{"id":1789,"date":"2018-03-07T13:14:50","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T18:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/?p=1789"},"modified":"2018-03-07T13:14:50","modified_gmt":"2018-03-07T18:14:50","slug":"zombie-by-joyce-carol-oates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/zombie-by-joyce-carol-oates\/","title":{"rendered":"Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zombie<\/em>\u00a0is a 1995 novel by Joyce Carol Oates. It’s the epistolary story of Quentin P., the under-achieving son of a college professor who is out on parole after being put on trial for sexually molesting a teenager. Quentin is under the supervision of his worried parents and his court-appointed psychiatrist, but none of them have realized that he\u2019s graduated to serial killing and is trying to find the right victim to lobotomize\u00a0and turn into his personal zombie sex slave.<\/p>\n

One of the things that really struck me about the book is the style of Oates\u2019 first-person narration through his diary entries. I couldn\u2019t help but compare Quentin with two other mentally ill first-person protagonists: Imp in Caitlin Kiernan\u2019s\u00a0The Drowning Girl: A Memoir\u00a0<\/a><\/em>and Hildred Castaigne in Robert Chambers\u2019\u00a0\u201cThe Repairer of Reputations.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0The story in\u00a0Zombie<\/em>\u00a0is more like\u00a0The Drowning Girl<\/em>\u00a0in terms of Quentin interacting with his family and therapist and being more impaired at some times than others. But Quentin as a character is far more like Castaigne than good-hearted Imp: proud, secretive, and sadistic. Still, Oates is able to make him a consistently compelling character despite his grotesquely chilling thoughts and behavior.<\/p>\n

The thing that most impressed me was Oates\u2019 ability to use and control a first-person voice that is very clearly not her own. Oates makes this bit of artistry look easy. When Quentin is medicated, he writes in short, confined, passive sentences that evocatively convey how the psychiatric medications he\u2019s taking are restricting him:<\/p>\n

Mr. T__ asks questions like rolling off a tape. YES SIR I tell him NO SIR. I am employed. On a regular basis now. Dr. E__ is the one who prescribes the medication. Asks me questions to get me to talk. My tongue gets in the way of my talking. Dr. B__ throws out a question as he says to get the guys talking. They\u2019re bullshit masters. I admire them. I admire them. I sit inside my clothes staring at my shoes. My whole body is a numb tongue. I drive everywhere in my Ford van. It is a 1987 model, the color of wet sand. No longer new but reliable. It passes through your vision like passing through a solid wall invisible.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are moments of the mundane (\u201cbullshit masters\u201d) and the poetic (\u201cMy whole body is a numb tongue\u201d) in these passages. But when Quentin has gone off his medication, the rhythm and flow of the his narrative changes:<\/p>\n

Shining the flashlight which is the CARETAKER\u2019S flashlight into the corners of the attic. Where shadows leap like bats. Smiling to see how, when light moves, light you hold in your hand, bright as starlight you make shadows leap. The shadows are there all along. BUT YOU MAKE THEM LEAP.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The poetry is more pronounced here, but so is the aggression and the sense of excited power. Quentin still sees the world in ugly tones, but when he\u2019s off his medication the passages have a real sense of purpose and urgency. There\u2019s real darkness here.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zombie\u00a0is a 1995 novel by Joyce Carol Oates. It’s the epistolary story of Quentin P., the under-achieving son of a college professor who is out […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31],"tags":[92,9,120],"class_list":["post-1789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","tag-characterization","tag-horror","tag-joyce-carol-oates"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/zombie-e1520446307398.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8qT6f-sR","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":567,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/ellen-datlow\/","url_meta":{"origin":1789,"position":0},"title":"Ellen Datlow","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"January 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Ellen S(ue) Datlow was born in 1949 and currently lives in New York City. She has been one of the most influential editors in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres for over 20 years. She has been awarded with the World Fantasy Award many times and has won other\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "biography"","block_context":{"text":"biography","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/biography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1463,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/classic-horror-novels\/","url_meta":{"origin":1789,"position":1},"title":"An Overview of Classic Horror Novels Written by Women","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"July 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"How does a horror novel become a classic? First of all, it has to be good, or at least unusually compelling. But quality alone doesn\u2019t ensure that a book will become a classic: it also has to be read, admired, and spread widely enough to inspire other creators. 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Snyder","date":"May 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Rot & Ruin\u00a0is the first volume in Jonathan Maberry's popular Benny Imura series. This novel introduces 15-year-old Benny and follows his adventures as he becomes an apprentice to his zombie-killing older brother Tom, whom Benny has always resented because he feels that Tom failed to save their parents from becoming\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book review"","block_context":{"text":"book review","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/book-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/rotnruin.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/rotnruin.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/rotnruin.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/rotnruin.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/rotnruin.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/rotnruin.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3111,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/new-book-deal\/","url_meta":{"origin":1789,"position":3},"title":"New Book Deal: Halloween Season","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"November 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm very pleased to announce that RDSP will be publishing Halloween Season, my new fiction collection, in the fall of 2020. Some of the stories are fundamentally about Halloween; others are horror or fantasy tales that take place in autumn near the holiday. Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Books"","block_context":{"text":"My Books","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/my-books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"RDSP2020","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/RDSP2019-copy.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":628,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/travel-review-the-vatican\/","url_meta":{"origin":1789,"position":4},"title":"Travel Review: The Vatican","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"August 20, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"In my whirlwind visit to Rome, my friend Carol and I took a bus tour that went to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel in the morning and the catacombs in the afternoon. Trying to see the Vatican Museums in one morning is an utter joke. Merely trying to get\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "italy"","block_context":{"text":"italy","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/italy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5312,"url":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/book-launch-for-halloween-season\/","url_meta":{"origin":1789,"position":5},"title":"Book Launch for Halloween Season","author":"Lucy A. Snyder","date":"September 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"My publisher is hosting an online launch party for my book\u00a0Halloween Season\u00a0on October 5th at 7pm Eastern. I'll be giving a presentation on writing post-COVID horror, and cover artist Lynne Hansen will be on hand to answer questions. There will also be an online costume contest, virtual trick-or-treating, and a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Books"","block_context":{"text":"My Books","link":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/category\/my-books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Halloween Season Cover","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Draft2_HalloweenSeason_PaperbackWrap.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Draft2_HalloweenSeason_PaperbackWrap.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Draft2_HalloweenSeason_PaperbackWrap.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Draft2_HalloweenSeason_PaperbackWrap.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lucysnyder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Draft2_HalloweenSeason_PaperbackWrap.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1789"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1793,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1789\/revisions\/1793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lucysnyder.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}