They're Gonna Throw Back Their Heads And Crow.

The Death Of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave

I recently finished Nick Cave's second novel, 'The Death Of Bunny Munro' and am still milling over how I feel about it. However, I think the only reason I'm still milling over how I feel about it is to try and find some way to rationalize liking it more than I did, which I just can't seem to do. It's not that the book is bad per say (it's certainly not horrible), it's just not as good as the promise it shows. As a fan of Cave, how could I not want to read a pervy romp that seems to suggest the grimy literary equivalent of the aural aging sleaze of Grinderman? Pretty simple actually, fill it with pop culture references and slack off on any sense of prose or form to carry the narrative. Cave has always been admirable to me for his blatant love of language and form in his lyrics & astounding first novel, 'And The Ass Saw The Angel' (of which I won't delve into as it's infinitely superior and was never a benchmark for expectations as it's a Cave high water mark to stand unsurpassed). As far as plot goes, it's an enjoyable read though it starts off with a slow plodding rumble. After eye rolling for the first 100 pages or so it gains traction and speed and by the half way mark it admittedly pulled me in more for the ride than anything else. The arc was satisfactory and didn't really leave me desiring more or less from the story itself, just a desire for more from the actual prose put to paper. As I said prior, Nick Cave has always seemed to take diligent care with his verse & sentence structure and has exuded an archeologists love for the etymology of words (the more arcane, the better). This is wholly lacking in 'Bunny Munro' and is replaced with modern and pop culture references that just remove me from the narrative rather than bind me to it. Personally, Kylie Minogue & Avril Lavigne's respective vaginas are not something I really need a narrative hung on (no pun intended? could that even be taken as a pun?). Nor do references to Mcdonald's Happy Meals & Darth Vader Toys really feel in place despite the existence of a prominent 9 year old child. There's a contrast that's just apparent since Cave is playing both sides of the literary fence. There's more of a sense of cheese to the whole shebang far more than legitimate sleaze and maybe that's ultimately what I want. Something that reads more authentic rather than comes off as barely reaching for something. I suppose I want to feel like Cave was actually striving to grasp a tangible end result and the reality is in reading 'The Death Of Bunny Munro' I feel like he half-assed it and this book wouldn't have otherwise been published without his notoriety. It's an entertaining and pulpy read but altogether too light given that there is a sense of intent for there to be looming weight. Go read 'And The Ass Saw The Angel' if you can find it.

P.S. - Just as an aside for the sake of bitching, the U.S. cover sucks hard (the drawn cover as seen above on the right) where as the U.K. press at least has a far better & desirable cover. Seriously, if you're gonna ask me to shell out hard earned cash... at least give me a dust jacket I feel is worth the money and didn't come about as the result of some student design project.