A Density of Souls by: Christopher Rice
review by: Eric James '06
Fag. A word, which rings synonymously across America with prejudice, elicits anger over its use. Can this word's meaning be pushed further? In A Density of Souls, "fag" is explored in unconventional ways. Yet by doing so, does the author alienate himself from the GLBT community?Christopher Rice speaks loudly to my generation regardless of whether he's not one to accept any peer leadership status. Rice should at least be proud that all who have gone through an upper middle-class conservative suburban life (or one like it) are able to relate to the sensitivity he addresses. I have yet to find another book that depicts the raw, hungry, and mostly unspoken truths of teens in the '90s and early 2000s.
Yet, what does Rice deliver in A Density of Souls? Upon the completion of a very twisted ending, I was left completely naked in lingering thought--recollection, and awe mixed with puzzlement. The story is completely surreal, yet the realism is easily grasped. Gay drag bar bombings and teenage shoot-outs remind one of Israel and Columbine. Dark characters, with painful and bleak pasts, attempt to resolve something and the novel drags you unwillingly through their transgressions.
Rice acutely orchestrates the subtleties of gothic New Orleans, the book's setting. Gossiping ladies drinking lemonade on aging Victorian house porches and kids rolling in mud around mausoleums during a thunderstorm reminds one of innocence. The novel deals with transparent youth from the depressed coming out of the story's protagonist, Stephen Conlin, to the football jocks who tease him. The plot is a deep psychological whirlpool and one wonders, "Can this work with naive teenagers?" The ending might reveal a glimpse into the novel's purpose but you are still left desperately hungry for more reasoning and more story which is expertly left out for the mind to fill in.
And what of the GLBT aspect? Political advocates might enjoy the satire of a drag queen kicking her heels in a gay bar in New Orleans' French Quarter proclaiming a GLBT "terrorist" organization won't get the best of her. A Density of Souls naturally includes a fair amount of homosexual affection and sex, if only to enhance Conlin, his lovers, and, yes stereotypically, one of the jocks. Rice himself was amazed by the book's popularity considering the sexual content. Of course when does any 20-something become a New York bestseller? The GLBT community may have its reservations about A Density Souls considering the way Rice plays upon societal stereotypes, but the result is beneficial to the story's portrayal of the extremes. Certainly, they love the author's mug shot.
Rice carries an unspoken truth about how we are and perhaps, if not in the exhilaratingly dramatic and emotional turbulence of A Density Souls, where we are going when dealing with pain. It's from this that the story carries a plethora of elements, which teens will recognize in all suburban towns. Memories, emotions, and tragedies, these are all very common for teenagers, which adults seem too zealous to acknowledge.