Finishing Christopher Rice's first novel, A Density of Souls, was a chore partly because of the awkwardness with which he mishandled words. If a word arrests the reader's attention, it detracts from the sentence and the work as a whole. Rice made some strange verb choices. He seemed enamored with "cock" and "splay". Why his editor allowed a character to have "splayed" her napkin is a greater mystery than the one miscarried by the plot. On the plus side, he captured the tone of youthful gay relationships. He offered a titillating peek into the world of boyish mutual masterbation and an obligatory coming of gayness story. I was disappointed at the lack of New Orleans setting descriptions, considering his best-selling mother Anne Rice's lush descriptions of The Big Easy. If I read one more explanation of how the high water table prevents ground burials there, I think I'll scream. It was utterly irrelevant to this book. Still, it is a first novel that was published, and more books have followed quickly.
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Article comments
1 - Aaman
Thanks for the review - I am interested in browsing the book only to compare writing styles between mother and son. Poor writing could perhaps have been addressed with a better editor?
2 - geo
Certainly, but on the other hand, maybe he just needs to find his own "voice". He has written two more books. The second received the usual raves at Amazon. His third is due out next year.
3 - Eric Olsen
though compact, very pithy and explanatory review Georganna, thanks and welcome!