Fishy-Fleshed Paperback – June 29, 2012

Cocoan lives in Ocean City, a place where all diseases are cured, people walk on water, and death is a thing of the past. The story comes from Cocoan's stream-of-conscious daily log recordings. His wife, Whyrie, is about to embark on a journey with a group of her fellow scientists...they will travel back in time in search of Jesus Christ. Forced to accompany them, Cocoan sets out to face the unknown. Will they find Jesus and discover the answers they are looking for? Will they make it back alive? And why is Whyrie always frowning at him?All these answers and oh so much more are revealed in Mellick's Fishy-fleshed. As always, CM3 delivers a fun, unique read. This work obviously has a major religious theme, but it has been "Mellickized." While some might be bothered by the stream-of-conscious stylized writing, I feel that it only helped with character development. I also think this work has some really clever moments (don't want to give anything away), that are not only funny but intelligent.I can't imagine not recommending one of CM3's books. I hope to write with a similar vivid imagination some day. My hats off to another Mellick classic.

This is easily Mellick's most poetic novel. In the introduction he say that he wrote it in three long days and that he was trying to mimic the train of thought of some with ADD. But the prose don't feel rushed or scrambled at all. It's more stylized than his later stuff and at times his choice of words is a bizarre but it always works. I hope he writes more books in this style in the future. Kerouac and Burrough wished they could write with spontaneity and at the same time the clarity this book has. Though I'm sure they might not have been into the subject matter.The story takes place in a futuristic world where everyone walks on water. I didn't like this idea much. I had trouble visualizing it. My favorite chapters take place either in doors or the past.That's right, it's a time travel book. And one of the best I have read. In it, the narrator and a bunch of scientist go to the past to find Jesus Christ. It gets really weird. And even spooky at times.The book is at times critical on religion but not cynical. I found the book to actually be very spiritually charged.

Time travel for the surreal new age!Fishyfleshed gets better each time I read it, which is actually often enough to the point where I wrote about it as a recommendation to my English teacher for a paper. How many books did you read in school that included a complete translation of it in a "lost" language? None like this, I can assure you.Mellick's writing, while highly creative and almost always entertaining, is not perfect. My one issue here is the very beginning of the book. After reading it countless times I still can't figure out why this is, though. It's pretty necessary to the plot to indicate why a bunch of scientists and one retard are in the past looking for Jesus, but it's always something I want to skip. Get right to the good stuff with squid people and Cyborg Jesus.I wouldn't recommend this as someone's first Mellick book, or even bizarro in general, but for those seasoned veterans, you'll probably get a kick out of it. I know I continuously do.

Fishy-fleshed is not like other novels. But then, none of CM3's novels are like other novels. They are more like bizarre cult films, only you can't put them into VCRs or DVD players and watch them. You have to read them, because they are books.If the words "book" or "reading" make you want to punch someone, don't worry. Fishy-fleshed is fast paced and entertaining. You can read the whole thing in an hour or two. Nearly all of Mellick's books are like this; short and sweet. But don't be fooled. He's able to pack more into a thin novella than most authors could in a bulky tome. You can read his books over and over and find something new every time.And did I mention the pictures? Most of Carlton's books are illustrated. The images in Fishy-fleshed are not like anything I've seen before. They are the thoughts of the narrator, plucked from his head and presented visually. I really can't tell you how strange they are. You'll have to see them yourself.Get this book, and every other Mellick book, and you'll never be bored again.

I adore Fishy Fleshed with its illustrations and humour.This book has got one of the most amazing concepts where it has been translated from another language! ( which you can actually find in the book itself) and follows a species of people who are so technologically advanced that they can actually walk on water and all come from a place called " Ocean City".The story revolves around a child like man and his wife who is apart of a scientific organization who wish to go back in time to find out the facts of the Messiah and make a clone of him to bring back to the future.Packed with enjoyable characters and sentences that you cannot help but laugh out loud at, Fishy Fleshed is an amazing book that any bizarro fan should buy!

