Bret Easton Ellis och de andra hundarna

by Lina Wolff

En man tror sig uppleva den perfekta kärleken under en eftermiddag i Barcelona. En kvinna flyr till Europa efter att hennes son blivit påkörd av en lastbil vid gränsen mellan USA och Mexiko, och börjar arbeta som städerska hos ett bittert par i utkanten av Madrid. En handelsagent pressas efter ett menage-a-trois att hjälpa en ung man att hitta ett jobb och förlorar sakta greppet om sin tillvaro i vad som verkar vara en hopplös kamp mot ödet.

Gestalterna i Lina Wolffs nya roman är lika skorrande som de i novellsamlingen Många människor dör som du. De kämpar hårt för att få rätsida på sin existens, men framför allt för sin orubbliga tro på att kärleken till slut faktiskt kommer att frälsa dem.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Sweden, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Swedish Literature, Anthologies

285 pages, Hardcover

First published July 20, 2012

About the author

Lina Wolff is a Swede who has lived and worked in Italy and Spain. During her years in Valencia and Madrid, she began to write her short story collection Many People Die Like You. Her novel, Bret Easton Ellis and the Other Dogs, was awarded the prestigious Vi magazine literature prize, given to writers to watch out for, and was shortlisted for the 2013 Swedish Radio award for Best Novel of the Year. She now lives with her family in Sweden.

Reviews

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Once in a while a bit of strange comes along. Bret Easton Ellis and The Other Dogs is definitely a bit of strange.

I listened to the audio and the narrator had very definite ideas about how some of the men sounded. It was quite jarring at times but definitely gave you a sense of that person's character.

The story (and the eponymous dogs barely get a mention) is ostensibly about Araceli who lives in an apartment with her mother above a dying woman called Alba Cambo who writes strange short stories.

Alba's short stories are interspersed with Araceli's story making the whole become quite tangled at times. It seems on later inspection that the stories are all versions of Alba's own life.

We are also introduced to several men/lovers of Alba's acquaintance who also tell their stories.

This is one of those books that doesn't really go anywhere but feels like it says a lot. I found it challenging and interesting and the narration was clear and engaging.

[Nicola Balkind · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm really torn about how to rate this book. I loved the prose, and the characters (for the first 2/3rds), and the tension and drama that existed between them. But it feels more like a stitched-together short story collection than a novel. There was no arc, no through-line, and the final third felt hijacked by a character I didn't want to hear from. The mundane details stretched to boring and it felt disjointed with only a few closing paragraphs to tie it all back together. As I read it, it didn't work, but I can also spin it in a way where it does work. When it's good, it's very very good. When it's bad, it's a slog. 3.5 I guess?

[Ruben · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange, quirky but compulsively readable novel that is actually more a collection of short stories. It is cynical, unflinching and even shocking at times - certainly not for everyone. But the writing and storytelling are excellent.

I read Lina Wolff's 'The Polyglot Lovers' some years ago and was intrigued enough to read more by her. She reminds me a bit of Sara Mesa and also of Dutch author Ilja Leonard Pfeiffer.

I am not sure why this audio version comes out now (the book being over a decade old it seems) but the narrator is excellent! Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Karenina (Nina Ruthström) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Det här måste vara den absolut kaxigaste och en av de bästa debuterna jag läst. Den är som ett sagoskrin att andäktigt öppna. Som en optimalt berusande Long Island Iced Tea. Som att med öm hand få håret bortstruket från ansiktet när man står med sina egna händer i degbunken. Att läsa den är som att återfå jämvikten efter att ha varit helt ur balans.

Man fattar ju redan på titeln att den är unik. Men jag tycker det är väl hårt att jämföra kvinnohatets författare och traumaporrens upphovsmakare Bret Easton Ellis (också känd för American Psycho) med en hund. Mot hundarna.

