Requiem for a dream

a novel

by Hubert Selby, Jr.

279 pages

English language

Published Dec. 1, 2000 by Thunder's Mouth Press, Distributed by Publishers Group West.

ISBN:: 978-1-56025-248-1

(20 reviews)

This book is about four individuals who pursued the American Dream. In this searing novel, two young hoods, Harry and Tyrone, and a girlfriend fantasize about scoring a pound of uncut heroin and getting rich. But their heroin habit gets the better of them, consumes them and destroys their dreams and Harry's mother's addiction to diet pills lands her in a state mental hospital.

11 editions

DaveNash3 reviewed Requiem for a dream by Hubert Selby, Jr.

Review of 'Requiem for a dream' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

One the best books I've read, his unique style grew on me as I read. The failed hopes and bitter ends of each the four characters here haunts the reader long after the final page.

Ironically, I first heard about this novel because the movie was being shown at my college. While I disagree with the author's premise that the pursuit of the American dream is a pursuit of utter destruction and I don't think the book proves that, I found it riveting and horrific. Given the author's premise, this probably the dumbest movie a college can show. For too many, college is just another false dream like Sarah's game show, Marion's coffee shop and Goldfarb & Love Inc. The true vision of higher learning is replaced with a false dream that turns into a nightmare - I agree with the author on that.

I can't see how a motion could capture Selby's unique writing style - his street slang, stream of consciousness, non-standard punctuation help the author convey his insights and empathy to the reader. It's not a style to emulate but to simply admire.

Update: I read this again. And the whole time had that fear of dread about the ending I knew was coming. It's every bit as powerful the second time.

The Gnome King reviewed Requiem for a dream by Hubert Selby, Jr.

Review of 'Requiem for a dream' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I've just been blown away by another Hubert Selby novel, reading this you can see why it is considered one of the best books on substance abuse. He has the ability to make you feel for the main characters and then slowly destroy them whilst you sit there and helplessly watch. As Sara's life unfolds I was almost reduced to tears, luckily I am a real man and managed to push them to the back of my mind to fester into some later violence.

A beautifully written book but with his usual take on grammar that for some reason is so easy to follow. I am now going to try and watch the film followed by the documentary about it.

To everybody who has read this gimme 5 baby!

Laura Lemay reviewed Requiem for a dream by Hubert Selby, Jr.

Review of 'Requiem for a dream' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is a book that starts dark and descends all the way into black. All the characters start out flawed and difficult, make nothing but terrible choices, and end up meeting terrible ends. This is a dark, dark, dark book.

But the writing: the writing is magnificent. Selby's style breaks most of the rules for conventional narrative technique: grammar, punctuation, dialog tags, paragraph structure, point of view. It took some getting used to, but the disorienting and deeply immersive style is part of the reason the book feels so raw and emotional. It's a style that carries you along with the character's experiences, with all the loss of control and time and fear and frustration that the characters feel.

It's just astonishingly well done.

I need a light and cheerful break after reading this book, but I'll be coming back to Selby's work.