[BMR]∎ PDF Free Waiting Period Hubert Selby Jr 9780714530901 Books

Waiting Period Hubert Selby Jr 9780714530901 Books

Download As PDF : Waiting Period Hubert Selby Jr 9780714530901 Books

Waiting Period Hubert Selby Jr 9780714530901 Books

I have read plenty from the author and this was good but it shows more of the insanity of the main character than anything else. I love Selby and his works but this book could have been better in my opinion.


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Waiting Period Hubert Selby Jr 9780714530901 Books Reviews

Selby, Jr. is one of the true masters of contemporary (20th century) fiction. And he has always been uncompromising, since his very first novel that caused such outrage and impact (Last Exit to Brooklyn (An Evergreen book)).

Waiting Period conveys powerful frustration and anger we feel about the "forces" in our life (aka bureaucracy, institutions, conventional thinking, authority demanding our subservience).

There are several reasons to read this novel, most compellingly it speaks up for those who are most often silenced - the vast majority of the used, abused, exploited, unemployed and disenfranchised.

The narrator of the story speaks directly to you, which is powerful enough in itself. But then you find through his narration that he is one of the many neglected, ignored underclass - he has served the government, he has done his duty - and all he is left with is the endless arbitrage of dealing with government bureaucracy as a war veteran.

Ultimately, being ignored over too much time, and feeling, in conclusion, desperately suicidal, he decides to buy a gun and kill himself. But there's a glitch in the computer system, and the few days it takes for him to get the gun, makes him completely re-interpret his goal and - well, r'aison d'etre.

There are many wonderful, incredible highlights about this novel not least, that you are drawn in, as a reader, from the outset to the end, to the narrator's own viewpoint; you have no other. He decides, instead of killing himself, he should kill at least the principal figure who controls the finances of the government administration and who, automatically, continues to deny him his rightful claims to support.

Most especially, because you are reading the novel from a deeply personal, angry first person point of view, you are left with no choice as a reader but to determine the truth/fiction of his claims and anger according to what he is writing.

Selby's genius is his ability is to enable you to experience the rage, deprivation, frustration and anxiety of a Vet, while at the same time "hearing" the narrator trying, always, to rationalise his behaviour, so that he does the "right" thing.

The intensity and sheer, unrelenting power of the narrative draws you to one conclusion inevitably, you find you can't help but to side with the narrator as he fantasises and commits acts of - how shall we call them - "death"?; "execution"?; no; frankly, you side with him to the point where you think he kills rightly for justice - from the fascistic deniar of rightful VA claims, to genuine racists who have killed and since glorified their actions in yearly festivals.

The intensity is comparably to Louis-Ferdinand Celine's fiction, but Selby goes far beyond that. He takes no prisoners; if you read him, from the very first page, you are ultimately drawn - and rightfully compromised/justified - in his viewpoint to take revenge.

An amazing novel that is a pressure cooker read intensely focused, relentlessly first person, overwhelming, troubling - and also deeply moving.

Waiting Period is a powerful novel that conveys and captures the despair, anxiety, alienation and frustration of society's underclass against the powerful, among them institutions and their representatives. In Selby, we have a writer who has continued Celine's legacy. of the voice of the dispossessed of the 1930s.

Should you read this novel you will, I promise, never forget it.
Hubert Selby Jr.'s world is one of violence and hatred, in one word, of `homo homini lupus' (e.g., Last Exit to Brooklyn, the Pusher trilogy). It is a world for loners.

In this book, the main character, a rather simple mind, is confronted with a hostile bureaucracy (a `system to frustrate us so we'll stop trying to get the benefits we deserve'), fanatic and murderous religions (`These holy men of god kill millions and millions of people in the name of god, but you can't take your own life.'), greedy corporations ('What do the lives of a few million people mean if they get in the way of the Bottom Line.') or war (`Millions starving, hundreds of thousands massacred women and children hacked and burned.')
Seeing no solution for the world's evils coming from others and after rejecting suicide during `a waiting period', the innocent mind chooses the path of the `faultless warrior' `The problem is once you start thinking of slime-balls in the world the list is endless. Well, I have plenty of time, a lifetime actually.'
He believes strongly that he has a mission of revenge against the cost cutters, the butchers of the unbelievers, the warmongers and the bureaucrats. His law is `an eye for an eye' and he takes this law in his own hands.

`Waiting Period' is a schizophrenic text, driven by associations. An interior monologue alternates with `objective' interventions of a Guardian Angel, who comments, admires or gives advice to his brother, the 'Angel of Wrath'.
`Waiting Period' is a brutal text without any compromise. Only for the aficionados.
Being an admirer of Selby's i was dissapointed with this book. It wouldnt be unfair to say that the "Waiting Period" is probably best meant for Selby's more dedicated fans.

It's an excellent idea that this novel is based on, one that should have served for a terrific platform for Selby to unleash his relentless narrative style as well as his unique mind but this simply fails to be the case.

As Selby lets us live into the mind of a veteran soldier turned killer and allows us to be privy to all his sinister thoughts and evil plotting as he plans and schemes about his victims it seems initially that this will be an immensely gripping book.

And it is for a while too.

But because this is basically a silent monologue it doesnt keep you hostage for too long. The story becomes too mono-dimensional and as the variables do not change and no other characters are introduced except for the killer himself it starts loosening its grip until you're 3/4s into the book and you're basically forcing yourself to read on.

That's still remarkable in itself because i dont see how any other author could keep you reading for as far as that with an idea as underdeveloped as that. But that's Selby and his way of laying out a bizzare and abysmally dark narrative in every book he's brought forth. This narrative of his is the only thing memorable here though.

If you are not familar with this outstanding author start with his classic "Last exit to Brooklyn". If you do i can easily see how you might be tempted to read "Waiting Period".

It still holds together enough for a good dark novel. But without the fanship factor it loses much of its appeal.
The edition of the book was great for the price that was paid, it was quick to reach me and I really enjoyed it.
Great shape and thanks for the book mark!
Don't get me wrong the general idea is very good, its a great topic. But the whole book is clearly a rant. At the begining i really enjoyed it but as i went on, the ranting never stopped. The story line is enjoyable. But the on and on and on and on and on rant-style of the book
gets a little old.
I have read plenty from the author and this was good but it shows more of the insanity of the main character than anything else. I love Selby and his works but this book could have been better in my opinion.