Review: wicked
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 2, 2012
Set halfway between a novel in serial form and the tales of a bard, this short M/M novel escapes any easy classification.The five chapters are framed by five introductions and five conclusions that are nearly word by word identical. The aim was possibly that of conveying the feeling of five different tales about the same family told on five different occasions.Despite the author's words about not having great literary ambitions this is a simple but refined structure (marred by the occasional typo).What the five chapters portrays is the perfectly functional everyday life of four deranged and highly disfunctional young men who are involved in a long term relationship with each of the others. We are not told about their past nor about what brought them together. We are shown how they live, love and protect.As a unit they function perfectly despite some issues, the main one being that they are not entirely honest, for example not saying to the youngest that he does not know how to make love. But after all this is entirely realistic as it is very common, among "normal" families, to be silent about things that should be voiced.Maybe the four of them really are a "normal" family after all, in that they do not escape "normal" families' main shortcoming?By portraying their five adventures the author also seems to satirize many aspects of the common American way of life, the juxtaposition of the four youngsters and the rest of the world exposing much that is wrong in it.I was also wondering whether the reference to the March sisters of Alcott's Little Women is coincidental (The POV of view belonging to the second eldest who is also the bookish type -JO, the eldest "brother" being uninventive and conservative but reliable -Meg, the third eldest being frail and lost in his world of IT -Beth, the youngest being the prettiest, spoilt and fierce -Amy).Be it as it may this is a short, hilarious read. Not for the faint of heart as it is not only graphic but also outright evil. It also gives food for some thought about life, love and everything else that counts.