Beasts [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

This novella explores the deadly consequences of a train of thought taken too far, viciously seeking out the passionate ends of extended thoughts. Harrow and his wife take the liberal sexual attitude of DH Lawrence and act out the extreme barriers of it. Gillian enigmatically buries her responsibility in the events of her early life while simultaneously plotting the motives which form her guilt. Somehow she is left centrally pure, a passionate girl spoiled by ideas. Oates draws out the violent inner natures of her characters to show them in the light, exposing the consequences of their nature. This novella isn't subtle, Oates chooses instead to go for the extreme to show us our forgotten nightmares. It is a powerful and memorable read.

In "Beasts," Oates keeps you hooked, giving you a deep perspective on Gillian Brauer, a college student in the mid-70s, sexual attractive to her college professor, Andre Harrow. She is then drawn into Harrow and his wife's poetic, strange artistic world centered around wooden totems and a strange parrot named Xipe Totec. In the meantime, fires are being set by an arsonist around Catamount College.

After reading the book, I felt Oates could have established more of a relationship with Gillian's college friends, maybe have included a separate, brief chapter on them, but overall, the book reminded me of Philip Roth's book, "The Dying Animal."

I highly recommend "Beasts" because of Oates's unique and often horrifying look into her characters' lives. She doesn't disappoint the reader with "Beasts."

An isolated college for women, a small group of selected students of poetry, or potential targets is drawn to a charismatic, latently evil instructor of the poetry of D. H. Lawrence. This professor/procurer uses the words of Lawrence to intrude on the privacy of his students and to intimidate them in to sharing their most intimate thoughts and experiences in writing, which then become public during class. If the story stopped here the theme of the young woman with a crush on a professor willing to exploit the same girl is hardly new literary territory. Ms. Oates takes the relationship out of the classroom and office, and transports it to a lonely isolated home. The home is of the professor and his wife, the latter who is a controversial sculptress whose work even even the most liberal viewers of the 1970's find profane, not a task easily accomplished.

Several students eventually find themselves at this residence, and despite their experiences and the permanent changes they are marked by, curiosity overcomes all fear and students continue to make the journey. What happens inside the home of the professor and his wife crosses over in to behavior and exploitation that is incredibly cruel. Gothic is almost too bland an adjective for what takes place, and certainly too mild for the permanent damage some victims suffer.

Fire plays a prominent role in this tale, whether as the topic of arson, or to sow distrust amongst friends. The ultimate conflagration the writer offers is satisfying and pyric. The book is a fascinating and disturbing read that is unquestionably excellent, if not for all readers.