely more useful way to spend your time.
Rating:
Summary: Most Amazing Novel I've Ever Read
Review: This is exactly the second Amazon review I have ever written. The first was written about one of my dear friends' books, and while I loved her book, I probably wouldn't have reviewed it if she hadn't been such a close friend, because I just don't have the time to sit around writing about books for Amazon.com when they aren't even paying me. In contrast, I have NO connection with Selby whatsoever. But this book was so breathtaking I HAD to write about it. Wow. I haven't been so moved by literature since... maybe THE OUTSIDERS by SE Hinton, which I read at age 14. Selby somehow manages to make the most depicable and unsympathetic characters engaging and even sympathetic. I was completely invested in what happened to Sara, Harry, Marion and Tyrone. Despite their incredible flaws, I was rooting for them all the way and I believed for so long that they could somehow pull it out and come out on top... but when I closed the book I realized Selby had ended the novel perfectly. Wow. I will NEVER forget this novel. This book was so full of irony. One of the best scenes in this book was when Harry told Sara off for popping amphetamines. I had to reread that scene several times because it was so incredibly written. Another excellent scene is when Harry and Tyrone see a junkie pulling water from the toilet to shoot up with and they swear they will never stoop so low. Within pages they are doing the very same thing. Wow. Selby is on perfect pitch at every moment in this novel. And the stream-of-consciousness narration is a PERFECT choice for the subject matter. I am a writer myself with a book about to come out with a major publisher, and I am in AWE of Selby's talents. This story has that most important and most elusive element in literature, HEART. And it has a whole helluva lot of it. AMAZING book. This book will stay in your mind long after you have closed it. In fact, you will find yourself opening it again and again, reminding yourself of the spirals of addiction and obsession that entrapped ALL of the main characters. I am torn about this book because I want to give it to friends to read. I want to stand at the streetcorner and shove this book into the window of the first car I see. But at the same time, I selfishly know I will be opening it and rereading it in the future. So it needs to be MINE MINE MINE. That's how good this book is. I think all high school students should be required to read this book. Please read this book. Whether or not you are engaged in the world of drugs at all (and I was for a time) PLEASE read this book. This book will elucidate all the games that one plays in regards to any type of addiction. When I closed this book I realized we are all addicted to something, whether it is drugs, alcohol, sex, praise, the pursuit of wealth, or any other obsession. This book will be haunting me for some time and I will never forget it. PLEASE DO YOUR MENTAL HEALTH A FAVOR AND BUY AND READ THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Best ever
Review: The book, the movie. Best ever. I have never seen such a good movie or experienced such an incredible story. really
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: Requiem For A Drean is, so far the most amazing piece of literature I've ever held in my hands.Selby is an underrated genius;his writing bleeds with such pain,urgency,life,humanity,and despair.He is able to combine the horrific and the heartfelt into one stunner of a novel.By the end I had tears in my eyes, and found it hard to breathe.Don't miss this one, whatever your tastes in literature-it isn't everyday a novel so harsh,brutally honest,hopeless, and yet so poetically beautiful at the same time comes along.This novel is a journey into addiction's darkest hell with no return.As the characters fall, you will fall with them.PLEASE READ THIS NOVEL
Rating:
Summary: Like Nothing I have ever read
Review: I remember seeing this book sitting on the library shelf. I have heard many reviews and opinions on this book. I just wasn't sure if I could handle the book. My sister was the one who eventually made me read it. It took me a week to read it, and 3 days to read it a second time. It consumed me. I thought about all the things and cliches I had heard about addiction, and threw them out of my head. I invited friends over to watch the movie. After sitting in silence for a good 5 minutes, I told them, just wait until you read the book. By far the best book I had ever read, and I will never have anything to compare it to.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I would have read this book first
Review: I just finish reading this masterpiece and the entire time I was reading it I kept thinking, "I wish I would have read this before seeing the movie." I saw the movie when it first came out about 3 years ago and it left a great impression on me. When I found a copy of the book in my father's library I felt I needed to read it. Hubert Selby Jr.'s writing style captures the feeling of being in an altered state...no indication of who is talking or who they are talking to...none of the usual punctuation found to indicate conversation. very interesting, very profound, and extremely depressing. read this book before you see the movie (which is also great...but not nearly as amazing).
Rating:
Summary: Powerful
Review: I just dinished this book about 15 minutes ago and I must say that it was one of the most moving and powerful books I have ever read. The book is more than heroin. It's about addiction and a cloudy persepctive of what the american dream is. It shows the destruction of 4 people that were previously sane. But instead, adidction takes over their lives while they attempt a shortcut towards the american dream. If you enyoyed this book for it's powerfulness, I recommend "My Bloody Life" by Remundo Sanchez, which is the autobiography of a boy growing up in Chicago as a Latin King.
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