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  Not new, but good.

  It's been a long time since I read it, but "Vurt" by Jeff Noon was really interesting. It's futuristic and gritty-dirty and uncomfortable, kinda like waking up on a smelly couch in an unfamiliar house after a drinking-binge party, and all the people you know are gone, and only the slack-ass drunks are left, and you realize you are one of them. In "Vurt", drug users can take group trips by using a drug-laced feather which they must place into their mouths, tickling the backs of their throats. There's a lot of slang, which is fairly easy to follow. I read it with a horrid fascination that made me really glad I didn't have to live it! I believe it won an award, which may make it too well-known for this group. However, I've been reading a loooong time and rarely come across a fellow-reader.

  emilysshelf started this discussion 2 years ago. ( reply )

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  Allyson Shaw 

  Vurt is fantastic-- Noon has a delicious musicality to his prose-- and a totally over-the-top universe of a f*cked up Manchester. Delish. I love "Pollen". It's my favourite work by him. Have you read it?
  
  Actually, the first page of Brendan (Toquehead)'s novel has a bit of Noon-sound in it, now that I think of it.

  posted 2 years ago. ( reply )

  show 1 reply

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    Scott W 

    Loved Vurt too - definitely struck a chord with me having grown up in the Manchester suburbs. It certainly made me feel dirty reading it too!
    
    I suppose if you wanted to hang a label on it you could call it "Cyber-Grunge"?
    
    I preferred Vurt to Pollen to be honest, but would have to go back and have a re-read to explain why! Loved "Needle In The Groove" aswell - the Manchester / Punk thing again and the lyrical riffs running through it.

    posted 1 year ago. ( reply )

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  fon 

  I enjoyed it too, and everything else by Jeff Noon.

  posted 4 months ago. ( reply )

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