On Fri, 18 Jul 1997, SMCharnas wrote:
> I gotta say, I feel a bit squirmy about Brite, mainly because I remember
> my own surprise whena little werewolf story of mine in an anth-
> ology of horror by women drew very specific and pointed fire from review-
> ers who kept warning readers about how very gory and awful this story
> was.
NH: "Boobs!" I read that story of yours, in _Women Who Run With the
Werewolves;_ my co-Clarionista Michael Lucas had his first (I think)
published tale in that antho. I remember being shocked by "Boobs,"
enough that I had to re-read it a couple of times to think about my
reaction ;). It was the finality of Kelsey's actions that shocked me more
than the brief violence or the gore (though I still do feel sorry for the
poor tame doggy-dinners). I enjoyed being shocked into thinking. From
what I understand of wolves, they have very clear behavioural codes that
signal "I don't want this tension between us to escalate into violence, so
I will back down now." Whereas Billy in the story felt he had the right
to keep pushing and pushing Kelsey to see how much he could get away with.
Well, he found out, and maybe it was unfair, because he didn't know he was
dealing with a wolf, not a well-indoctrinated girl, but shit, life's like
that. And come to think of it, he'd had a few signals that Kelsey was
one to retaliate when provoked. Wolves come off as the more social
animals, because they pick their battles for good reasons, not for fun.
I have only tried to read one of Poppy Z. Brite's novels, and wasn't
compelled enough by it to finish it. So I'm in no position to discuss
the merits of her writing. But on general principle, I'm inclined to
think that if an artist starts from a position that produces strong
reactions in people, that's often not a bad beginning place. I gather
from reading other people's opinions on this list that she comes off as
being extreme for extremity's sake. Now, *that* I don't find
interesting, but maybe she'll progress from there.
-nalo
"Straight she's fantastical, they all do cry."
-Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle,
"Nature's Pictures," 1656
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