Αν θα μου ζητούσαν να χαρακτηρίσω ένα μυθιστόρημα ως ιλιγγιώδες και προκλητικό, τότε σίγουρα το "Tideland" θα ήταν ένα από αυτά. Παρά το μικρό του μέγεθος, καταφέρνει να σε προβληματίσει με την τρελή του πραγματικότητα, να σου προκαλέσει ζαλάδα με τους ξέφρενους ρυθμούς του και τελικά, να κάνει το στομάχι σου να σφιχτεί, όχι μόνο από την δίνη της παραμυθένια υπόστασης που ντύνει την ιστορία που αφηγείται αλλά, από την αρρωστημένη, τρελή και ξέφρενη πραγματικότητα που δεν προσπαθεί σε καμία περίπτωση να παρουσιάσει μυθοπλαστικά αλλά, ζωντανά, δυνατά και ρεαλιστικά. Αν δεν είστε έτοιμοι να αντιμετωπίσετε μια ιστορία τόσο αλλόκοτη και παράλογη, που όπως λέει και ο υπότιτλός του συνδυάζει την μαγεία της "Αλίκης Στην Χώρα Των Θαυμάτων" με την τρομακτική συνείδηση του "Ψυχώ", τότε καλύτερα να ξανασκεφτείτε την επιλογή σας.Η εντεκάχρονη Τζελίζα-Ρόουζ είναι η πρωταγωνίστρια της ιστορίας αυτής. Ένα μικρό κορίτσι του οποίου η αθωότητα σπιλώθηκε από τη γέννα της κι όλας καθότι πρόκειται για γόνο δύο ναρκομανών γονιών οι οποίοι και την καταδίκασαν σε μια ζωή ανάμεσα στην παραζάλη, στις ουσίες και στις αποτρόπαιες και αντιπαιδαγωγικές συμπεριφορές, που όχι μόνο δεν μπορούν να βοηθήσουν ένα παιδί να μεγαλώσει σωστά αλλά αντίθετα, το οδηγούν με μαθηματική ακρίβεια στην καταστροφή. Γιατί όταν έχεις καταφέρει να γκρεμίσεις τον υγιή κόσμο ενός παιδιού, όταν έχεις κατορθώσει να εξαλείψεις σχεδόν κάθε ανθρώπινο και φυσιολογικό συναίσθημά του, όταν το εξαναγκάζεις να αποφεύγει την πραγματικότητά του και να οδηγείται σε αλλόκοτες συμπεριφορές, τότε έχεις καταδικάσει τον ψυχισμό του, τη νόησή του, τη δυνατότητα να λαμβάνει αν όχι σωστές, λογικές αποφάσεις, και κατά συνέπεια, την πιθανότητα ύπαρξης ενός μέλλοντος με αξίες.Ποια φυσιολογική ζωή θα επιφύλασσε σε ένα παιδάκι να νταντεύει τους γονείς του, να τους ταΐζει, να τους περιποιείται, να τους γιατροπορεύει, ακόμα και να τους ετοιμάζει την ένεση ηρωίνης που τόσο απελπισμένα λαχταράνε; Καμία απολύτως! Ακριβώς για τον λόγο αυτό η Τζελίζα-Ρόουζ έχει πλάσει με την φαντασία της έναν δικό της κόσμο, που μέσα από την υλική και συναισθηματική στέρηση που έχει βιώσει από τη γέννησή της κι όλας, προσπαθεί να καλύψει τα όποια κενά μπορεί, με όποιον τρόπο μπορεί. Καλύτερή της φίλη, μια ακέφαλη κούκλα, πρώτο ερωτικό σκίρτημα, ένας καθυστερημένος ενήλικας, συντροφιά της στο νέο κόσμο μετά τον θάνατο της μητέρας της, το άψυχο σώμα του πατέρα της. Ακόμα όμως και στις πιο φωτεινές φαντασιώσεις της παραμονεύει ο κίνδυνος, το σκοτάδι και ο θάνατος. Ζει σα να είναι στιγματισμένη από αυτά, σα να μην μπορεί να τα αποφύγει αλλά εν μέρη, σα να μην θέλει να το κάνει, λες και καλείται να ολοκληρώσει το πεπρωμένο της.Ο Cullin δημιούργησε ένα σαδιστικό παραμύθι που αν μη τι άλλο έχει σκοπό να προκαλέσει τα νεύρα και τις αντοχές του αναγνώστη, γεγονός που δεν ξέρω κατά πόσο θα ικανοποιήσει τους μεσαίους εκπροσώπους του είδους. Η ιστορία του έχει αναμφίβολα ρυθμό, σασπένς, αγωνία αλλά παράλληλα, διακατέχεται από έναν αλλοπρόσαλλο σουρεαλισμό που ίσως να μην είναι τόσο εύπεπτος για κάποιους. Φυσικά, αυτή είναι στην πραγματικότητα η μαγεία της ιστορίας του η οποία, αν και στην πραγματικότητα πρόκειται για ένα καθαρόαιμο θρίλερ, υιοθετεί μια ιδιαίτερη ταυτότητα καθώς στολίζεται από δόσεις τρέλας, παραμυθοποίησης και ζωηρής φαντασίας, που μπορεί να μην είναι πάντα σε αρμονία ή σε ισορροπία αλλά αν το καλοσκεφτούμε, η υπερβολή σε τέτοιες περιπτώσεις είναι αυτή που κάνει την διαφορά και που χρησιμοποιείται με αυτόν ακριβώς τον σκοπό, να προκαλέσει φανερά για να προβληματίσει ενδόμυχα.Με λίγα λόγια, το "Tideland" είναι ένα βιβλίο που είτε θα το λατρέψουν οι αναγνώστες, είτε θα το μισήσουν. Το να υπάρξει μια μέση κατάσταση, μάλλον μοιάζει απίθανο καθώς, είτε θα τους γοητεύσει, είτε θα τους σοκάρει και όσοι θα εντάσσονται στην δεύτερη κατηγορία, θα είναι οι συμβατικοί εκείνοι αναγνώστες που δεν μπορούν να κατανοήσουν τα όρια που μπορεί να αγγίξει η τέχνη, έστω και αν αυτά φαντάζουν ορισμένες φορές ευαίσθητα και λεπτά. Άλλωστε, μέσα από τον βιασμό μιας γλυκιάς εικόνας ή μιας ωραιοποιημένης κατάστασης, βγαίνει στην επιφάνεια η πιο αληθινή και η πιο σκληρή συνάμα και κατά περιπτώσεις, πραγματικότητα. Γιατί όσο απίθανο κι αν φαίνεται, το "Tideland" δεν είναι ένα αρρωστημένο παραμύθι αλλά, μια παραμυθοποιημένη αλήθεια που όπου κι αν υφίσταται και με όποια της μορφή, βρίσκεται καλά θαμμένη στα σκοτάδια.
