Black Hole by Charles Burns

Title: Black Hole

Author: Charles Burns

Pages: 361 (hardcover)

Synopsis: "Suburban Seattle, the mid-1970s. We learn from the out-set that a strange plague has descended upon the area’s teenagers, transmitted by sexual contact. The disease is manifested in any number of ways — from the hideously grotesque to the subtle (and concealable) — but once you’ve got it, that’s it. There’s no turning back.

As we inhabit the heads of several key characters — some kids who have it, some who don’t, some who are about to get it — what unfolds isn’t the expected battle to fight the plague, or bring heightened awareness to it , or even to treat it. What we become witness to instead is a fascinating and eerie portrait of the nature of high school alienation itself — the savagery, the cruelty, the relentless anxiety and ennui, the longing for escape.

And then the murders start.

As hypnotically beautiful as it is horrifying, Black Holetranscends its genre by deftly exploring a specific American cultural moment in flux and the kids who are caught in it- back when it wasn’t exactly cool to be a hippie anymore, but Bowie was still just a little too weird.

To say nothing of sprouting horns and molting your skin… " -Goodreads

I'm not sure what the hell I just read if I'm being honest. I still can't make sense of what the author was trying to tell me.

Overall, I'm going to up the rating from a 1 star to a 2 stars because I really enjoyed the experience of going into the library and finding this book and picking it up just because it sounded cool. I never do that anymore, and I felt refreshing to go into something blind with no recommendation even though I didn't like it.

Also, I have a really hard time giving anything I've paid for a low rating because I don't want to think I'm buying books I don't really like. Since got this one from the library it was so empowering to give this book a low rating. Like "haha take that book. I didn't spend a cent on you."

Anyway, the story was really confusing and like I said before, I didn't understand what the hell the author wanted me to get from it. I understand that parts of the book is suppose to be a type of metaphor but I felt like the book had no plot other than this sexually transmitted disease that completely messes up the people who have it. The idea of the STD sounds cool, but just came off way too confusing.

I wanted to also add that constant sex and drug us have just got really boring and repetitive. I wish there could have been a little more to it than that.

Have you heard of Black Hole? Have you read it?