Reviews for Dictionnaire de l'argot

The average rating for Dictionnaire de l'argot based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-01-12 00:00:00 Phil Kos Ugliness is not a fault of horror literature, it’s an attribute. Darkness is, unfortunately, a part of the human condition. We can choose to pretend it doesn’t exist, or we can try to understand it. We can trivialize it, or recognize its sinister impact. After all, what makes horror horror is empathy. If you can’t sympathize with the victim, it’s not scary. Good writers know how to do this, and the bad ones at least try. But I firmly believe, if more people read horror, more would understand how it feels to be hurt. To be marginalized, taken advantage of, or tortured. To be raped. The world could use a lot more understanding. I say all this not to say that Lets Go Play at the Adams’ is a great book. I think it’s okay. The author tries really hard to examine evil from a philosophical perspective. He tries to expose monstrosity as a raw human trait. Lord of the Flies managed to do that really well, and this novel puts in a solid effort. Some have discarded the book purely because of subject matter, however, and I don’t think that’s fair. It’s true that there’s literally nothing enjoyable about it. It’s horrible through and through. If you do find it a pleasurable reading experience, you probably need therapy. And yet I think it’s necessary to read about human cruelty. We need horrible, hard-to-watch films like Blackfish or Blood Diamond, and we need stories like this one to show us what it’s like to be a victim of someone else’s games. That said, there’s also a horror novel called The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum which explores this same theme, and is a far superior illustration of how young--and adult--minds can descend to this level of unimaginable heartlessness. Both books are painful experiences. They’ll make you angry. But they’ll make you angry for all the right reasons, and that’s why, I think, they’re valuable creative works. Another reason to check out this book is Grady Hendrix’s introduction which is full of juicy tidbits about the novel’s origin and subsequent cult following. He quotes several contemporary reviews and ponders why there remains a fascination with the book, even though the author only published the one and has been long dead. To be fair, the book was previously out of print for some time, but even then demand was high. Up till now, used copies were selling for $100s. If you pick this up, don’t say I didn’t warn you. But do comment and let me know what you think. Any reaction, from visceral hatred to surprise admiration, is fair I would say.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-04-08 00:00:00 Andrew Masenas [ (hide spoiler)]