It's been at least 10 years since Poppy Z. Brite's novel Lost Souls hit the presses, so any review written now feels belated - however if it brings a few more people to the grotesque groaning table of delights Poppy delivers then it's worth the writing.
Poppy Z. Brite is disarmingly normal if you read her livejournal site, a basic author's blog with posts about whatever is going on with her at the moment, whether it's new food discoveries, issues relevant to writers and fans, politics - she sounds like a person who would be easy to get to know and like.
However, after reading Lost Souls I'm afraid of Poppy Z. Brite.
I'm only kidding, but seriously...this is a great gristle and blood-filled romp of a book. Part picaresque journey a la Kerouac, part coming-of-age, part straight-up mystically tinged, gory vampire goodness.
There are several characters that take the mainstage at different points, so it's not like there is one protagonist - a writerly ability Poppy Brite has that few others can match is that ability to write an 'ensemble' novel. Meaning that every character gets their moment, their shine or shame, depending on the situation.
To me, the characters of Ghost and Steve are the center of the tale.
I have to say, I love Ghost, not just because my name is Steve. In Ghost Poppy Brite creates a character of immense, clear goodness. He is the heart of the novel. Like Niki Ky in Caitlín R. Kiernan's novels Silk and Murder of Angels Ghost has a bit of the classic 'holy fool' about him - more Parsifal from the Grail Legends and Wagner opera than Peter Seller's character in Being There. Though there's nothing 'foolish' or blundering in Ghost. He's sometimes led by feelings he doesn't understand into amazing situations. Ghost is psychic, and his gentle, sensitive nature makes this ability to shine, to feel the real ghosts around him, the hearts and lives of other characters, terribly painful to him. Even though there is a homoerotic element to his and Steve's relationship, they are not lovers. This is what makes Steve a great character in his own right. He was just another cracker North Carolina boy heading toward a destiny of beer, barbecue and backseats until he became friends with Ghost. Steve is a primal, forceful character, and in a way he performs the function of a kind of classic hero in the story. But you can't completely like him in the end - he lets his brutal nature take him over too many times, and only Ghost seems able to calm that.
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