The Mall (Downside, #1) in SA Book & Challenge Lovers

Jan 12, 2011 S.A. Partridge rated it it was amazing

Shelves: south-african, horror

The Mall is the debut novel of S.L. Grey, the pseudonym of established South African writers Sarah Lotz and Louis Greenberg. It鈥檚 not so much a horror story, as the cover image might suggest, as it is a reflection of the darker side of humanity.

Rhoda needs to get to Highgate Mall as soon as possible to score cocaine from her dealer. She鈥檚 supposed to be looking after someone else鈥檚 child, but decides to take the kid with her, thinking she won鈥檛 be more than five minutes and what鈥檚 the worst that The Mall is the debut novel of S.L. Grey, the pseudonym of established South African writers Sarah Lotz and Louis Greenberg. It鈥檚 not so much a horror story, as the cover image might suggest, as it is a reflection of the darker side of humanity.

Rhoda needs to get to Highgate Mall as soon as possible to score cocaine from her dealer. She鈥檚 supposed to be looking after someone else鈥檚 child, but decides to take the kid with her, thinking she won鈥檛 be more than five minutes and what鈥檚 the worst that could happen? The worst in this case, is that she loses the child, beats up a mall security guard, and has to stay hidden until the mall closes or risk being arrested.

She decides to centre her rage on Dan, a slacker bookshop employee that didn鈥檛 back up her story when he was interviewed by security. She waits until Dan鈥檚 shift ends and forces him by knifepoint to help her search for the missing child.

The dynamic here is interesting. Crime is part of everyday South African life. Rhoda is a disfigured junkie who gets what she wants through violence. Dan, on the other hand, has been walked over his entire life, and readily submits to Rhoda鈥檚 threats without fighting back. The two make an unlikely pair, but it鈥檚 the horror of what comes next that unites them.

During their wonderings of the cavernous tunnels and storage rooms that constitute the mall, Rhoda and Dan find themselves in an 鈥渁lternate鈥� mall where McDonalds has been replaced by McColons and the chemist is called Medi-Sin. It鈥檚 a nightmare world where Shoppers have to shop 鈥榯ill they drop, and mind-controlled employees are chained to their desks.

But it鈥檚 not the horror of bloody meat dripping from its plastic packages or shoppers undergoing gruesome amputations for the sake of fashion that provides the biggest chills. The horror comes in the form of the novel鈥檚 take on the human condition.

The alternate mall hides nothing behind bright lights and pretty store displays. It describes, sometimes with comic brilliance, what a consumerist nightmare the real world is, and what human beings are actually capable of. In their quest to escape, Rhoda takes on the guise of a Shopper. She realises that she wants to be superior to others as this is how she views herself.

Dan becomes an Employee. At first he believes its all part of the game, but secretly he wants to be subservient and to please others. They adapt to these roles as if they were born for them. The alternate mall gives them a purpose that they were deprived of in their other lives. Soon the missing child is forgotten, and by the time Rhoda and Dan reach the exit, they鈥檙e not sure they want to leave.

Reading The Mall, you might experience the sensation of d茅j脿 vu. It鈥檚 all too real, somehow. Then you realise that the twisted mirror on real life was nothing more than plain glass all along. That鈥檚 the beauty of this work. It portrays real horror, but it鈥檚 the horror of real life and the ugly beast that is consumerism. ...more

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Jun 01, 2011 Lu rated it really liked it

Shelves: have, raru

What a strange and creepy book! Dan is tired of his life which seems to revolve around work and his mother. Rhoda is a fish out of water that gets stuck babysitting a young boy, only to lose him in The Mall. The Mall then throws their lives together in a weird mash of events. They are both very different characters who get caught up in a roller-coaster ride of things going wrong. It starts off on a scary note and soon became one of the weirdest books I had ever read! Rhoda and Dan are both chara ...more

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Feb 21, 2011 Nerine Dorman rated it it was amazing

What more can you ask from if you're looking for an off-the-wall romp that pokes fun at retail and residential hell, all in one? Two misfits, Rhoda and Daniel, form an unlikely partnership when they slip into the Other Mall that exists as an infernal mirror of Highgate Mall in Joburg.

While the author went on a limb creating two thoroughly unlikeable main characters, I found I was nonetheless cheering for them by the end of the story in all their glorious personal dysfunction. Although the tale ...more

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