The Five Gates of Hell

By Rupert Thomson

Book Overview

Moon Beach--place of the dead--where once a year the city observes the Day of the Dead. During one such celebration, two young men from different worlds become the fascinated servants of an entrepreneur of death, whose private passions are intimately entwined with his vocation. "Ghoulish and imaginative . . . ingenious, sardonic and seductive".--New York Times Times Book Review.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679735712
• ISBN13: 9780679735717
• Release Date: September 1992
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Oddworld

Highly recommended. I have read all of Thomson's books, except "Soft", and found that his first 2 ("Dreams" and "5 Gates") are his best. What seems to work is the off-kilter realism of the characters combined with the surrealism of the setting (a coast town based on the funeral business in "5 Gates" and a town no one is allowed to leave in "Dreams") and stories. "5 Gates" is an eerie read where you always feel submerged in the dreamy water-world of Moon Beach or its surrounding deserts where things mostly move in slow motion until drawn to a quick conclusion.

if beauty were born as words

Beauty and ugliness collide with such a tremendous impact, that there are points when we are not sure which is which. Thomson illustrates this; here are two central characters; Jed, the ugly one, and Nathan, the beautiful one. The story follows each, as he is swallowed by the endless decandence of Moon Beach, a city obsessed with death, and built on an industry of funeral parlours. Each witnesses beauty and ugliness in many forms, presented in wonderful prose. Thomson has a talent for describing things in unconventional forms, while somehow never moving away from the thing in question. He solidifies emotion, and liquifies solid objects, in language that bounces and cascades. Ther supporting characters fulfill their requirements - not only do they 'support', but they add depth to the two central characters. Vasco the gang leader, Creed the mysterious head of the corporation, Harriet the Au Pair - each has their own place in Thomson's magical city. This is a decidedly blue book; anyone longing for brighter colours should look elsewhere. However, if lue is your scene, then this might very well be the shade for which you've been searching. At least read this book, even if you don't buy it. There are few novels able to capture the imagination with such magnificent force and effect. I felt like a butterfly lost in caverns of sulphur, walls that glitter in the noxious light, I had to stay, I wanted to fly further, deeper, I had to know . . .