I’m a big believer that if a book hasn’t hooked you by Chapter One, there’s no hope. Obviously there’s some wiggle room for the books with super short chapters, but that’s my guideline. So as I read Chapter One of Cronenberg’s debut novel Consumed, I want to share my thoughts before my eventual review.
One of the first things that stands out to me is how much the book owes to Cronenberg’s long career as a movie director. The book starts off as a love letter to photography; Nathan is taking pictures of a cancer surgery and discussions of camera lenses and zoom quality are a large part of the narrative. Naomi’s part of the chapter, on the other hand, is more directly a tribute to video camera, and Cronenberg’s writing style focuses so much on the visual that it’s hard not to watch it animate in front of your face.
Things haven’t gotten too freaky yet, but already in the first chapter is the chilling assertion that the murder of the famous woman was “a mercy-killing. She asked him to kill her, and so he did. And then, of course, he ate her.”
Damn, Cronenberg.
More to follow as I read the rest of the book!
Elliott Dunstan 