Requiem for a Dream

This book made me get off junk

I've done junk for about 6 years and my friend that didn't gave me this book i couldn't put it down. after i finished i swore off junk for ever i went to rehab and kicked it, every ones proud of me during rehab i read this book over and over front to back. I've been straight for 4 years now.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

!!

Requiem for a Dream was an amazing book. Towards the beginning the ways Selby writes can get confusing, but after a bit you get used to it. It tells the stories of Harry Goldfarb, his best friend Tyrone C. Love, his girlfriend Marion, and his mother Sara. The three adolescents start using heroin, and throughout time become heavily addicted to the drug. At first all they want is to sell enough dope until they can get a pound of pure, uncut heroin. They start to use more and more of the bundles they meant to sell and their dreams of making it big and getting out of the streets spiral downward more and more until they all end up in the last place they wanted to be. Sara Goldfarb, a lonely widow just wants to find a way to be happy. When a telephone solicitor calls her and tells her they want her to be on their game show, she thinks for once in her life since her husband died and her son left, she'll be happy. She starts taking diet pills. She takes three speed pills a day, then downers before she goes to bed. She eats less and less and eventually starts losing her mind. Her doctor then gives her Valium to help calm her down, she eats the pills like they're candy and ends up in a world of insanity. You can feel the realness of all the characters in this book, it really is a must read

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Twisted

Made me never wanna think about.doing drugs its very sobering just to read.

emotional thrill-ride

This book changed me. As a person. So descriptive, so captivating, it pulls you in, you can't let go. I literally would sit in my room reading this book getting butterflies in my tummy when I read the vivid descriptions and FELT what the characters felt. And when bad things happened, oh, i felt that too. The language in this book is poetic. Everything was real life. There was no fairytale ending bs that doesn't happen in the real world. The dialogue isn't in quotes though, so it's kind of hard to catch on at first, i reread the first chapter because of it. You can't just skim this type of book, you have to throw yourself in willing to slowly take in every detail, and absorb it's vividness so you can fully comprehend the book, and enjoy it. Otherwise you might become very confused. Not a light hearted read.

Better than the movie

I am a huge fan of the movie, Requiem for a Dream, and I decided to pick up the book after hearing the book was better than the movie. The book was better than the movie, it went into greater detail than the movie, but at the same time it was a bit hard to follow due to the author not using traditional quotation marks when characters speak. Recommend to anybody.

A reviewer

Requiem for a Dream is a great book. I enjoyed how real the characters felt and how hard it became to deal with their addictions. If you have not read or seen the movie I think your missing out because they both are great!

Wow...

Amazing. A work of art. Astonishing. My list could last forever. I couln't put it down. I get yelled at numberous times in class for not paying attention because I was busy reading this amazing book. After reading this book, you'll feel like a different person altogether. This is amazing. And the movie... wow... that was just so incredible also.

Simply Amazing.

Selby is an amazing writer, although his style takes some getting used to, his novels are really compelling. I read this book in two days, it was so amazing I couldn't stop reading. I read in all my classes, & I read it non-stop at home. It's a deeply moving & powerful book. It makes you rethink life, generally speaking, even if you aren't addicted to drugs.

Amazing

Requiem for a Dream was probably the best book i've ever read. The way Selby writes, the content is pretty much always disturbing, but beautiful and poetic too. It is captivating, once I started I couldn't stop. It had me wondering every second what was gonna happen next, as a part of me knew it would be tragic. This novel is sad, disturbing, and romantic. I loved it and recommend the movie to all readers as well.

The most haunting book I've ever read!

I have never been as engrossed in a book as much as I was with this. I could not stop reading it! The movie does not do this story justice. It is the most depressing, heart wrenching tale of the 'American Dream'. Whenever I would read this, I would become oblivious to everything around me. By far, this has to be one of the most unsettling books out there. You must read this!

really good book!

After I saw the movie I was really reluctant to read the book, but i was glad i did. This is one of the best books i have ever read. Selby can really develope his characters and their depressing downward spiral. Great book, everyone should read it.