Yeah, this is one of those works of art that seems like it is running a contest with itself to see how twisted and dark it can be and still qualify as 'art'.Mitch Cullin must have given himself the idea for Tideland like this:"I think every human being is completely fucked up, and I am going to write an entire book about it."I know this method very well, because it's how I found out about this book in the first place.When I was a teenager I was really into disturbing weird twisted art, particularly, in the form of films. I mainly liked the style of acting that went with them and the fact that a lot of them are interpretive. I appreciated Kubrick and Lynch and one night I stumbled upon the promotional website for an upcoming film called Tideland. I was in awe of it, because it had all of the aesthetics I related to and liked; an isolated imaginative child as the center and eyes of the story, and weird creepy elements like talking dolls and Alice in Wonderland references. I rented the film as soon as I could and eagerly watched it. Later on I found out it had been adapted from a book, so I located it on amazon.com and eagerly read the excerpts, determined to read the whole thing some day.Well, now it is seven years later and I finally scored the book from my local library.Like most people say, it's hard to rate this story with just a simple, "I liked it", or "I didn't like it."The best way for me to describe my rating is that there are elements I appreciate about Tideland, but the things that I don't like about it outweigh the good.I was far more forgiving as a teenager; now, I have no respect for this art approach of, 'look how fucked up I can be'.The same for the film, the same with the book.The film adaptation and the book are extremely alike.There are slight differences, like the timing at which events occur, and Jeliza-Rose's appearance (she is described as having orange hair and freckles in the book, as on the cover illustration, but in the film is portrayed by the beautiful and talented Jodelle Ferland, who has dark hair).Some have criticized Cullin's writing on here, which I think is absurd.There is no doubt that he can write. The first sentence, which writers know is arguably the hardest part to write, is well-crafted. The story itself is told through Jeliza-Rose, and sometimes I think her voice did veer off into sounding more 'male' which can happen since it's written by one, but overall I think it captures the essence of a young child in the given situations.I appreciated the element where Jeliza-Rose is so lonely and eager to make a friend with just anybody as she is completely isolated and has such an abnormal upbringing, with no school. I relate to that aspect because I was home-schooled for most of my childhood. The plot is unique and must have been challenging to write, because it just follows the daily life of a kid who has an abnormal upbringing and is stranded in the middle of nowhere. I loved how Jeliza-Rose created different voices and personalities for her doll heads. The relationship between her and the dolls was definitely more effective in the film though. I also enjoyed the doll head names more in the film, as opposed to their boxed Barbie titles in the book (i.e. 'Cut N Style' is the given name for the head of the 'Cut N Syle' Barbie). It's eerie to think of how easily Jeliza-Rose's plight can happen in real life; an adult takes a child to the middle of nowhere and then the adult passes away and strands the child there, with no cell phone or computer.I do think Cullin abuses his gift of writing by writing about the ugliness of the human soul throughout the whole book. Even children are not innocent, and if we remember well enough, we know this.But to explore human ugliness in every form throughout an entire plot is just a waste of his writing, in my opinion.That's the problem when artists delve into this realm of the 'fucked-up' is that, given the length of a plot, eventually, What is the Point? The Message of it all?That human beings of every age, even children, even people who have been LOBOTOMIZED for crying out loud, are twisted and despicable?Yes, I KNOW.But then again, there are very ignorant people out there who might benefit from this fact of life being shoved in their face for an entire book.That's the only point that I can discern from Tideland; Cullin just ticks down a check-list and reminds the reader how every stage of a human is 'fucked up':-Child? Check.-Teenager? Check.-Adult? Check.-Parent? Check.-Elderly? Check.