”Vissa författare skrev som lojt masturberande apor i överhettade burar, sa hon. De skriver som om de tappat smaken för riktiga smaker i grytan och måste ösa på med salt och grisfett för att det ska smaka. Våldtagna och mördade kvinnor hit och dit, bara på så sätt kunde läsarens intresse hållas vid liv”

Boken är en vindlande roman som i formen nästan mer liknar en novellsamling. Den inledande osäkerhet kring vad det här ska handla om och vart det bär av går snabbt över. Wolff leder läsaren med trygg hand genom den ena berättelsen efter den andra. Jag njuter, skrattar och tjuter under hela åkturen. Vilken otrolig berättare hon är! Som en sekulariserad Selma Lagerlöf.

Vi är i Spanien. Araceli, en ung tjej, är berättaren som återberättar framförallt andras spännande historier vilka ger uttryck för en pessimistisk och melankolisk världsåskådning. Det är brutalt och filosofiskt och härligt feministisk, genom franskläraren Moreau och prostituerade Muriel bland annat. Det handlar om makt, kärlek, relationer, litteratur, sex med mera. Om att vara ung kvinna och behöva leva i en värld där det finns äldre män som ger utlopp för sin lust. Inte för att Wolffs unga tjejer inte klarar av det, de är inga renodlade offer, men ändå. Tragiskt är det. Och se på fan får de!

”Muriel sa lite högtravande att kampen som Moreau förde mot ledan liknade den kamp som alla människor för mot livet självt, alla uppgörelser måste man göra själv av den enkla anledningen att man själv är den enda som har intresse av att göra dem. Samtidigt fråntas man det ena vapnet efter det andra, man blir egentligen aldrig starkare än man var när man föddes och hade ett helt regemente av föräldrar och morföräldrar som skyddade en, och till slut står man naken på ett fält med bara händerna som vapen medan krigsmaskineriet bullrar runt omkring en. Då, sa Muriel, är det dags att vända ryggen mot allt och hoppa nerför stupet. Men det värsta är trots allt inte detta, fortsatte hon, det värsta är att bara en liten bit bort, på andra sidan kullen eller i grannbyn, finns ens alter ego som är av en helt annan materia och som lever det andra livet som man själv hade kunnat leva om man gjort allt annorlunda. Om man valt att bosätta sig någon annanstans och lära sig andra saker, ha ett annat jobb och helt andra vänner. Och dubbletten står stark och vacker och lycklig framför pansarvagnarna. Och tvingas dubbletten att dö, så vet den hur man dör värdigt. Dubbletten dör aldrig som en hund.”

Bokens bärande tema och nyckelord är hunden. Dels som ett komprometterande uttryck, dels som metafor för den ofria och själlösa varelsen, styrd av instinkter, ociviliserad, manlig och dum. Hundmänniskan tror att kärlek är något man förtjänar och att man förlorar den om man gör fel. I motsats finns kattmänniskan som älskar villkorslöst.

Det finns flera passager som handlar om mig(!) och mina(!) tankar. Wolff väljer ord på ett sätt som är nära på obehagligt träffande.

”Jag hörde ju själv min röst och ofta kunde jag tycka att jag lät alltför involverad och jag kände kontrasten mellan mitt eget, surt uppeldade prat och hennes svala, vänliga lyssnande. Det hände att jag kände ett starkt obehag i de här situationerna, utsatt eller på något sätt ertappad, jag vet inte, men jag återgick alltid till böckerna.”

Hettan, ockrafärgen och våldsamheten för mina tankar till Djävulsgreppet, en annan källa till epifani. Den fysiska verkligheten kan nog inte tillfredsställa själens behov, men det kan Lina Wolff.

[Nathália · Rating 4 out of 5]

4-4.5

[A.C. Collin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Händer det att du läser en roman och stannar upp för att hämta andan? När jag läser Lina Wolffs ”Bret Easton Ellis och de andra hundarna” tänker jag flera gånger: om femtio år kommer ingen att läsa Läckberg, Ljungstedt eller Kepler. Man kommer att läsa Wolff och få en lika stor läsupplevelse som jag precis har haft.

