Rating: 
Summary: Difficult, violent, great
Review: "And the Ass Saw the Angel" is a tough book to read. The characters Nick Cave has created are truly despicable, and some of the violence is difficult to swallow. But this is a very good book. This is the story of Euchrid, a mute born into possibly the worst family in the world, who must continually face an unwavering hatred from the entire town he lives in. As Euchrid decends into a frigtening madness, he sees visions of angels, and begins to exact his vengeance on the town that hates him so blindly. I'm sure there are alot of things that I don't fully understand about this book, but I do know that this is one excellent story, and Nick Cave proves to be an amazing writer, creating a chilling southern landscape mixed in with his dark gothic roots. This book reads like his song "Red Right Hand" sounds, and I guess that is the best way to describe this book. Despite the diffuculty in some of the subject matter and the infinite darkness projected in the atmosphere, I couldn't put this book down until it was finished, because the story itself is just that interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: Dark Humor, Dark Book, Not for the Faint of Heart
Review: Euchrid Eucrow, a mute born to an abusive mother and a father obsessed with animal torture, is an outcast in a valley of conservative religious zealots. He silently takes his mother's beatings, his father's indifference, and the hatred of an entire town. But though he may be silent, his tortured mind is chock full of terrible angelic visions and he goes mad, leaving one to wonder if he can be blamed for the vengeance he exacts on the people who have made his life so awful and so painful. Sometimes this four star book was a little hard for me to take, but I couldn't put it down. Review submitted by Captain Osborne
Rating: 
Summary: 3 and 1/2 Stars
Review: I can but offer a very simple word of advice regarding whether or not to read this novel: if you are a Nick Cave fan, then pick this up; if you are not, then stay far, far away. The Southern Gothic imagery that influenced Cave so much is prevalent throughout the novel, and the entire book is written in such brutal, blunt prose that it will, no doubt, leave many reeling. The dark, enchanting atmosphere that is present in many of his songs is in full evidence here - spread out over 400 pages. One really has to hand it to Cave - how many musicians could write a (worthy) novel? - as he is clearly a very articulate person and is able to set forth a truly engrossing atmosphere in this book with his beautiful, alliterative prose. Though the author himself has stated that the book is not a parable, I find it hard to see the book any other way: on a literal level, it makes little sense and it is far from a linear narrative. Cave switches perspective and writing styles often while sprinkling Bibilical quotes throughout the novel. That said, as is the case with Leonard Cohen's books, the prose is so beautiful that you will love reading it, anyway. As anyone who is familar with his work knows, Cave was vastly influenced by the Bible - he actually wrote a foreward to an edition of the Gospel According To Mark - and the title of the novel (as with some of his albums) comes from the Book. I see this book as a worthy modern parable in the Bibilical style; in any case, it is an interesting, certainly off-kilter work that Nick Cave fans will eat up for its macabre atmosphere and wild, flowing, darkly beautiful prose. Perhaps surprisingly, the novel was widely-acclaimed upon release from various diverse outlets in the both the mainstream and underground media - clearly a wide constictuentcy that reached beyond Cave's normal relatively small fanbase. Knowing this, I reccommend that you try this book, even if you are not familar with Nick Cave, if you are into Southern Gothic imagery or Bibilically-inspired literature.
Rating:
Summary: Ambivalence
Review: I'm not sure what to make of this book. Don't get me wrong, I did like it, I just can't seem to make my mind up about it. Firstly, yes, I did read it simply because it was by Nick Cave. That said, once past the initial awkwardness of style and trying to reconcile my mental picture of Euchrid's character with the extremely verbose language he uses, I found the book really quite enjoyable - and certainly as original as anything I've read lately. Distracting was a lack of sense of time; although dates are clearly given, it's too easy to fall into the trap of imagining time passing at the same speed as it seems for the main character. But it was the ending that threw me. Not that it was totally unexpected, but the cyclical nature left me hanging. I do like stories that finish open-endedly as much as any, but it just felt somehow disappointing: I can't help but wonder what would have become of the characters today, and can't help but feel their story would have petered out to be quite dull. All up, though, I certainly found it enjoyable. Now, if only I could just put my finger on what I felt was amiss . . .
Rating:
Summary: Well well well...
Review: I've already reviewed this book here (back when I was known as nucleardriveby), so I won't go into what I think of the novel itself...I'll let the five stars I've given it do the talking. I just want to say that I'm truly glad that someone finally started reprinting this book. It had been out of print for far too long, and when I heard that it had been reissued, I said to myself "I bet 2.13.61 picked it up." And I was right. Henry Rollins and Nick Cave go way back and are actually very good friends. So it's no surprise that Hank wanted to reprint Nick's epic novel. He's already made King Ink and King Ink II available to us...not to mention the photo book entitled Fish in a Barrel. Now, he's finally gotten ahold of the rights to ATASTA...and so a new generation of readers who may not have the time to seek out, or the money to purchase, old hardback copies of this book can get their hands on the fresh new paperback at an affordable price. Thank you, Henry, for making this amazing book readily available to the public again. If I'd known that this was going to be reprinted...oh, who am I kidding? I still would have shelled out the [$$$] that I paid for my unread British first edition. But I'm a Nick Cave fanatic...so that's just me. If you don't feel like spending that kind of money for a rare out-of-print book, definitely pick up this new paperback. But either way, do yourself an extreme favor and READ THIS BOOK.
