The End Of Alice

I'm not gonna lie to you--there's a whole lot of skeevy business going on in this book. A lot of skeevy business that amounts to plenty of reasons and excuses not to read it, but they all revolve around the subject matter.WARNING: If anything around pedophilia is a hard `No' as far as reading material, look away. Seriously, very far away.This isn't Nabokov's Lolita. Well, it is - kind of. But those moments in the aforementioned book that merely made you (appropriately) uncomfortable, pale in comparison to some of the scenes you'll tumble headfirst into here. There is sadness and desperation here. This is a gruesome story.If you're like me, and love nothing more than reading about human creatures that are decidedly NOT within your comfort zone, I'm happy to report, this book might be of interest. In the same way Kevin Bacon in "The Woodsman" was riveting. I sure couldn't relate to or sympathize with either protagonist, but it's a close-up slice of life that's vastly different than mine. Disturbing and utterly fascinating.This book is told from the perspective of a jailed pedophile reminiscing about one of his victims, while simultaneously communicating via letter with a young woman who has a taste for pre-pubescent boys. So yeah, this isn't exactly warm and fuzzy reading.But, if you would allow me a moment to make my case:"We of great seniority, awaiting our senility, the complete forgetfulness of the sensual, live with the memory of softness, of impossible tenderness--something far too subtle for our weathered fingertips to comprehend were we even to come upon it now in this deteriorated condition."At this point in the story, our pedophile narrator is lamenting the onset of age, how his body has gone to seed, and just decided he hates his cellmate (lover) because the man has performed an intimate sexual act on him and our pedophile muses, "That Clayton finds this attractive, something he can put himself close to, is the final straw. I have no feeling for him."Our pedophile prefers young girls, and although the sex in prison is out of necessity, there is a sort of relationship that has developed between him and his cellmate.Now, re-read that quote above and tell me this: if you didn't know it to be the words of a pedophile, would you find it poignant? This book has a few of those kinds of moments, and it's one of the things I found fascinating about it. That it could intrigue and repulse me.I guess the challenge here is, rather than judge the book by the subject matter and the repugnance it immediately elicits, take this story for what it has to offer. It is well written, and brings the reader as close as anyone wants to be to knowing what a pedophile might be thinking or experiencing."I don't want to know what a pedophile is thinking and feeling!" you say.To which I respond, "Well, neither do I. I also don't want to look at what the idiots running my government are able to screw up on a daily basis, I don't like looking at human suffering, I'm not so crazy about ASPCA commercials, or stories about the rape of women in countries as foreign to me as the pronunciations of their names. And yet..."There are things we have to look at, don't we? If we want to say we're an active and participating part of this grand fabric of humans sharing a planet and resources. Ugly things, things that piss us off, things we think are tacky, gross, absurd--the list goes on and on; one only has to click their television remote and flip around for mere seconds before it is impossible not to trip over such auspicious offerings as toddler beauty pageants, Obnoxious Housefraus of WherevertheBLEEP, and bachelors sorting through marriage material from a smorgasbord of nubile females while sitting in a hot tub.I think it's safe to say we've no shortage of repugnance out there, folks.If you read only for entertainment (and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that) and don't like anything heavy, this story might not be for you. But if you read so that you might be challenged by things you don't understand, give this one a try.If I'm to judge the book on its merits (and not the offensiveness of its content and my reaction to that based on my own sense of morality) it is well written... captivating even, in the way that only good storytelling can be--when your sensory processing center starts working overtime and the input you're receiving goes well beyond the words.

Hebephilia, or sexual attraction to pubescent children [11-14], is a very real orientation. This work of fiction explores that. Not only men, but women too engage in this behavior.In this case, a man has been in prison for twenty-three years for murdering a twelve-year-old girl with whom he was sexually involved. But this story revolves around a female college sophomore who has an interest in younger boys and decides to correspond with the inmate concerning their attractions, seeking his affirmation.The story is told with sudden shifts from the girl stalking a neighborhood boy to the inmate relaying his past that got him locked up. There is no shortage of explicit sexualness in the story – hardly surprising since that is the goal. In many ways, it is a depressing story. The obsessiveness of these two is all consuming. Every moment is spent planning and plotting how to engage the object of their desire. Any satisfaction gained has to be tempered by the furtiveness of their actions and the fear of being found out. There is not much happiness in these two stories, especially considering the brutalities of prison life.It is a cautionary tale because of the immense consequences of acting on one’s drives. It is also somewhat sympathetic because they are trapped in an unrelenting desire. Certainly, no one advocates for child abuse, but it should be noted that in America’s colonial past, it was not particularly unusual for thirteen year old girls to marry with community support. Something to think about.

