Piątek 6 Lut 2009, 3:28

I really dig Nick Cave as a singer, musician and above all, lyricist. That's why I was quite interested in what his book And The Ass Saw The Angel would be like. I was not to be disappointed: it was a sick fucking book.

If there is a book that well and truly represent everything I dig about god-damned country-music, it is this book. It's got everything good miserable Country music has: bible thumpin' zealous christian fanatics and preachermen, righteousness, downfall, divine wrath, insanity, alcoholism, degenerate and bloodthirsty dogs, drugs, hatred, murder, violence, God, Satan, decay, torment, pain, bloodshed, death, depression, drunkards, hookers, blood and rain. And much more. It's a delightfully and sickeningly twisted take on Americana as only Nick Cave can do it; similar to many of his lyrics with Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, but exploring those same depths with far more detail.

The book loses some of its momentum towards the latter half when things start evolving towards an inevitable climax; the build-up just isn't written as tightly as it should be and results in slight tedium from time to time, and I must admit that the ending was a bit anti-climactic even though I didn't expect brimstone and hellfire. But the dragged-out build-up and then the somewhat minimalistic finalé sort of let the reader down.

However, as a debut novel, it's not half bad and the excellent first half alone makes it worth reading. If you like the music and especially lyrics of bands such as Those Poor Bastards and Sons Of Perdition, I'd say you damn well must check out this book.