Rating:
Summary: Best book ever!
Review: If you like dark twisted books, then you'll love this book. It's by far my favorite.
Rating:
Summary: And the Ass Saw the Angel
Review: It is difficult to approach a work of art in a foreign field when the artist has proven himself so adept in his native clime. There is the problem of separating the artist's previous works and the anticipation that the new field will reveal unique depths in the artist from the reality that the new work is an experiment with a great chance of failure.
This is exactly what I encountered with And the Ass Saw the Angel by Nick Cave. For years Cave has been howling his dogmatic messages into my ear first through his stint in The Birthday Party and later in his current band The Bad Seeds. Through his macabre lyrics and Australian slant on American folk and blues, Cave has become something of a mythic figure in my mind. I find myself at times daydreaming that he were my father. It is certainly no exaggeration to say that I have learned a good deal more through Cave's output than any encounters with my true father.
One can imagine my raw enthusiasm upon learning of his book some years ago. This book proved very difficult to acquire and I soon shelved any hopes of finding a copy. Then, two weeks ago, a pristine second edition arrived at my door. It was a birthday present, given to me by my mother in law who resides in Australia; very thoughtful and suprising. Still weary from its trip across the Pacific, I allowed it to recuperate while I finished the novel I was currently reading.
The day finally arrived that I cracked it's crisp spine and climbed inside. As I read I learned of Euchrid Eucrow, the tortured mute, mad and angelic, and of his cruel upbringing and crueler fate. And it was good. Rife with black humor and Old Testament bile, the story vomited fire and brimstone in a great bitter arc and I was purged. Deeper though, I began to notice something familiar in Cave's style; an all too common trait that novel's of this type tend to share. Euchrid's spittle, laced with Faulkner's dark talent, suddenly tasted derived, unoriginal. Images of Cave divining Faulkner's spirit as he set pen to paper haunted my vision, and I was let down. My mentor should be wholly unique, a creature conceived in religious ecstacy and dark sarcasm. Instead I find him using a Ouiji board to wright his novel and I was chagrined.
Retaining hope, perhaps it is through no fault but my own that I did not enjoy this novel. I admit that my expectations were unrealistically elevated in approaching this novel. I would not have been so stringent in my reading if the name "Nick Cave" was not so emblazoned on the cover. Perhaps, subconciously, I wanted the book to fail me; my own brand of patricide. I will one day attempt this novel again but, in abeyance, I would highly recommend And the Ass Saw the Angel to one unfamiliar with Cave's music and to his fans I would urge caution in the extreme.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Losers.
Review: It reads like a parade of characters auditioning for a Bad Seeds album. There are some really good descriptive segments - the judgment of a prositute, bums wasting away in the church, the suicide of a barren woman - but mostly this is just smoke and mirrors.
Nick Cave seems to be in love with alliteration, and you can tell he had the thesaurus handy. Sometimes the ambition is over-reaching and the author appears under great pretense.
Of course, that's an easy thing to criticize Cave for, but the high drama which works so well in his songs is simply not sustainable for an entire novel.
That's another thing. I doubt this book would rate so highly if it had been written by someone else. You can definitely feel the hand behind the pen here, and telling yourself "Nick Cave wrote it" does help. So is this a good novel, or just a good showcase for Cave's love of dark, evocative language and gloomy southern towns?
At times Cave quotes himself, leaning particularly on the albums 'The Firstborn Is Dead', 'From Her To Eternity' and 'Tender Prey'. Maybe the mute at the centre of the novel is a parallel Elvis Presley. There is the southern setting, the stillborn twin and the strong influence of the mother; maybe this is what would have become of all that energy if he was cursed with the inability to speak or sing.
I don't support the view that Euchrid, the mute, is anautobiographical character at all. Nick Cave was an Australian heroin punk boy before his fascination with deep south macabre, and has shown many times that he has the wherewithal to express himself.
Rating: 
Summary: If He Writes Another Novel, It'll Be Great
Review: Oh, I so hope Nick Cave continues to write, because he is a great storyteller. But he better get a better editor. Great elements: great characters, great plot, great use of language, and all for naught, regrettably, and I'm still not sure why. (Yes, I am a fan of his music -- Murder Ballads reduces me to tears at times -- oh, what a remarkable translator of tragedy!) This book will be more interesting after he writes more novels. Can I recommend And The Ass Saw The Angel? -- alas no; you Nick Cave fans will read it and love it, but for you folks who aren't yet devotees, get his music; you will be shocked and beguiled, and you will become fans of that, I am sure.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your money or time.
Review: This is one of the worst, if not the worst book I have ever read. Just because it is set in the South and chock-a-block with disgusting characters and even more disgusting imagery does not make it Faulkner. Not even close. Truly a despicable piece of junk. I wish I could wash the memory of it from my brain.
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