This book made me sick. It felt like reading through a mad man's scrawlings that he did on the wall with his own blood and feces. Never in my life did I think I would have to sit through detailed descriptions of children's genitals, thoroughly repulsive sex scenes, and manic ramblings that somehow end up drawing the smallest drop of pity out of the deepest recesses of your colon. Yet this story had all of that and more. As a whole, it's an interesting look at how trauma, depression, and other mental illness can develop into devilish and dangerous outlets of release. Though be careful with this book, it's told through our main pedophiles point of view. What this means is that it's untrustworthy. You never really know if events in this story happened the way it did, if our main character is always telling the truth, or if he's not leaving out some important details that damn him more severely than what is presented. The horror of this book comes from how truly desensitized it makes you. There are so many rough and incredibly detailed recountings of genitalia and sexual activities of a criminal nature that you blank them out to protect yourself. You drive through the details to put an end to them, not realizing that the narrator is slowly poisoning you along the way. I feel twisted, disturbed, and potentially traumatized for life, but as a horror fan, I couldn't have asked for more from a story.

I'm really torn on my thoughts and review of this book. I thoroughly enjoy writers who aren't afraid to go where others won't, to cross the line of controversy and shock so this was a perfect story to get my teeth into. Whilst I enjoyed the story somewhat, I did think Alice was quite unbelievable; maybe instead of writing her as 12, 14/15 would have been more believable - a 12 year old generally wouldn't know and more so want, what Alice did.I'm a little perplexed by the initial introduction of the girl who writes to him and in her seduction of Matt, also 12? She seems to completely disappear out of the story towards the last part and I feel as though we're left without closure or any sense of the need for her to be included?My other criticism would be that of how confusing it left me at times - most often, during the same chapter/paragraph, it would take me a short while to realise the writer had yet again switched the narrative to that of other characters, in turn, leading me to need to re-read certain parts.

The prose is truly beautiful, the subject matter - interesting, but utterly vile beyond anyone’s wildest expectations. I really loved the author’s ability to demonstrate how the abused can turn into abusers and how even then the abusers eventually return to their initial state i.e. of being broken by others, in every way. For those with a weak heart, high levels of empathy and morality, or nervous disposition - please steer clear of this book, you will truly feel sick within ten pages into the story.

This is the 3rd time I’ve bought this book because it’s been leant out to people who don’t return it.Probably one of my favourite ever books. It’s one of the only books that really shocked me at the end because it isn’t until the end that you discover the true horror.I appreciate it’s not for everyone but I just love the sick and twisted minds of the narrator and the plot. I should stop recommending it though as people think very oddly of me for it.For me, so cleverly written and that ending....never ceases to freak me out and I’ve read this book multiple times.

This is one of those books that you hear about and you aren't sure if you should read it or not. Well i usually do , and i did .Yeah sure it's shocking and all that but it is a brilliant book ! if you have a strong stomach and thick skin then go for it.. The story is original and has the ability to make you feel sorry for types of people you wouldn't usually . I don't want to write too much for the sake of people that haven't read it and are thinking about buying it. It's strangely addictive reading and at certain points you'll be thinking 'oh my god' but stick with it and make it to the end so you can reflect on what the hell you just finished. You will be thinking about this book afterwards and thinking about different aspects of it , it stays with you like that.

A disturbing read, can understand the "land of the free" having an issue with this when it was first published, not a theme to gel with their "god" delusion, that's for sure.The reader generally needs to identify/sympathise with one of the main protagonists in a work of fiction in order to gain satisfaction/completion - good luck with that in this instance!Bravely and well-written, not for everyone..