Rating  - A specter of Cornell's past ?!
Farina captures with his semi-autobiographic book the spirit of the 60s as well as the spirit of Cornell and its campus life as it used to be and maybe sometimes still is.
Sometimes crude and to some maybe offensive, often surprising, but never boring, Farina tells the story of his hero Gnossos Pappadopoulis and his friends and opponents. Gnossos seems to navigate free spirited and independant through the shallows of his life and love, but more and more it becomes obvious that he is just a pawn in other peoples games.
Nevertheless, one immediately likes Gnossos and this feeling is not diminished by some of his actions and how he treats other people.
This story and the way it is told makes you regret that Farina died too young in an accident, probably with many stories untold.
Rating  - Disappointment for those who want real subversive literature
I really wanted to like this book, I really did. Terse and sometimes difficult prose, drug flavored stream of consciousness, and heaping allusions to The Odyssey and pulp comic book heroes. At first the book seemed perfect for me, but not unpredictably Richard Farina's creative well was poisoned by the usual dose of misogyny. Usually I can stand some cognac in my literature, but in this case it felt as if there was more poison than water. Been Down is a frustrating book, where Farina's hatred of women overcomes, strangles, shoots, poisons, and drowns out any of his natural talent.
Been Down follows Gnossos Pappadopoulis as he navigates his way through college while the whiteheads of the sixties rebellion make their way through his circle of friends. Early on he seduces an engaged woman who quickly falls in love with Gnossos. Why? I have no clue because the description of the "seduction" veers precariously close to date rape. It is easily the least erotic love scene I've read. When the seduced woman informs her fiancé that she is in love with Gnossos, he ends up committing suicide. A paragraph of regret later and Gnossos is back to his old ways.
Gnossos eventually gets bitten by the love bug when he meets Kristin (of course, if you've read the novel you'll know that's not the only bug he gets bitten by). This gives Farina the opportunity to delve into some drug induced conversation and scenes. The first psychedelic set piece is rather successful, and it involves Farina describing a dream where he encounters a wolf. It actually plays rather well by taking the form of an allegory but denying the reader any strict one-to-one metaphor. This strong passage is offset by another psychedelic piece involving a demonic monkey. Yes, you read that right. It's funny for all the wrong reasons, and the only way I was able to get past these passages was by imagining the evil monkey that lives in Chris Griffin's closet on The Family Guy. (I took a similar approach in getting through Wuthering Heights by imagining that Joseph was the spitting image of Groundskeeper Willie).
Well, it goes without saying that Gnossos' love ends when they have a falling out, she becomes pregnant but decides to rid herself of the child, and, naturally, at the end of the book Gnossos ends up forcibly giving her a heroin suppository. Once again, you read that correctly. There are more subtle examples of Farina's misogyny, but you have to admit he saved the most flagrant for the finale.
At one point Kristin asks Gnossos if he ever gets tires "thinking about stuff all the time." This line is second only to the demonic monkey in unintentional humor. If you've ever wondered why so many progressive hippies became straight laced businessmen or fanatic evangelicals, then I have two untested observations. First, for a certain age group being a hippie was the norm, and for many was merely conformity to a subculture (Charles Manson comes to mind). Second, many just could not escape the lifestyle their parents had raised them in since birth. A summer of love can't quite overcome a childhood filled with gender roles. Farina suffers from the latter and it is readily apparent in Been Down.
It's a shame that Richard Farina dies so young, because at times you can see the talent peeping out of this novel. The prose can be really strong and unique, but unfortunately Farina suffers from an immaturity that is beneath his years. I can sense that a good book was in him if he has survived. Perhaps by the time he was sixty he would have written a novel with the insight of a thirty-year-old?
Rating  - Do Not Read This Book
It could ruin your life. As a former young Goldwater conservative, reading this book had a devastating effect on my chosen path. It is so gratifying to see the new generation of neo-cons employing their superior intellectual and critical skills to steer impressionable students of beat and hipster cool away from this soul sucking drivel.
By all means encourage the young to look to James Joyce for his repressed, Jesuitical sexual thrills and Henry Miller for his enlightened views on sexual liberation. Certainly by evoking icons like Kerouac and Burroughs this upstart can be put in his place for immaturely handling alcohol and drug abuse. Pynchon is a much better role model for media relations than a tacky motorcycle death. Elevating Dylan's liner notes is a great idea and while we're at it let's give Andrew Loog Oldham his due
Do not fall into the trap of legitimizing Gnossos' bad-boy behavior by any comparisons to Huck. That whole Huck and slavery issue is completely different from some modern day opportunist allowing his name to be linked to so-called people's liberation movements in Cuba and Northern Ireland.
Finally, do not read this book because it is poorly written, the plot is not good, the characters are despicable and have funny names, women are objectified and treated unchivalrously, and legitimate authority is satirized and ridiculed.
Rating - One of my favorites
This is one of those books that broke the mold when it was created. It has a unique energy and style which has never since been truly replicated, but that is not for a lack of trying. I was surprised to see all the haters of this novel. All I can figure is some people don't like to listen to the kazoo.
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