Linas roman har en del tidsmarkörer, men i grunden är det en tidlös berättelse – egentligen flera kortare – om människor som försöker närma sig varandra, men där någonting, någonstans går snett. Araceli är berättelsens centralfigur och berättelserna tar vägen via henne på olika sätt.
Läs hela min recension här >>

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never quite clicked with this one. Wasn't really anything like the blurb, all the characters were sad and terrible people, it just made me unhappy and disturbed, and honestly a bit bored.

[Rachel Louise Atkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I had a dog I would deffo call it Bolaño.

[Andrew McDougall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to receive an early copy of this translation and it is definitely a book to look out for in 2016. It is peculiar, literary and brilliant - everything we have come to expect from publisher And Other Stories, to be honest.

There are stories within stories, from various perspectives, framed by the narration of young Araceli. Such is the nature of the novel that as more is revealed to us about the central characters, so our opinion of them is constantly challenged.

One of the most memorable sections is a short story published by one of the characters in which the stifling atmosphere of a tiny village in the hinterland of Castilla La Mancha is wonderfully evoked.

This is a clever, innovative novel that explores many themes, not least that of gender roles; it packs in a lot without being particularly long, losing a sense of interconnectedness or sacrificing depth.

The very nature and premise of the book might not become apparent until later on, but it is not at all a case of "sticking with it" as it is all such a pleasure to read. It has a lot to offer and will leave you not so much wanting to tell your friends about it as simply imploring them to read it.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

cw: abuse, pedophilia, fatphobia

[Tobias · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nej den här var inte så kul.
Befolkad av människor som antingen är obildade och råbarkade eller dömande och kalla. En ganska bitter människosyn genomsyrar berättelsen, som även känns som en samling noveller som först fösts ihop och sedan dragits ut lite för långt.
Livsödena, vartenda ett, känns futtiga och sorgliga, och jag blir på dåligt humör av att umgås i deras sällskap.
Hennes drastiska humor och krumsprångande tankar som jag verkligen gillar i hennes andra böcker har inte mycket plats här.

[Alicia Impink · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly I couldn't finish this. Maybe it's better then I think, but I made to page 77 when a character, angry at a man and his wife, boils the man's cat alive. Sorry I can not with that. I was bored with the story before I got to that and was trying to give it the benefit of the doubt in hopes I'd care about someone or something happening, but that made me close the book and go "nope, I'm out"

[Jack Neath · Rating 3 out of 5]

dark, funny, crisp storytelling.
not as many dogs as promised.

[Eric Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It feels like a provocation for an author to include another author's name in the title of her book – especially if she calls that other author a dog within the subtitle. The name comes out of a section of the novel about a brothel in a run-down town called Caudal in Spain. There's a kennel at the back filled only with male dogs who are given the names of male authors after a feminist comes to visit the prostitutes who work there. There's also a canary bird called Harold Bloom. When clients are cruel to the prostitutes they take it out on the dogs by feeding them rotten meat. Later this image of consuming rotten meat is repeated when a man named Rodrigo dreams of a starving man who is only given putrid scraps from a butcher to eat. Images of putrid sustenance in place of nourishment for men who have heretofore escaped punishment have a strong resonance in this “civilized” society. Rodrigo is telling this story to a girl named Araceli who comes to see him at a hotel on her very first job as a call girl. Araceli is fascinated by a neighbouring woman named Alba Cambo who writes dark short stories that she and her mother seek out to read. It's difficult to pin down a single plot for this novel set in the Spanish landscape. It's essentially a collection of anecdotes, yet they all feel eerily tied together and are frequently fascinating. What Wolff gets at through all her divergences and stories within dreams within stories is a special commentary on the way self-perception works in conjunction with the way others view us.

Read my full review on LonesomeReader review of Bret Easton Ellis and The Other Dogs by Lina Wolff

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a little disappointed. The story itself is well-written and I liked the characters, for the most part, but I feel a little cheated that the brothel with the stray dogs did not play a bigger part in the overall story (It is the first sentence in the blurb and after reading this I believe Wolff could have crafted an excellent novel exploring the dynamic between the female sex workers, the Johns, and the stray dogs and the power dynamic between all three factions). Honestly, that was the major selling point for me going into this book and it was only introduced in the last third of the book and only talked about for 3 pages. If I had gone in knowing the brothel was not going to be a huge plot point I would have enjoyed the story a lot more than I did.

