Fiction

Requiem for a Dream

Requiem for a Dream

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-11-01 05:52:15
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Hubert Selby Jr.
  • ISBN：1560252480
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Summary

In Coney Island， Brooklyn， Sarah Goldfarb， a lonely widow， wants nothing more than to lose weight and appear on a television game show。 She becomes addicted to diet pills in her obsessive quest， while her junkie son， Harry， along with his girlfriend， Marion， and his best friend， Tyrone， have devised an illicit shortcut to wealth and leisure by scoring a pound of uncut heroin。 Entranced by the gleaming visions of their futures， these four convince themselves that unexpected setbacks are only temporary。 Even as their lives slowly deteriorate around them， they cling to their delusions and become utterly consumed in the spiral of drugs and addiction， refusing to see that they have instead created their own worst nightmares。

"Selby's place is in the front rank of American novelists。 HIs work has the power， the intimacy with suffering and morality， the honesty and moral urgency of Doestoevsky's。 To understand Selby's work is to understand the anguish of America。" - The New York Times Book Review

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Reviews

Joel ，

Brutal depiction of the destructive effects of addiction

Lynn ，

Dark， dark， dark， dark， dark。Only 3 stars because his writing style bothered me。 5 stars for the story。 Only an author who himself was a junkie can make us see how low a heroin addiction can bring a person。 But of course we also see how pills and and an unhealthy desire to be thin can ruin the life of an otherwise normal， average woman。I love the movie so much even though every minute of it causes me angst。 This is a rare case of the movie being better than the book。

Usaid Yousaf ，

So fkn sad man :（ Would be 5 stars if there was any semblance of punctuation :）））））

Inopia ，

maldita joya de lectura， pero no sé que hacía leyendo esto a los 14 años。 ***Reseña pendiente。

Fifi ，

While this was a good read I think I prefer the movie adaptation more than the book。 Sara's storyline is definitely the most interesting of the 3 and I think the movie portrayed her hallucinations etc much better than in the book。 I also didn't really care about Tyrone's storyline in the book but the movie tied his in well with Harry and Marion。Overall，⭐⭐⭐⭐💉💉💉💉 While this was a good read I think I prefer the movie adaptation more than the book。 Sara's storyline is definitely the most interesting of the 3 and I think the movie portrayed her hallucinations etc much better than in the book。 I also didn't really care about Tyrone's storyline in the book but the movie tied his in well with Harry and Marion。Overall，⭐⭐⭐⭐💉💉💉💉 。。。more

Asq ，

Was traumatized by the movie but decided to retraumatize myself， amazing book。

Kira Griffin ，

concerning how most of the characters r relatable！！！ so many loose ends tho fuming

Rachel Louise Atkin ，

I read this book because the film is one of my favourite films ever。 Requiem for a dream is a book about addiction， obsession and substance abuse。 It follows four main characters， Harry， Tyrone， Marion and Sarah and each of these characters experiences addiction in their own unique way。 The film makes me feel really emotional， and I was worried that the book wouldn’t have the same sort of emotional hit that the film does， but I find myself get really attached to this novel， and at the end， I fel I read this book because the film is one of my favourite films ever。 Requiem for a dream is a book about addiction， obsession and substance abuse。 It follows four main characters， Harry， Tyrone， Marion and Sarah and each of these characters experiences addiction in their own unique way。 The film makes me feel really emotional， and I was worried that the book wouldn’t have the same sort of emotional hit that the film does， but I find myself get really attached to this novel， and at the end， I felt equally upset and emotional by what I was reading about。 The author has had trouble with addiction， especially to morphine himself， and knowing that he was trying to portray this with a personal experience of it really hit home with some of the more distressing scenes。 The way it’s written was quite jarring at first as there’s no paragraphs or “or anything like that， but once you get a feel of the voice and the way in which this is written， I found it to be really effective in characterising each of the people that you’re reading about This has got to be one of the saddest books that I have ever read， but I absolutely adored it and it’s just made me want to rewatch the film all over again。 I would highly recommend this book， but there will be big trigger warnings for substance abuse and eating disorders， as these are things that are explored in a lot more detail than they are in the film， especially the eating disorder parts。 。。。more

