In “Beautiful Children,” Charles Bock’s debut novel, you are taken on a heaving neon drenched boat ride through the sewers of the darker parts of the mind, which are coincidentally located right underneath Las Vegas. After 12 year old Newell Ewing vanishes one routinely sinful Saturday night, the threads behind his disappearance begin to unravel backwards, upside down, and not once in the same direction. A gaggle of tragic heroes share seemingly unrelated adventures throughout the city, ranging from the missing boy’s grieving parents to a raunchy comic book illustrator with an unfortunate name. Their stories cross and intertwine throughout the novel, one moment meandering lazily, the next colliding in an explosive wave.
Possessing a diabolically gripping prose that pulls you into a dangerous and alluring portrayal of the Sin City, “Beautiful Children” is a full blown sensory experience. Prepare for an introspective journey through the minds of those whom society has let down.
Through all the characterization, plot devices, and storytelling; the heart of the novel, the main course, the steak dinner, is its poignantly reflective tone. Powerful emotions, insecurities, and human motivations reverberate from page to page as the most significant theme.
The author displays a very circumspect, and at times fiendish, awareness of the human experience. The novel cuts right through the superficial and straight to the juicy stuff-the stuff most people, when taking a good look inside themselves, prefer to avoid. The emotional awareness and depth of thought worked into all aspects of the story create a truly encompassing read.
If there is a weakness, it’s that the plot takes its precious time taking off. Not to say there isn’t an interesting storyline, quite the opposite actually, but the characters at times find themselves in a deep self-examining internal monologue, though they hardly ever drag on and more often than not lead somewhere fairly quickly.
After all, a good story needs to have sympathetic and believable characters for the reader to have any emotional investment, but if you go into this book looking for a fast paced mystery thriller, you’re likely to be disappointed. It’s more in the mold of the film “Memento,” a puzzle with pieces yet to be found.
The many protagonists are a sure strong point. Through their eyes you are shown an image of Las Vegas the common tourist hardly ever glimpses. The author, who grew up there, offers an array of unique viewpoints. For a larger tip share, an elite Las Vegas stripper has methodically been alienating herself from her own body for years by way of silicone. Now her self-image is so disassociated it’s as if she views herself through the lens of a camera.
An enigmatic young lady, whom we know only as “the girl with the shaved head,” goes on an unfortunate tale riddled in insecurity and anger. An awkward but likable comic book illustrator, whose parents thought it would be fair to name their child Bing Beiderbixxe, deals with his many social stigmas in the whirling halogen fog of a weekend in Vegas.
The viewpoints of the missing boy and his estranged parents juxtapose themselves into something akin to watching two cars in slow motion rush toward a head on collision. Each character suffers from his or her own myriad of strengths and weaknesses. Because of this, each of them tends to be at least somewhat relatable to most readers. They are all sympathetic characters in their own way. Some commit morally questionable deeds, while others struggle within their internal battles; but they all have their own motivations.
Bock writes with an evocative prose that suits the whole dilapidated tone. His voice is something you might get if you were to take Chuck Palahniuk’s gritty portrayal of humans and humanity and the soulful characterizations of Vegas in Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and throw them in a short circuiting blender, then throw that blender into the bathtub.
Descriptions creep from the page to your mind to your senses, and before you know it, you can smell the stale cigarette smoke and feel the hard bench on which you’re sitting.
“Beautiful Children” is an examination of things that grow in the dark-a book you want to read if you’re in the mood for a deep thought or two on top of some good old fashioned entertainment. It offers a sobering psychological perspective, and is far from heartwarming.
Imagine society as a jungle where lions and gorillas are the famous and fortunate. This novel goes to the uncharted territories and lifts up the dead rotting log on the forest floor, and examines the slimy crawling bugs eating in darkness underneath.
It’s a book about the lost ones, the ones expansion has left in the dust. You get a peek at things not pretty, and are shown how all these tragic outcasts are, in their own way, beautiful children.