Ponyboy
Author: Eliot Duncan
Published by: Footnote
Pages: 230
Format: Paperback
My Rating: ★★★★
Published by: Footnote
Pages: 230
Format: Paperback
My Rating: ★★★★
In the first of three acts, Ponyboy’s titular narrator – a pill-popping, speed snorting trans-masculine lightning bolt – unravels in his Paris apartment. Ponyboy is caught in a messy love triangle with Baby, a lesbian painter who can’t see herself being with someone trans, and Toni, a childhood friend who can actually see Ponyboy for who he is.
Strung out, Ponyboy follows Baby to Berlin where he sinks deeper into drugs and falls for Gabriel, all the while pursued by a megalomaniacal photographer hungry for the next hot thing. As his relationships crumble, Ponyboy unexpectedly wakes up alone in Iowa, his childhood home. Now Ponyboy must finally choose a name.
An evocative debut novel of art and addiction, self-destruction and re-construction, Ponyboy thrums with the joys, aches and pains of becoming who you are meant to be.
Strung out, Ponyboy follows Baby to Berlin where he sinks deeper into drugs and falls for Gabriel, all the while pursued by a megalomaniacal photographer hungry for the next hot thing. As his relationships crumble, Ponyboy unexpectedly wakes up alone in Iowa, his childhood home. Now Ponyboy must finally choose a name.
An evocative debut novel of art and addiction, self-destruction and re-construction, Ponyboy thrums with the joys, aches and pains of becoming who you are meant to be.
My thoughts:
This was a very interesting one to discuss as part of a reading group I attended in Bath last night. Ponyboy tells the story of a troubled protagonist dealing with addiction and his own becoming. This book isn't an easy read: following newly-graduated Ponyboy who numbs his gender crisis with drugs, alcohol, and sex.
Although it is a hard read, you can tell Eliot Duncan is a poet because the prose is beautiful. The book seeks to provide a personal insight and one of a poetic nature, with much of the writing feeling introspective and stressful to read; a jagged outpouring train of thought as we listen to the thoughts inside Ponyboy’s head: weird and confusing at times, but always powerful. The way this character understands and experiences gender throughout the story feels beautiful and challenging and messy.
Admittedly, I initially found the first half of the novel a little tiring and somewhat repetitive, many of the scenes in Paris and especially Berlin are extremely dark and at times left me in tears. I struggled with this a bit. I was tempted to put the book down at times, finding the scenes of addiction, dysphoria and sexual assault particularly difficult. However, the book flows so well that I found myself transfixed.
Some of the supporting characters often felt quite two-dimensional on the page, but I think this is representative of Ponyboy’s state of mind at the time. He really was only focused on his addictions for most of the story, giving little care or attention to those around him.
There were moments where I found the prose a little difficult too, but as the story progessed I developed a strong sense of empathy for the narrator and began to realise more and more that the writing style very much represented the difference in cognitive states he experienced between being high and being sober and lucid. The language and writing are much more digestible and poignant in the latter half, and I ended up really enjoying this. I liked how this book flowed and found it refreshing to read such a hopeful ending to the story so far.
Overall reaction:
This was a very interesting one to discuss as part of a reading group I attended in Bath last night. Ponyboy tells the story of a troubled protagonist dealing with addiction and his own becoming. This book isn't an easy read: following newly-graduated Ponyboy who numbs his gender crisis with drugs, alcohol, and sex.
Although it is a hard read, you can tell Eliot Duncan is a poet because the prose is beautiful. The book seeks to provide a personal insight and one of a poetic nature, with much of the writing feeling introspective and stressful to read; a jagged outpouring train of thought as we listen to the thoughts inside Ponyboy’s head: weird and confusing at times, but always powerful. The way this character understands and experiences gender throughout the story feels beautiful and challenging and messy.
Admittedly, I initially found the first half of the novel a little tiring and somewhat repetitive, many of the scenes in Paris and especially Berlin are extremely dark and at times left me in tears. I struggled with this a bit. I was tempted to put the book down at times, finding the scenes of addiction, dysphoria and sexual assault particularly difficult. However, the book flows so well that I found myself transfixed.
Some of the supporting characters often felt quite two-dimensional on the page, but I think this is representative of Ponyboy’s state of mind at the time. He really was only focused on his addictions for most of the story, giving little care or attention to those around him.
There were moments where I found the prose a little difficult too, but as the story progessed I developed a strong sense of empathy for the narrator and began to realise more and more that the writing style very much represented the difference in cognitive states he experienced between being high and being sober and lucid. The language and writing are much more digestible and poignant in the latter half, and I ended up really enjoying this. I liked how this book flowed and found it refreshing to read such a hopeful ending to the story so far.
Overall reaction:
