Wonderland

I love Joyce Carol Oates novels, and this is one of her masterpieces imho. The characters are most fascinating and strange, and the plot is complex and hard to foresee. Highly recommended!

the great american novel. right up there with grapes of wrath, an american tragedy and catcher in the rye.

I originally read Wonderland when I was a teenager and remembered only a little of it, so it was a revelation when I read it again a few weeks ago. This is a study of one human being and the torments he endures at the hands of others as he grows up, and how it damages his personality. However, Jesse seemingly prevails, and by the novel's end shows us that the human spirit is never completely extinguished. Jesse is such a real character I expect to see him as a flesh and blood person one day. No doubt, this is JCO's best work.

Of the seven or eight books by Joyce Carol Oates that I've read, this one is far and away the best -- which is saying a lot, because I think she is supremely talented. I read her work only once every few years, because it's SO grim, but I always look forward (in a macabre sort of way) to going back to her. WONDERLAND just seems to have more depth and complexity than the others -- and so much of the writing is intensely vivid. Wonderful character study, as well, with a fascinating psychological framework AND commentary on writing and the art of fiction (truth? fabrication?) deftly blended into the narrative.Read it.