Zombie: A Novel

This is not a novel I would have ever expected from Joyce Carol Oates. Despite my addiction to horror fiction, I am not a fan of werewolves and vampires. Zombies turn me off so much I haven’t even watched a complete episode of “The Walking Dead.” But when I saw Zombies as the title of a Joyce Carol Oates novel, I had to try it. What could such a talented author do to make me interested in a novel which I would usually pass up? I read the sample and was amazed by the hints of what the content would be. The unusual writing style is an equally great hook to a reader.Quentin P. is not a zombie but he wants to have one. He stumbled upon a means he thinks he can use to make one. Since this is a trial and error process involving pointy objects propelled sometimes by blunt instruments, there will be mistakes. People will die. That makes Quentin a serial killer. Quentin continues to experiment and modify his methods in increasingly bizarre and complex ways. Along the way, his mind explores increasingly darker paths as rationales for his actions are adopted then discarded when found inconvenient. We see the disintegration of any semblance of a rational, social being and the emergence of a killing machine with a goal. Quentin wants a (compliant) companion.If the horror of the killing doesn’t get you, the sexual component to the motivation might. This is not a novel for the kids or anyone easily offended. Quentin is not only a serial killer but also a convicted sex offender. Readers don’t have to react by locking up their daughters. Daughters aren’t what turns Quentin on.The writing style is creative and it is worth reading the novel just to appreciate the writing style. How many times do we read a novel in which the sentences begin with “&”? Quentin gets interviewed a lot; by his probation officer, by a group therapy doctor, and by a doctor responsible for medications. As Quentin reports his interviews to the reader, there is frequent repetition of the phrase “I say.” This is not a criticism, it is effective as it pokes at the reader’s attention.Through all the turbulence of Quentin’s life, we can still find comfort in the fact that he loves his mom and dad. He helps grandma with chores and even drives some of her friends around. Whether this makes up for having to live with a convicted sex offender evolving serial killer pedophile is a judgment the reader will make.Winner of the 1996 Bram Stoker award for best novel, this 196-page novel appears in Kindle as a 2009 reprint with a Kindle price of USD 6.34 and real page numbers. Just after the horror genre, I like free books but for me, anything Joyce Carol Oates writes is worth the money.

Heavily influenced from Jeffrey Dahmer but with slight twists and changes

Zombie was a good, fast read. I've read a lot about serial killers, so I suppose I've been desensitized to this sort of thing at this point, as nothing Quentin P. describes in this novel made me react as strongly as some reviewers claimed to have reacted. However, Quentin is definitely a vile character, and is a great contrast to the usual depictions of sociopaths as cold, calculating machines. Quentin is very much human, and his thoughts resonate with heat. The sexual component of his murders leads him to fervor, makes him incessant and obsessive, and he takes many steps to avoid detection from police, but he is never cold about it. He is always personally involved, attached to his victims in his tenuous, disposable way. His life is spent in filth, and he spends as much time doped up on whatever drugs he can scrounge up as he does breathing.The novel itself was over before I felt I was done with Quentin, and overall, it was less intense than I'd been hoping. When I read the reviews, I was hoping for some truly revolting scenes. Instead, a lot of his aberrations are mentioned cryptically ("Thanks, Dad, but I’m not hungry I guess. I’ve already eaten.") or recounted later, as in a memory, rather than a first-person narration of his deeds as he does them, which I feel would have helped the novel feel a bit more visceral, but that may not have been Oatse's point. His life is presented to the reader as though we were looking down into murky water, where Quentin lives undetectably below the surface. He lives to be undetectable, to force himself into his victims lives without them ever knowing, and Oates presents this type of person very well. It just wasn't what I was hoping for when I bought the novel.Because it was a solid and interesting read that left me feeling more positively about it than negatively or neutrally, I'll give it a 4/5.

[...])Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a bit of an obsession with serial killers. So after a conversation about Jeffrey Dahmer the other day (yes, the glamorous life of a psych grad student), I recalled a former lit professor having mentioned this evilly wonderful novel by Joyce Carol Oates, one of the underappreciated literary greats. The novel's protagonist happens to be based heavily on Dahmer, who had similar zombie-making inclinations. I read it in about two days flat. And wish it had been longer so I didn't have to stop reading.Don't let the "literary" scare you. It's not flowery. It's not that Victorian stuff your teacher made you read in high school. Oates writes in a vocabulary accessible to any reader. Except children. Because it would scar them. Like American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, it takes you into the mind of a killer. Only this killer is no suave Patrick Bateman. He's sometimes grandiose, sometimes naïve, sometimes childish--to the point that you find yourself cheering him on halfway through only to catch yourself and say, Wait. Bad C.J. Stop supporting the serial killer. But that's the power of Oates' empathic portrait. You can hate him, fear him, and feel for him at the same time. Not many books can do that, eh?Plot-wise, it's not going to be your average crime novel. It jumps around a bit and keeps you guessing. It's not a blood-and-guts sort of story. But Oates' descriptions are so perfect (for example, "My whole body is a numb tongue.") that you feel every sensation, from Quentin's queer psychopathic glee to the sharp point of that ice pick. The ending was less satisfying, but it left the chills it was no doubt intended to. If you have a strong stomach, read it. It's beautifully horrifying. Read more

