Chain-Gang All-Stars

It’s Boxing Day* so my fancy has lightly turned to thoughts of violence:

Chain Gang All Stars is a barely dystopian story of prisoners turned gladiators. It’s a book about our culture of violence, but even though the brutality is written beautifully (something I personally have a problem with) it doesn’t glorify it. Quite the opposite. It’s full of insights into death and the value (or lack thereof) of life, on power and reclaiming that for oneself in even the most desperate of circumstances. Horrible decisions are made and the characters grapple—literally—with the fallout in gut-wrenching (literally) ways. It’s not a comfortable book in the slightest and it is at times heavy-handed (you guessed it—literally) in its messaging about race, incarceration, and capital punishment. But it is a masterpiece; the kind of novel that should and will be taught in courses on social commentary in literature while still being utterly readable and compelling on a story level. Read it when you’re feeling pugilistic about the world, or just read it.

I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on how violence is portrayed in the media. Does it horrify or glorify it to you? Does it sensitize or desensitize?

*In the UK, Boxing Day is the day after Christmas, when traditionally the nobility opened the church alms boxes and gave money and gifts to the poor. These days people hold open houses, go for walks, and/or go shopping. In Ireland it’s St. Stephen’s Day and an excuse to go to the pub. No actual boxing takes place (that I know of)!