[Sofia Wennerstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great but not quite as good as her second novel. I love her writing style and unusual subject matter.

[Danita L · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to review Bret Easton Ellis . . . . But surely, if you decide to read it based on the blip on the back of the book, "At a run-down brothel in Caudal, Spain, the prostitutes are collecting stray dogs. Each is named after a famous male writer: Dante, Chaucer, Bret Easton Ellis. When a john is cruel, the dogs are fed rotten meat.", you will be disappointed. That is not the premise of the book and does not appear until about 30 pages from the end and takes up only two, maybe three pages.

Lina Wolff can be "mordantly funny, dryly sensual" however, Bret Easton Ellis and the Other Dogs is dark and often depressing. It is a very difficult read.

"Moreau didn't have the strength to resist the decay that was slowly but surely forming around her person. That sort of decay may have something to do with there being no one who really likes you, and your not playing an essential role in anyone else's life, and that nothing would come to a stop for even the briefest of instants if you suddenly disappeared one day. There is something unsettling about people who suffer from that kind of decline, perhaps because they have to keep inventing and sticking to a raison d'etre for every second of their lives, a raison d'etre that in Moreau's case was nothing more than a few feet of shelving for old books, which are, when all is said and done, just the ashes of other people's lives and not even proper ashes as most of what is said in books isn't even true, and the more you think about it, truth has no meaning and the only thing you can know for sure is that to really be alive you need far more courage than reading requires, and writing too for that matter. Then again maybe decay isn't the right word. It was more a matter of neglectfulness, a fatigue she fought against every day, and in her defence you would have to say that the fact that she actually turned up at the school was a sign she could manage the daily battles against tedium. So she was fighting it, but she fought like someone who is being deprived of her weapons one after the other."

There is a profound weariness in this feminist meditation on love.

[Uralte Morla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Während ich von Lina Wolffs "Die polyglotten Liebhaber" sehr begeistert war, konnte mich ihr Debüt nicht wirklich für sich erwärmen.
"Bret Easton Ellis und die anderen Hunde" spielt in Barcelona und hat auch den Ton spanischer oder vielmehr südamerikanischer Literatur. In verschiedenen Episoden werden Geschichten von den Bewohnern Barcelonas erzählt, die alle irgendwie mit der Schriftstellerin Alba Cambò bekannt sind. Da ist ihr Geliebter, ein ehemaliger Bekannter, ihre Haushaltshilfe und vor allem das Mädchen Araceli, das all diese Geschichten sammelt und aufschreibt. Über sie erfährt man am meisten: über das Leben mit ihrer Mutter, ihre Ausbildung als Übersetzerin, die Suche nach Liebe und sexueller Erfahrung.
Es geht überhaupt viel um Männer und Frauen in diesem Buch, ihr Verhältnis zueinander, das, was sie einander antun.
Doch irgendwie hat es mich nicht bewegt. Keiner der Figuren bin ich wirklich nahe gekommen, dabei fand ich Araceli wirklich interessant und hätte gerne mehr von ihr gelesen. Die ständigen Einschübe über die anderen Personen waren eher nervig. Alba hätte mich auch interessiert und hätte wahrscheinlich ein eigenes Buch füllen können, doch man erfährt über sie nur aus der Sicht der anderen.
Die feministischen Ansätze des Buches haben mir gefallen, aber es fehlte eine klare Linie.
Mir war das alles zu viel, zu durcheinander und ich habe nur durchgehalten, weil ich mir ein erhellendes Ende gewünscht habe. Das kam aber leider nicht.