-Epileptic who had a lobotomy? Check.So there you go. I just gave you the 'lesson' of the book and you don't have to read it now, unless you find reading about all that fucked-up shit entertaining.Well, that would just make you a part of the crowd on this earth, and the punch line of the point.The only part of the film that I found engaging on any level was Jeliza-Rose's character, which I now think is solely because of Jodelle Ferland's performance.Because I did not wholly like her character in the book.I found her to be inconsistent, to say the least.And often un-realistic, which in part again I think comes from a young girl being written from a male perspective.I think the ending of Tideland was abrupt, which happens often in literature.I wonder what I would think about the book if I had not seen the film first.To conclude, if I were asked to make someone lose all hope for the human race, one of the first things I would do is hand them this book.Unless you want to spend a day immersed in the perverted ugliness of human beings, do not read Tideland.
What do You think about Tideland (2006)?
Although I finished Tideland two days ago, it took me those full two days to figure out how I actually felt about it. I loved Mitch Cullins' writing style; he has skill, no doubt, shown by his ability to use sophisticated language, simplified to fit the adolescent protagonist's voice and complement the narrative, so the reader is never hindered. The writing simply flowed. However, the story itself was...strange and disturbing, to say the least.Young Jeliza-Rose has been traumatized countless times and escapes the horrific circumstances she doesn't understand, probably because of her young, naive age, by transforming her surroundings into a dream world. Cullins seamlessly blends Jeliza-Rose's reality with her imagination without simplifying the narrative into child's prose...which is clearly a good thing since, although Jeliza-Rose is a child, no child should ever read a book this disturbing. Drug abuse, child abuse, molestation, death, manipulation, starvation...it's all in here. Jeliza-Rose witnesses and experiences all these acts and with her young eye, describes them as straightforward and honestly as any other child.Even worse than what Jeliza-Rose experiences is how the plot lacks a purpose for describing those scenes in the first place. If I had known that there would be no clear solution or moral, would I have even started reading this book? What did Cullins wish to achieve in writing this book, besides exposing his skill at drawing an adult reader into a child's imagination?I don't see a purpose to the horrors in this book, besides exposing Mitch Cullins' obvious writing skill. He took a disturbing idea, twisted it until he could wring every bit of disgust out of it, and created a book that you can either love for the writing or hate for the storyline. Or maybe a bit of both. Or maybe, like me, you can be stuck awkwardly and uncomfortably in the middle.
—Sonya
Questo libro è un'allucinazione. Follia pura, una favola nera in cui una bambina si ritrova sola in un posto che non conosce, con il cadavere del padre e quattro teste di barbie per amiche, e conosce personaggi strani e completamente pazzi. Avevo già visto il film, che è abbastanza fedele al libro, perciò sapevo cosa aspettarmi. Ma lo stesso Jeliza Rose è riuscita a conquistarmi con la sua innocenza e con la sua immensa fantasia. C'è sempre una linea sottile fra il genio e la follia, e Cullin è bravissimo a dare voce a una bambina tanto sola quanto intelligente, alle prese con una situazione davvero più grande di lei. Sono fantastici i dialoghi che fa con le teste di bambola, riesce a interpretare entrambe le parti e pure a litigarci! Ho davvero adorato Jeliza Rose, e anche il povero Dickens, così tenero e bistrattato dalla sorella pazza.
—Thais
Eleven-year old Jeliza-Rose and her rockabilly dad leave California for Texas, where Jeliza-Rose's grandmother owned a house called What Rocks. Existence in What Rocks is a lonely one, so Jeliza Rose becomes absorbed in the world of her imagination and has conversations with Barbie heads stuck on her fingertips. Jeliza-Rose meets a peculiar woman next door named Dell, who lives with her creepy man-child brother, Dickens.Mitch Cullin did a wonderful job at capturing Jeliza-Rose's imagination and personality. I really enjoyed the story, but I wish Cullin would have been more consistent with the voice in the first-person narration. The voice goes back and forth between Jeliza's as a child and as an adult, with the author's own interspersed. This doesn't bog down the story too much, however.
—april violet
