Men of all trades?

I desperately wanted to read Nick Cave's new novel , The Death of Bunny Munro, instead I decided to start with his first novel And the Ass saw the Angel. Never before have I been so disgusted, stunned and moved by a novel. Cave's 1989 literary debut is a powerful piece of fiction that brands you for life, although not for the faint hearted.

Seeing as I'm no good at summarizing, I'll let Wikipedia do the talking now: "And the Ass Saw the Angel tells the story of Euchrid Eucrow, a mute born to an abusive drunken mother and a father obsessed with cruel traps and animal torture. His father's dangerous traps, greasy and vile, just might maim or kill an unwary person. The ultimate outcast, scorned even among outsiders, in a valley of fanatically religious Ukulites, Euchrid bears his mother's beatings, his father's inturned indifference, and the hatred and loathing of an entire town. Euchrid's increasingly fractured mind teems with words and horrible angelic visions, narrated by his silent Southern drawl. Raised to inevitable madness in this world of inbreeding, moonshine, and fanaticism, Euchrid will exact his terrible vengeance on the people who have made his life one of nearly unrelenting pain."

And the Ass saw the Angel is reminiscent of Southern Gothic greats like William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor with a dash of Carnivale. The trails and tribulations of Euchrid Eucrow are simply heart wrenching and very disturbing. Cave has done a phenomenal job portraying this lonely creature's descent into madness after being brutalized by everyone and everything that surrounds him.

The language especially, is quite unique. Cave's songwriting skills are always lingering in the background, adding rhythm and rhyme to the text. Although Cave himself is Australian, he was able to give Euchrid a very realistic Southern brawl that occasionaly make the story a little harder to follow, particularly in the stream of consciousness passages. Although he is a mute, Euchrid's thoughts are incredibly eloquent and profound making him a silent prisoner of the spirit of the time. The universal and ageless issue of fearing the unknown once again takes center stage.

The beginning is without a doubt the superior part. Euchrid's birth is very harrowing and funny and already sets the dark and twisted tone of things to come. Although the story is simple, the atmosphere is sublime and filled with memorable cast of characters that one by one could have escaped from your local god-fearing incestuous freak show, if you have one at least.

After reading this book, you will definitely be in need of some very light reading matter as this book is also the most depressing and sickening piece of fiction I have every read. It is very graphic and gruesome to say the least, almost every chapter made me cringe. Ok, I'll be the first to admit that I'm slightly faint hearted but nothing could prepare me for the horror both physical and psychological of And the Ass saw the Angel.

In the end, And the Ass saw the Angel, Cave's first literary excursion is a life altering experience. It is dark and very disturbing, both good and bad. I already know that this is a novel that will stay with me for a long time seeing as this is the first time that a work of fiction has literally shook me to my core with it's beauty and bestiality.

Although Bunny Munro seems to be slightly more "upbeat", I'll better prepare myself this time round.

And the Ass saw the Angel isn't the only "celebrity" novel I recently read, besides a singer / songwriter turned author, I also read a book from an actor turned author, namely the delectable Hugh Laurie. His one and only novel dates back to 1996 before House MD invaded his life and is called The Gun Seller.

This novel should be labelled as 100% genuine entertainment. It's an action-packed detective novel filled with humour, terrorists, fast motorcycles and a lot of woman: the ultimate male fantasy in typical hyper kinetic Laurie banter reminiscent of his A Bit of Fry and Laurie days. The plot has more twists and turns than a maze but ends up being one hell of a joyride. I should have probably read this after And the Ass saw the Angel instead of before...