[Hannah]

This was a compelling read--more like a collection of linked stories than a novel, but I liked that they were presented as a whole and not as standalones. Each piece was interesting and readable in its own way and felt cohesive even though the through line was pretty loose. I did feel pretty misled by the title and the book summary. It looks like the Goodreads copy has been updated to better reflect the actual contents, though the copy on the print version and on the publisher's website still claims that this book is about a brothel and their dogs. In reality, the brothel and dogs are just a blip in the story, and the narrator, Araceli, has a bigger role in keeping the whole thing together than the copy would lead you to believe. The title did catch my attention, but it didn't feel like an honest representation of the book and sometimes even felt like a gimmick. Still, it worked on me, and I'm glad I read this book regardless.

[Jasssss · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have spent most of my adult life on the road, listening to people's stories. This book felt akin to such an experience. It was snowing outside when I finished this book, underneath a duvet in Strasbourg, France. Where madness feels brushed to the side - not entirely invisible, but as a backstage prop.

It took three days to work through this book. A few hours a night, cosy, intrigued, passively shocked. I have read, or watched, or lived things to startle most, so I was not particularly disturbed through the more grizzly scenes in this book. Oddly enough, it is almost as a homage to Bret Easton Ellis, who I devoured entirely as a fourteen or fifteen-year-old and refuse to touch ever since. The nihilism there managed to bore its way into me and refused to leave for a good while. I don't need that. Who does? Lindsay Lohan, perhaps.

I came across this book just after reading Stonehouse's Mountain Poems - an almost millennia-old Chinese hermit. Needless to say, there's quite the clash there in writing styles and contemplation. However, what I really enjoyed with Bret Easton Ellis and Other Dogs is its edibility. I could read and read and read. While its content gave me very little, I felt as if I was reading a real writer. Which is to say- someone who has worked on their craft and has not given into the whims of cliché or sensibility. I can well see how it can be likened, as on the back cover, to Bolaño, though no one will ever get close. In fact, it's quite disturbing, and always disappointing to read these comparisons, however they can be good marker sticks on the style. What would my dear friend Stonehouse have said of such work of Lina Wolff?
Oh, and what of the living? These humans, detached from the land they live in.
A mirror. I'll head back to the wilderness, now. But cheers for the meal,

[Don Fisk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another multiple viewpoint book by Lina Wolff. These stories are strangely unemotional, but quite a delight to read. Wolff likes to write detailed descriptions which are a pleasure to read, and which never fall prey to tediousness and sententiousness - like a continuous effort by the author to surprise - and to have a burst of seriously vivid situation description every so often.
Another (testy?) reference to Houellebecq.

Discussed with K who proposed that the men here are like dogs, who, as explained in a brief paragraph, are affectionate mainly to invoke an affectionate response. The women characters are mostly fairly passive, and just put up with the situation (Blossom is an exception to this!).

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Saga Egmont Audio for the audiobook ARC.

Bret Easton Ellis and the Other Dogs is a great example of how different European Lit is from American Lit. This book is weird, gritty, highly inappropriate (bordering on offensive), and also pretty fantastic. It seems a little petty, but I think my favorite thing about the book is that Bret Easton Ellis refers to an actual dog.

[Nicole C · Rating 4 out of 5]

- If Lina Wolff has no fans I’m dead.
- This is my third novel of hers and like the rest, it’s minimal plot, maximum vibes. Stories within stories, and more or less a connection of anecdotes, but fortunately for me, that is my shit.
- Dark, cynical, and bolano-esque.
- I don’t know if we can call this feminist but it’s certainly anti-man which is close enough for me!

[Bookworm Ava · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actually I give it 2.5. In parts the story flowed beautifully but at other times it was so boring and was a real slog, I just don’t understand what happened towards the third part of the story but it seemed so out of touch with the rest of the book!

[Joakim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Förstår fortfarande inte vad jag har läst.

[Jacqueline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly a talented writer but the narrative doesn't quite hold together enough for me. I get that she's trying to be subtle but it's a bit too opaque. Interesting and thought provoking read though.

[Véronique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un humour acéré. J'ai ri.

[Sophie D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would have got 5 maybe if it didn’t have the school bit

[Nora Hoel]

Forunderlig.

[Joana Felício · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was enjoyable enough, but I struggled with getting the point of this. I’m fact, it felt like there was none? Not sure.