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Originally Posted by demonrail666

The film version doesn't even come close.

It sounds like a cop out but you really have to read it to get a sense of it. It takes social realism to a level I don't think anyone's been, either before or since. It's written in a very intense way, with minimal punctuation, almost stream of consciousness, but without being self-consciously avant-garde. It just feels utterly appropriate. I suppose the only other book I can think of that does something similar is Irving Welsh's Trainspotting. But even that isn't quite at the same level. It's like there's 'realism', and then there's Hubert Selby.

hhmmmmmm.... interesting...

i've never heard the guy's name before-- if i did, i didn't notice it

i'll see if i can find some pages to check out that prose