Scary, but for the grace of God...

go I! This book is haunting in its description of addiction - a cunning, baffling and incurable disease, ending with jails, institutions or death, unless one finds recovery, which I did thankfully! His style of prose is streetwise and poetic, a gospel that doesn't need to rely on empty metaphor to convey its depth. A beautiful read that I will never, never forget.

Best book

This book was so amazing. I acctualy read it after I saw the movie. Requiem For A Dream is my favorite movie. I don't really liek to read books but after seeing the movie I had to go back and read the book. I love it and it is amazing. It keeps you guessing until the end. It is so weird that you can't put it down. FOr anyone who's read it I suggest also going out to see the movie.

A Haunting Read

About a year ago, I stumbled across this movie and was so pained by it, that I stopped halfway through. But about a month ago, I happened upon the book at a bookstore and immediately grabbed it, bought it, and read it from cover to cover in about two days. I was so haunted and moved by the book. The characters were so lost, yet so real and with such passion that I felt myself holding my breath while reading. I wanted to jump into the pages and hold each character and at the same time, scream at them to realize the horror they were bringing into their lives. This is a book that will never leave my subconscious and will always make me realize how elusive the 'American Dream' truly is. I feel that this book deeply personifies the illusion that our government and the media tries to get us to believe in, that our souls mean nothing in the pursuit of the almighty dollar and the almighty defintion of what society calls 'Beauty'.

It's sucha compelling tale of addiction and falsened hope!

This book was absolutely amazing. I am 17 years old and I read this book for the first time 3 years ago. It frightened me beyond belief. It is a dark story about people who are set on following their dreams and as their dreams fail and fade away they follow unwillingly, until they meet their demise. Seeing these 4 characters getting sucked into the world of drugs and addiction made me fear for not only my life but also the life of all around me. I started takling against drug abuse and such. Selby is a literary genius.

Depressing but a great lesson

This was my third Selby book, it has gotten better every time. He puts you right in the bronx and you become so involved and attached to these characters. He is truly one of the best authors maybe even the best, and this book is living proof!! Enjoy but be prepared to feel depressed after!

Amazing

This book was definitely one of the most captivating I ever read. I picked it up after hearing my friend endlessly rant about it. I spent about two weeks or more just looking for the book, and finished it in two days. I wasn't able to put it down. Every where I went through out these two days you would find me with my nose buried with in its pages. It was truly gripping. The descriptions are remarkable. You feel so connected to the characters, you can't bare to see them get hurt. The ending was inevitable, but truly devastating, especially since Selby enabled you to get so attached. This book exposed me to the horrors of addiction, and the struggle of this group of people to reach an unobtainable goal.

Selby... Insightful, Powerful, Brilliant

I have never read a book that has had such an effect on me and the way I view people. Selby uses outstanding descriptive details and you actually feel like you are inside the heads of these 4 people. His insight into New York City life is remarkable (I am saying this as a resident of New York) and this book is like staring at a train wreck. You don't want to look at the gruesome reality of it but for some reason you can't help staring. I highly recommend this book to anyone who understands the concept of addiction or for anyone who would do anything to obtain their dreams...

twisted love, addiction, that's the bronx baby

after reading 'requiem for a dream,' i decided to do my mfa thesis on selby. this book details addiction in a most intimate way, fr addictions to food, tv, diet pills; heroin. selby does an excellent job detailing the downfall as each of these characters slowly fall from their dreams and what can possibly be. the love relationship b/t harry and marion is quite more in-depth than presented in the movie, and this is an accurate portrayal of an older widow living in the bronx. i'm from ny and i know older woman like this, and he has captured it magically.

My Personal Favorite...

First off, Hubert Selby, Jr. is an amazing author. This book is so amazing. It is captivating and gripping until the very end. I couldn't put it down until I finished it. Like I tell everyone, the only reason I finished it on the second day was b/c I had to sleep on the first. The book was so great. After I read it I decided to name the kitten that my boyfriend got me, Marion. It is definitely my favorite book and it you haven't read it, READ IT!