Infinite Summer

Also, no lie, I read this section on the subway and a fly landed on my page as PT began to see the bugs. I was a little worried for a minute.

The Poor Tony scene definitely made me close the book and sit quietly with it--as did Joelle's OD scene. Though I've enjoyed (or at least appreciated) everything in the novel, the scenes with Joelle were the first that totally gripped me. Several reasons for this: obviously there's the amazing description of Joelle having Too Much Fun and the pleasure of seeing multiple plot lines (Joelle's, Himself's, Orin's) coming together. But also she's the first female character whose interior is explored to some degree--and I like what that adds to the novel. (Isn't there another thread about the paucity of female voices? I digress . . . )

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"It is easy to put on a show & be cocky. . . Or I can show you some really fancy movement. But to express oneself honestly, not lying to oneself. . . now that, my friend, is very hard to do." --Bruce Lee

It's definitely an incredibly gripping and moving scene. I'm a little unclear on whether he's supposed to have died during the seizure, though

I have to agree this section is totally visceral and engrossing. Like some of you, I had to stop and sit for a minute at the end. I also had to move on a bit afterward in order to sleep.

It didn't reach me physically though. The "face in the floor" was one of the only moments that crossed that line for me. I still clearly remember reading the innocent comma separated list of items being scanned around the room. I read and re-read that list a dozen times trying to figure out WTF a 'face in the floor' was doing right smack in the middle. When I finally had the courage/gumption to read on, the hair on my neck stood on end. I was right there with 'the narrator', eyes wide, and sweat beading on my forehead.

I had another cringe and lurch in my stomach when yrstruly was describing 'C's reaction to the draino, but my reaction wasn't at all on the same scale.

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First read.
Reading on Kindle and iPhone.

Definitely a standout section. I have a little quasi-neurotic fear of tongue-swallowing, so that little bit of description almost made me gag--particularly the image of Poor Tony's tongue as a "piece of nourishing, and possibly even intoxicating meat in the back of his throat."

*shiver*