Jacques ，

Disgustingly good， so glad I held off watching the movie until I found it in paperback。 All the dimensions of addiction covered， the rationalisation， the anxiety， the fantasy！ Oh the fantasy of Harry and Marion's connection and where they'd talk of getting out of there current lives but we needed a hit right now and later we can plan on that business， when we got more dope and selling more bags。 Oh the fantasy of Sara getting on TV， that once everything lines up， once its perfect， she'll be seen Disgustingly good， so glad I held off watching the movie until I found it in paperback。 All the dimensions of addiction covered， the rationalisation， the anxiety， the fantasy！ Oh the fantasy of Harry and Marion's connection and where they'd talk of getting out of there current lives but we needed a hit right now and later we can plan on that business， when we got more dope and selling more bags。 Oh the fantasy of Sara getting on TV， that once everything lines up， once its perfect， she'll be seen again - she'll be loved by others again。Oh the fantasy of Tyrone who's just getting his hits for the moment， just looking out for himself， because nothing is missing and if something were to be missing it was money or dope。Life put off endlessly for that hit right now。 。。。more

Bunny the Reader ，

Nebylo to tak， že by nemohli přestat smažit， bylo to prostě o tom， že teď nebyl ten pravý čas。---Rekviem za sen byla hrozně zvláštní kniha。 Autor nepoužívá klasicky přímou řeč， rozhovor dvou postav je jednoduše zasazený do děje， věty kolikrát nedávají smysl， je zde hodně slangu či argotu。。 Jednoduše se mi to četlo vážně špatně a měla jsem velké problémy。 Kniha ani není rozdělená na kapitoly， text je dost nahustěný na sebe。 Myslím， že hodně lidí knihu ani nedočte。Příběh byl ovšem silný， to ano。 K Nebylo to tak， že by nemohli přestat smažit， bylo to prostě o tom， že teď nebyl ten pravý čas。---Rekviem za sen byla hrozně zvláštní kniha。 Autor nepoužívá klasicky přímou řeč， rozhovor dvou postav je jednoduše zasazený do děje， věty kolikrát nedávají smysl， je zde hodně slangu či argotu。。 Jednoduše se mi to četlo vážně špatně a měla jsem velké problémy。 Kniha ani není rozdělená na kapitoly， text je dost nahustěný na sebe。 Myslím， že hodně lidí knihu ani nedočte。Příběh byl ovšem silný， to ano。 Kolikrát mi až bylo špatně， co byly hlavní postavy ochotné udělat pro trošku fetu a jsem doslova zhnusená， co feťaci dobrovolně absolvují。 Ano， závislost je nemoc， ale nějak nedokážu cítit lítost k těmto postavám， minimálně k Marion， která měla v podstatě naprosto normální život， ale stejně si vybrala cestu drog。 Spolu s touto linkou se zde prolíná i příběh Harryho matky。 Ta je zlomená žena， ke které osud nebyl vůbec vlídný。 Možná byla jen hodně naivní a někdy hloupoučká。Kniha je určitě skvělý náhled na tuhle vrstvu， která má úplně jinak postavené priority a životní zásady。 Konec knihy mi přišel takový。。 Neúplný， něco mi prostě chybělo。 Jasně， nebyl to happy end， to ani nikdo nečeká， ale třeba by mě zajímalo， jak život postav pokračoval dál ohledně jejich závislosti。Pokud jste zkušený čtenář a dokážete se prokousat náročným textem， kniha možná skrze téma， které zpracovává， stojí za přečtení。 Jinak se ale třeba jen podívejte na film， který je dle mého skvěle zpracovaný a za mě je i lepší， než kniha。Rozhodla jsem se nehodnotit。---Za knihu děkuji Knihy Dobrovský 。。。more

Max ，

book so good it gave me depression

Maura ，

Hard to rate。 Didn’t particularly ENJOY reading this but also couldn’t not see how it ended。 Spoiler: it ends badly。

Michael Bruce ，

Amazing。 The way this was written I think really compliments the story itself， the confusing and chaotic page-long sentences made me feel like I was a part of the story itself。 This story goes above and beyond what it tried to succeed in such a raw manner that there’s no doubt as to why this book was written- don’t do drugs。

William ，

"Sheeit！" is used 99 times 🙄 just in case anyone cares "Sheeit！" is used 99 times 🙄 just in case anyone cares 。。。more

