Eye Scream

I have read many books by Henry Rollins, but this one stands out to me. I discovered it by accident; it was clumsily thrown on a shelf in the cd section of a Borders and I immediately bought it after reading the back. And so, I was introduced to the amazing world of Rollins. This book moved me, disgusted me, and truly opened my eyes to the raw reality of the world. I found myself relating to every sentence and every word, underlining sections like crazy so that I could come back to them later. He says things that I always think but can never find the strength to say. Eye Scream, in my opinion, is one of the greatest books i've ever read. It is definitely worth reading.

In EYE SCREAM Henry lets off enough steam to propel a balloonm around the world in eighty days. The various essays and rants he embarks on tell the truth from the deeply hurt and abandoned perspective, one to which I relate deeply. Anyone who has a heart will respond when Henry goes off the deep end and gets one of his visions, like where he compares humans to automatic vending machines like ATMS, programmed by society to interface with others on a superficial level, perhaps dispensing money (or "love") but at what a price. MEKANIK men and women populate our lives, sometimes we look around and that's all we can see, these fake robotic creatures with hypocritical smiles the color of liver. For most of us, eventually society inserts its slimy tentacles into our brains and cortexes and yanks them tight. So that we become mechanical as they are. If you've seen the movie THEY LIVE then you've seen a good deal of the philosophy Henry lives by. Henry has a great writing style, filled with puns and anagrams and other signs of good humor, but all this capability is marshalled to one effect, punishing his enemies and clearing his own mind from the terror and humiliation issued him by others. He gives you the inspiration to do this for yourself.

To make a long story short. This book along with 3 others by the same author were the only friends for me in the later part of 2000. I became aware that the girl I was in love with.. the one I wanted to marry, had been cheating on me. These books helped me through a really hard and emotional time in my life. I gave all of the Rollins books I had to friends who (I thought) needed them. ALL of these friends after reading the books knew what I meant when I told them these were books of inspiration for someone who has loss or pain. ENJOY.

Despair. Acceptance. Social complacency. and the Mekanik. If you are pissed off at the superficialality of humanity, you are inspired by Mr. Rollins or you will be. The most complete man of our century, besides Che Guevara, is at his best, describing unredeemable qualities of mankind(if you want to call them that) and chastizing us all for being the fake pieces of ...that we are. This book made me look at life in a real perspective, and in turn, made me want to live life by the simplest terms. To live in reality while everyone else floats by on the heated surface of their parent's lies. I now will not live these lies. I will now live in a whole new set of lies, but at least I made them all up myself. Thank you Mr. Rollins, I am a better person because of you.

Hank Rollins never ceases to amaze.He's got a band,a publishing company,and a set of amazing works.EYE SCREAM will hurt you,I promise.Curious George this ain't.This book will damage you.Short passages about dealing with humanoids,breaking up with loved ones,and just dealing with the planet are included.If you think you are a rock,you might need to read this one.