One of the most memorable in the sub-genre, The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler is a disturbing, dark comedy that veers into full dark territory about 3/4 of the way in.
The Basic Eight starts out with an amusing dark tone, like the movie Heathers (which the cover also evokes). The book is all journal entries from our narrator, Flannery Culp, who we know has murdered someone. It’s also apparent fairly soon that Flannery is the classic unreliable narrator and is likely a sociopath, at best. With all this known from the first few pages, you keep wondering what the twist will be.
Flannery is part of a very precocious elite clique of rich teenagers (the Basic 8) and initially it’s all teenage angsty precocious fun and then suddenly, well before the murder actually happens, there are about 3 pages describing the murder that are absolutely chilling. From then on the book is on a roller coaster ride that is pretty terrifying. Flannery being unreliable due to fact that she is probably insane is fun – and then frustrating. You won’t like her or any of the clique very much, but they are definitely fascinating.
As usual there is little to no parental supervision of any of these teenagers. This is a common thread, especially when the book is set with the students being in high school. It explains how they are able to use drugs, drink regularly at each other’s houses, and commit atrocious acts, but in this book Flannery’s missing parents are never even addressed. They simply aren’t there and I think it’s a poor omission.
The ending disappointed me. I figured out the twist well before it was revealed since Handler drops so many hints. I think there was a missed opportunity to make the twist even more of a dramatic one, and I thought maybe he was headed that direction during the party scene where the murder happens. But, he didn’t take it as far as I hoped and so it ended up being a bit anticlimactic, for me.
Despite my disappointment with the ending, this book has stayed with me and is one of the most memorable I’ve read. It is a very dark addition to the sub-genre and a funny one at times as well. The pop culture humor might not wear well – it would be interesting to go back and read this one again since I last read it close to a decade ago and it was published in 1999. Do not read if you are squeamish!
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