Megan ，

I will start off by saying， I did end up liking this book， but it does have some cons to it and it took me a while to really start enjoying it。Pros:1。 The descriptions are really detailed to a point where I could actually visualize what was going on。 Like， the actions of the characters and the characters themselves were described in such good detail that I could picture every so vividly。2。 The characters were pretty likeable， and I found myself really feeling sympathy for them。3。 The ending wasn I will start off by saying， I did end up liking this book， but it does have some cons to it and it took me a while to really start enjoying it。Pros:1。 The descriptions are really detailed to a point where I could actually visualize what was going on。 Like， the actions of the characters and the characters themselves were described in such good detail that I could picture every so vividly。2。 The characters were pretty likeable， and I found myself really feeling sympathy for them。3。 The ending wasn't just a fairytale， happy ending。 Which was a good thing， in my opinion。 I think it's good to have books that have depressing endings where nobody really wins。 That's how life is for a lot of people， it's realistic。4。 I like that it shows the ugliness of addiction。 I feel， especially in today's times， that drug use is very romanticized， and this book does a good job of showing the horrors of it and what it can lead to。Cons:1。 The writing is very weird and disorganized。 I found myself getting really confused at times when there would be conversations between characters。 The author doesn't use quotation marks at all， instead the conversations are just all jumbled together which makes it really confusing on who's saying what。 （For example， a conversation in the book would go like。。。 wow i really had a good day today。 yeah me too we should go do something later haha yeah we should what were you thinking we should do oh i dont know maybe go to the park）。 It's just very confusing and I wish the author would have used quotations and at least identified who was saying what。2。 The pacing is kind of slow。 At points， I found myself almost wanting to put the book down because I was just bored with it and couldn't really get into it。 Towards the middle of the book， it does start to pick up and get more interesting， however。All in all， while it took me a while to get into the book， I do like it。 I wouldn't consider it a favorite and probably won't read it again， as it was very mentally challenging for me to read （due to the way the book is written）。 The movie is very closely adapted from the book and if you're having a hard time understanding the book， I would recommend watching the movie instead。 。。。more

Designated Hysteric ，

Drugs， an addiction - Weight loss， an addiction - Expectations， an addiction - The American dream， an addiction - Fantasy and reality likewise - Addiction， an addiction - Life， an addiction - So is death， I suppose。 "Sometimes I think youre sick。 Sometimes？ Yes， sometimes。 The rest of the time theres absolutely no doubt。""Well， personally I think anybody who sees a shrink ought to have his head examined。""Marion tilted her head to one side and looked at Harry for a moment， then smiled gently， Yo Drugs， an addiction - Weight loss， an addiction - Expectations， an addiction - The American dream， an addiction - Fantasy and reality likewise - Addiction， an addiction - Life， an addiction - So is death， I suppose。 "Sometimes I think youre sick。 Sometimes？ Yes， sometimes。 The rest of the time theres absolutely no doubt。""Well， personally I think anybody who sees a shrink ought to have his head examined。""Marion tilted her head to one side and looked at Harry for a moment， then smiled gently， You really love her， dont you？ Harry shrugged， I guess so。 I mean， I dont know exactly。 One time I feel one way and the other time I feel something else。 Most of the time I just want her to be happy。 You know what I mean？ Marion nodded her head， a longing expression on her face。 Id just like to see her happy and making it … but sometimes I just cant seem to stop myself and I want to attack her like … ah I dont know。 Its not that I want to attack her so much， its just that I see her sitting there in that same old apartment that shes been in forever， wearing the same old house dress， you know even if it isnt the same it is， and I dont know what to do。 When Im away from her its fine， like I love her and have nice thoughts about her， when I think about her。 But when Im there， in that apartment with her， something happens and I get so goddamn irritated that I end up yelling at her。 O， its probably simple。 You love her and have a dependency and you dont know how to obtain your independence in a healthy manner by simply outgrowing the nest， so to speak， so you lash out and reject her before she can reject you。 Its a classic case， really。 Could be。 Me， I dont care about all that。 I just know that shes always lecturing me about being careful， youre a good boy， take care， dont get hurt …you know？ like she wont let me breathe。 Marion was nodding。 Harry shrugged， Ah， I dont know。 Its not important。 Now that Im set I can take care of her and visit her once in a while an maybe now she/ll get off my back when she sees how good Im doing。 Hey， maybe sometime we can take her out to dinner or something。 A show， who knows what。 What do you think？ I/d love to Harry。 Ive always loved your mother。 Shes always so charming and quaint， and … and real。 So unaffected。 She lives in the Bronx and loves the Bronx and lives her life in the open。 Not like some who look down their noses at people unless they live in New Rochelle or the Connecticut suburbs or Westchester and think theyre something theyre not while they still sound like theyre clearing their throat when they talk and slop cream cheese and bagels in their mouths in the morning and every Sunday night they go out to eat chinks。 Theyre so disgusting。 There is nothing worse than a cultural barbarian with pretensions。 Hey， youre really cooking， and he chuckled。 O， well， it really irritates me。 Shakespeare said， This above all， unto thine own self be true。 Polonius may have been a fool but there is a great deal of wisdom in that line。 I think thats one of the problems with the world today， nobody knows who they are。 Everyone is running around looking for an identity， or trying to borrow one， only they dont know it。 They actually think they know who they are and what are they？ Theyre just a bunch of schleppers—Harry chuckled at the way she spit the word out and the intensity with which she spoke—who have no idea what a search for personal truth and identity really is， which would be alright if they didnt get in your way， but they insist that they know everything and that if you dont live their way then youre not living properly and they want to take your space away … they actually want to somehow get into your space and live in it and change it or destroy it—Harry started to blink and stare as the anger mounted and flared out—they just cant believe that you know what you are doing and that you have your own identity and space and that you are happy and content with it。 You see， thats the problem right there。 If they could see that then they wouldnt have to feel threatened and feel that they have to destroy you before you destroy them。 They just cant get it through their philistine heads that you are happy where you are and dont want to have anything to do with them。 My space is mine and thats enough for me。" 。。。more

