Can you help me find a book that I read when I was young and impressionable which involved a man named Tristram tripping out completely and turning into a tree and after a little bit, become chained to the floor whilst having his penis threatened with nail scissors by his ex-girfriend?

October 26, 2007 3:39 AM

I read a very strange book when I was young. The main character's name was Tristram, and it was very trippy. He turned into a tree, and there was weird, bondage type stuff going on with his girlfriend going at his penis with a pair of nail scissors. Do you have any idea what book this was? I'm guessing it would have been published in the late 60's/early 70's.

That's about all I can remember. I was about 11 or 12 when I read it. It freaked me out completely! There were all kinds of things going on but I think I may have blocked them out and I'm pretty sure I destroyed the book so it wouldn't haunt me after I read it. Now, of course, I'm completely jaded and would love to read it again.

posted by h00py to media & arts (15 comments total)

Tristram Shandy perhaps?

Good heavens I'm glad I didn't read that book at that age.
posted by allkindsoftime at 4:27 AM on October 26, 2007

I don't remember a scene in Tristram Shandy where Tristram turns into a tree. For starters.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 4:58 AM on October 26, 2007

It's not likely to be Tristram Shandy. One guy gets a groin injury from shrapnel, and there's a fair number of dick jokes, but no bondage. Also, it was written in 1759.
posted by creasy boy at 5:25 AM on October 26, 2007

Maybe Dahlgren, by Samuel Delany.
posted by cog_nate at 6:30 AM on October 26, 2007

Sorry, Dhalgren. Also, I hadn't finished. I only read the first 100 pages -- it's a big novel -- but at the beginning a guy hallucinates turning into a tree.
posted by cog_nate at 6:33 AM on October 26, 2007

As far as I remember, Dhalgren's protagonist isn't really ever anything other than The Kid, or just Kid.
posted by pullayup at 6:37 AM on October 26, 2007

I remember quite a bit of Dhalgren, and I don't recall any scenes with nail clippers. I could be wrong though - the last time I read it was quite a few years back, but many of the scenes have stuck with me.
posted by jquinby at 6:52 AM on October 26, 2007

Sounds like it could be Anthony Burgess' The Wanting Seed.
posted by goo at 6:57 AM on October 26, 2007

Could it be this?
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:08 AM on October 26, 2007

As far as I remember, Dhalgren's protagonist isn't really ever anything other than The Kid, or just Kid.

Ah, yep. Forgot about that.
posted by cog_nate at 8:12 AM on October 26, 2007

Definitely no nail clippers applied to the nether parts in Dhalgren, trust me. ;-)
posted by Iosephus at 8:16 AM on October 26, 2007

Er, scissors! Not clippers. I was probably thinking about that essay quote about how Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100-foot clipper, sorry.l
posted by Iosephus at 8:34 AM on October 26, 2007

Not Dhalgren - it's one of my favorite books and none of the description fits.
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:32 PM on October 26, 2007

Brian Aldiss?

Hard to find in the U.S. Certainly trippy, and the right date. I've not read all his works (there are a huge number), so I'm not sure if he has a Tristram character and such a scene.

Possibly Angela Carter's Wise Children, though I have read it and I think I would remember someone turning into a tree or their girlfriend trying to amputate their dick.
posted by bad grammar at 8:00 PM on October 26, 2007

Thank you for the responses. I was sure that the guy's name was Tristram but ever since I wrote the question my brain has been nagging at me. It finally came to me last night, after much deliberation, that the guy's name was actually Ariston. I've done a google search but couldn't find anything. It really was a very creepy and weird book that a 12 year old girl shouldn't have been anywhere near, and I'm still boggled that it was on my dad's bookshelf (he has eclectic tastes, admittedly), but I'd love to read it again.
posted by h00py at 3:25 PM on October 27, 2007