Inspired by the case of Jeffery Dahmer, ZOMBIE is a book that is traumatic to read, and also impossible to put down. The story of Quentin P, it charts his life after being put on probation for molestation of a young boy. What the authorities don't know, is that Quentin has already many bodies in his wake, and wants to make more. It's visceral, upsetting, compelling, thought-provoking, and a complete classic. I read it in a day, unable to put it down.

This is written in diary form, the diarist being Quentin ( real life Jeffery Dahmer) serial killer of young men. I don't know why this format doesn't work in this instance because it certainly did with the Bateman character in Ellis's "American Psycho". Maybe because "Zombie" is just too short and the language of the diarist too rudimentary whilst Bateman's diary is longer and the language more descriptive ,so the build up of tension and realisation of just how mad/bad he is is gradual and the reader experiences alongside Bateman his spiral in to chaos.When reading a factual account of a serial killer the perennial question that is never answered convincingly is WHY ? In Dahmer's case why would anyone and especially a personable young man from a privileged and protected background want to drill holes and pour acid in to other human beings heads ?A difficult one that, but perhaps a fiction writer with the divine imagination and almost psychic empathy for her characters that JCO has would be the one to give some insight at last. Disappointingly.... no. Quentin is portrayed as a barely articulate adolescent aged 30, who seems barely aware of himself or anyone else. No epiphanies coming from there. Why did JCO decide to portray him like this when in Dahmer's confession to the police and in later tv interviews alongside his father, he appears fairly analytical, and articulate ?Tantalizingly JCO insights in to the killer's psyche peep through but are not brought fully out in to the light : The over protected son of a "good" middle-class family to whom the "lower"class would not seem quite as human as themselves.The animals being experimented on in his father's lab.Did Quentin / Dahmer and nazi Dr Mengeler have a lot in common ? "Zombie " chickens out on this one by playing down the racist as well as the class prejudice elements involved. JCO gives only fleeting mention to the black murder victims and instead the main focus is on the murder of a young, white middle-class neighbour. There was no such murder victim mentioned in the Dahmer trial or in subsequent interviews. The fact is Dahmer's victim's were predominantly working class and black , latino or asian. So why, in a book advertised as based on Dahmer, not explore the relevance of this ?

Tried it because of the reviews saying it was a good, dark read. When I received it, found it to be a very small book. Finished it in 3 nights at a leisurely pace. As soon as I saw the book, I ordered another, as I knew I would be finished quickly.While the style of some parts meant the reading was enjoyably quick, by shifting quickly from speech to thoughts without text to continuously add explanation or description, that was one of the few positive takeaways. I thought it would be a very dark book. The subject content had this potential, and, as I was reading it, I kept expecting this climatic peak. It never reached there and ended abruptly, without it being done well as some books purposely do.If you are wanting something very dark to read and explore with the writer, this isn't it. Just too short and doesn't go into so many potentially distributing areas that it could do, in the mind of this narrator.

This was my first time of reading anything by Joyce Carol Oates having asked friends for a recommendation of books with a protagonist you would find it hard to like. This is a tough read in places as we follow the tale of Quentin P, an unstable psychopath who desires to create his own zombie slave. I found it a gripping read told in a unique style as we see things from Quentin's point of view. A dark read so not recommended for anyone looking for some more light-hearted. For those who like to walk on the darker side of life then this book should be on your imminent to read list.

This is very dark and if you are easily offended please don’t read. Its also pretty scary as Q could be anyone.I believe this was based on the real life Jeffery Dahmer and seems like the author has done a very through job investigating what a true sociapaths inner world might be like.The way that it was written from the killers perspective was really clever, at some points you were almost caught up in the story from his point when you suddenly realise dhow disgusting what he was planning was.It is quite a short read and I didnt mind the almost diary style it was written in although some have said they find it distracting.