Kyle Kean ，

The writing style in this is legit awful。。。the refusal to use an apostrophe which is for some reason replaced with a slash （/） takes me out of the story and some of Tyrone's dialogue in this is laughably bad and he comes off as if he came out of a cheesy blaxploitation novel which is annoying when the book is so obviously trying to get you to take it and the subject matter very seriously。。。The pacing of the first 100-125 pages is kind of iffy and I almost put the book down but everything after t The writing style in this is legit awful。。。the refusal to use an apostrophe which is for some reason replaced with a slash （/） takes me out of the story and some of Tyrone's dialogue in this is laughably bad and he comes off as if he came out of a cheesy blaxploitation novel which is annoying when the book is so obviously trying to get you to take it and the subject matter very seriously。。。The pacing of the first 100-125 pages is kind of iffy and I almost put the book down but everything after the scene where Harry confronts his mother about the diet pills was pretty great and doesn't let up from there on in。 。。。more

Patricia Azevedo ，

So powerful， well-written and intense book！

nona ，

not funny， cried

Rightoh ，

85Horrifying。

Luís ，

Recommendation from Paulo Faria Recommendation from Paulo Faria 。。。more

Adéla Lhotová ，

V knize chybí přímá řeč， a kniha se tak hůře čte。 Chvíli trvalo než jsem si na tento formát zvykla。 I přes zvláštní styl kniha dobře přibližuje život feťáků a léčby závislosti。 Zajímavé， divné， kruté， smutné， depresivní， nesmyslné， zmatené， vulgární， žalostné， plné nespisovného jazyka - styl psaní vystihuje život feťáka。

Sylvester ，

Probably the saddest， most depressing book I've read this year。 Requiem for a Dream is a tale of the descent into madness addicts go through to get the next high， it can also be applied to different addictions other than substance addiction。 I still cannot decide how I feel about the book after reading it （any parts of Tyrone were unreadable， hence I cannot give it a higher rating）， but I cannot deny its status as a classic beat literature。 Probably the saddest， most depressing book I've read this year。 Requiem for a Dream is a tale of the descent into madness addicts go through to get the next high， it can also be applied to different addictions other than substance addiction。 I still cannot decide how I feel about the book after reading it （any parts of Tyrone were unreadable， hence I cannot give it a higher rating）， but I cannot deny its status as a classic beat literature。 。。。more

