Dirty Weekend

Rating:
Summary: Behave, or the Bella will get you!
Review: "This is the story of Bella, who woke up one morning and realized she'd had enough."

This is the beginning of this incredibly well written novel. Dirty Weekend is about revenge. It told the story of Bella, a woman who took justice into her own hands. She'd gone mad, mad I tell you! Seriously, this novel is excruciatingly brutal and surprisingly funny. There is some extreme male-bashing going on in this book, but then again Bret Easton Ellis degraded women in American Psycho. Dirty Weekend is a black comedy that should be read in one sitting. Yeah, it's that good!

Rating:
Summary: Dirty Weekend
Review: "This is the story of Bella, who woke up one morning and realized she'd had enough."

This is the beginning of this incredibly well written novel. Dirty Weekend is about revenge. It told the story of Bella, a woman who took justice into her own hands. She'd gone mad, mad I tell you! Seriously, this novel is excruciatingly brutal and surprisingly funny. There is some extreme male-bashing going on in this book, but then again Bret Easton Ellis degraded women in American Psycho. Dirty Weekend is a black comedy that should be read in one sitting. Yeah, it's that good!

Rating:
Summary: Not a bedtime story, or one to read before dinner.
Review: Bella is Everywoman --- one who is sick of men's threats and just snaps. She lives in Brighton, a little beachtown in the UK. Her neighbor Timothy starts threatening her, telling her he is watching her and that he is going to pour acid on her. So Bella decides to kill him first. And so her rampage begins.

Despite being sickened by all of the violence, you can't help but reveling in Bella's triumphs: why CAN'T she just sit in the park undisturbed by some man's comments? Why CAN'T she walk on the boardwalk without some man following her? And why SHOULDN'T she fight back?

The message: next time you see a woman minding her own business -- next time you see a Bella -- just walk on by and leave her alone.

Rating:
Summary: Not a bedtime story, or one to read before dinner.
Review: I completely enjoyed this book, and have a secret case of Bella-envy. All throughout this quick read are little hints with which people, though I would say mostly women, can identify or even find their point of difference.

If you are lucky enough not to have experienced violence in your life you may find it hard to see past the brutality of much of the story. An abused dog will bite, what should we expect of a maltreated woman?

Zahavi creates a murky world in which everyone and everything is a threat to Bella; people, words, even the environment works against her. The plot moves quickly without requiring excuses for itself.

All in all I think this book is thought provoking, empowering, dismaying and sobering all at the same time.

Rating:
Summary: Sweet revenge!
Review: Revenge is sweet, even if it unfolds in the strangest way. After having been used and abused by men, Bella decided to kill every stalker, rapist, and abusive stranger that crossed her path. This all happened on a very strange weekend. Even though the chance of being raped or murdered doesn't arise in the average life, it is refreshing to read about a heroic and courageous woman for a change.

The language in the novel is beautiful; Miss Zahavi is an incredible writer. This is a very dark novel; the descriptions are very surreal. I fell in love with this book, and if you haven't read it, I suggest that you do.

Rating:
Summary: Bella is inside us all.
Review: This book is amazing. Read it. Read it twice. Read it a million times. Bella exacts sweet and beautiful revenge on scumbag after scumbag in this delicious black comedy that will have you chanting "BELLA BELLA BELLA" way before you turn the last page. Beautifully and wickedly written. There will be no suicidal jump off the Grand Canyon for Bella, ladies. Just pure and gleeful justice for all those that prey on and hurt women. Bella's had enough, and you'll wish she was your best friend for it.

Rating:
Summary: Bella--a woman who was pushed too far
Review: This book is very well written and is written in a way so that we can find Bella inside of each of us. We can feel Bella's rage. And when she's pushed too far, she decides she's not just going to sit there and take it, she's going to do something about it. I would recommend this book to anyone who's ever felt powerless or inferior. This is the story of one woman who decided to do something about it.

Rating:
Summary: For the Bella Within Us All........
Review: This is one of my all-time favorite books. It was recommended to me years ago by a British friend, with an arched eyebrow and a knowing look. Once I found it and read it, I knew why.

This book is only for those with a dark sense of humour, and a willingness to look unflinchingly at the underbelly of misogyny and its repurcussions. It is a work of fiction, but oh, how many of us wish we could have our own Dirty Weekends!

What some of the book's detractors may fail to realize is that Bella only metes out justice to those men who assault/invade/abuse her; the predatory neighbor, the wolverine punter in the car park, etc....she never goes looking for trouble; rather, it comes to her and she spits in its ugly face.

To understand this book, you must understand (and, mostly likely, have first hand experience) with the way in which women are constantly deluged with the inappropriate (at best) and predatory (at worst) attentions of unsavory men. By the time most women are 21, they have been subjected to everthing from catcalls, obscene phone calls, being grabbed, being humiliated, and even being raped - with very little public acknowledgement of this subjugation, and continued messages to men that this is acceptable behavior (not rape, of course, but other types of unsolicited attention). The natural result of this is RAGE.

Of course, nice girls do not angry. Nice girls do not raise their voices. Nice girls do not make a fuss. And nice girls certainly do not bludgeon their neighbors with hammers. Except. Bella does. And we stand by and cheer Bella on. Bella, who's had enough.