Camila Gil ，

Probablemente le hubiese dado mas estrellas de no haber visto la pelicula primero， multiples veces y fuera de mis favoritas。

Marcel ，

Príbeh sa odohráva v NY v 20。 storočí。 Hlavnými postavami sú priatelia Tyron （černoch） a Harry （žid）， Harryho mama Sára a jeho priateľka Marion。 Tyron， Harry a Marion sú závislí na heroíne a iných drogách。 Spolu majú sen， že raz budú šťastní a veria， že nikdy drogám neprepadnú tak， aby nevedeli s tým hocikedy skončiť。 Sára podlieha ideálu a začne byť závislá na tabletkách na chudnutie。 Kniha sa nečítala až tak ľahko， pretože autor nevyužíval oddelenie priamu reč a celá kniha je tak písaná ako ce Príbeh sa odohráva v NY v 20。 storočí。 Hlavnými postavami sú priatelia Tyron （černoch） a Harry （žid）， Harryho mama Sára a jeho priateľka Marion。 Tyron， Harry a Marion sú závislí na heroíne a iných drogách。 Spolu majú sen， že raz budú šťastní a veria， že nikdy drogám neprepadnú tak， aby nevedeli s tým hocikedy skončiť。 Sára podlieha ideálu a začne byť závislá na tabletkách na chudnutie。 Kniha sa nečítala až tak ľahko， pretože autor nevyužíval oddelenie priamu reč a celá kniha je tak písaná ako celok （ale priama reč tam je， len ju hneď nezbadáte）。 Zo začiatku som si musel na ten štýl zvyknúť， ale potom to bolo super。 Postavy rozprávajú dosť slangovo。 Kniha je dosť deprimujúca a opisy sú dosť surové。 Knihe udeľujem 5 z 5 a dávam do top kníh。 。。。more

Connor Pringle ，

the film is one of my favourites so was delighted to find out it was based of a novel and it did not disappoint。 A very compelling story which deals with drug addictions and their all-encompassing nature， as the story progresses we see the tragic end of these addictions albeit pleasure high seeking or tragic。 The main takeaway for me is the role addictions play on human relationships through Harry and Marion’s storyline。 Throughly enjoyed this book and would recommend reading it :）

Brian ，

Would it have killed you to write in grammatically correct sentences， and to use quotation marks for the dialog？ Unreadable after a few pages。

Andrea Janov ，

Like all of Selby's work that I have read so far， I fight to get into it， then midway in I am so invested in the characters， that by the end I am heartbroken。 Requiem for a Dream cuts to the quick of humanity and our lack of it。 It reveals our compassion by showing us the very worst。 Like all of Selby's work that I have read so far， I fight to get into it， then midway in I am so invested in the characters， that by the end I am heartbroken。 Requiem for a Dream cuts to the quick of humanity and our lack of it。 It reveals our compassion by showing us the very worst。 。。。more

Julia ，

I didn't finish this book; this book finished me。 I didn't finish this book; this book finished me。 。。。more

Joy D ，

Published in 1978， this is the story of four people who get addicted to drugs while in pursuit of their capitalistic dreams。 Sara Goldfarb gets a call about a possible television appearance on a game show。 In attempting to lose weight， she becomes addicted to diet pills。 Her son， Harry， girlfriend， Marion， and friend， Tyrone， want to open a business and improve their lives。 They decide to do this by selling heroin but end up as addicts。 There is a lot of tragedy in this book。 It seems to be an i Published in 1978， this is the story of four people who get addicted to drugs while in pursuit of their capitalistic dreams。 Sara Goldfarb gets a call about a possible television appearance on a game show。 In attempting to lose weight， she becomes addicted to diet pills。 Her son， Harry， girlfriend， Marion， and friend， Tyrone， want to open a business and improve their lives。 They decide to do this by selling heroin but end up as addicts。 There is a lot of tragedy in this book。 It seems to be an indictment of the “get rich quick” mentality that was （and is still） so prevalent in American society。 This is a bleak story。 I picked it up because it is on the Boxall List， but it is definitely too depressing for me。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Requiem for a Dream

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Requiem for a Dream&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Requiem for a Dream&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0