This is definitely one of CM3s more different books. He writes in his stream of consciousness/ schizo style so it is interesting to read. You can read the description of the book but it really doesn't do it justice. Throughout the story there are also little illustrations by the character to try and help describe how he views things differently from the rest of the world. It is like some weird schizophrenic/synesthesiac type thing going on with the characters brain. The story is brilliant and it is written wonderfully.

Yes it is a trip to our near future that soon finds our main characters taking a trip back to the times of the bible, to find out if Jesus was everything the Bible says he is or if it was total bupkiss. The results that they find may just totally surprize you, especially when they return to their present day future. A very fun and interestig read coming from the mind of Carlton Mellick again. AAA+++

I have adored Mr Mellicks book since I was about 20. ...(that's a long time) and I am always jumping on them when they are available.This one, not my favourite. I found it difficult to get as entranced in them as I would normally.Sti worth a read through if you are a fan of the genre.

In der Zukunft können Menschen über das Wasser gehen, wenn sie ihre ganz speziellen Beine angelegt haben. Cocoan und seine Freundin Whyrie leben sogar mitten in einer Stadt auf dem Meer. Und wen wundert es, dass man die nächsten Orte direkt über den Ozean zu Fuß erreichen kann. Teilweise schwimmen ja sogar Menschen unter einem, auch wenn kaum noch einer Baden geht, da die Abfälle ins Meer geleitet werden.Eine Gruppe von Whyries Wissenschaftsfreunden erforscht gerade die Zeitreise, denn sie wollen wissen, ob es Jesus wirklich geben hat. Sie vermuten nämlich, dass es nur ein Zeitreisender aus der Zukunft gewesen war, der genau wie sie über das Wasser laufen konnte. Doch das mit dem Zeitreisen gestaltet sich nicht so ganz einfach. Über einen Teleport landen sie im zukünftigen Galea und mittels eines sich drehenden Pennys wollen sie es schaffen, dass das Zeittor sich öffnet.Als dies tatsächlich gelingt, scheint aber irgendetwas schief zu gehen, denn Whyrie und Cocoan sind an einer anderen Zeit im damaligen Galea gelandet. Cocoan musste übrigens nackt mitkommen, denn er wollte erst nicht daran teilhaben. Als er sich dann doch dazu entschied, musste es sehr schnell gehen, und die Reisenden hatten keine Möglichkeit mehr, ihm ein entsprechendes Outfit der Zeit mitzugeben, denn in ihren futuristischen Anzügen wäre Cocoan sofort aufgefallen.Die Zeit vergeht für Cocoan und Whyrie sehr langsam. Sie wissen nicht, wo Jesus ist und vor allem können sie ohne die anderen nicht zurück. Deshalb beschließen sie eine Familie dort in der Vergangenheit, die übrigens ganz schön stinkig ist, zu gründen. Als Whyrie fast vor der Niederkunft ist, taucht auf einmal einer aus ihrer Gruppe auf, doch für ihn waren es nur ein paar Augenblicke, wo die Gefährten getrennt waren. Für Whyrie und Cocoan waren es hingegen Monate. Doch dann scheint sich ihre gefährliche Reise tatsächlich gelohnt zu haben, denn Jesus ist in der Nähe. Doch als sie ihm dann wirklich gegenüberstehen, ist es so gar nicht der Messias, den sie erwartet haben...Wertung:Wieder ein kurzer Mellick für zwischendurch und wiedermal vorzüglich gelungen. Die Idee, dass es Jesus vielleicht gar nicht gegeben hat und es sich um einen Zeitreisenden aus der Zukunft gehandelt haben könnte, hat einfach was, auch wenn streng gläubige Christen vielleicht aufschreien werden, und dieses Buch fast als Gotteslästerung betrachten könnten. Humor hat es insgesamt etwas weniger und es ist auch nicht so superabsurd, auch wenn gerade das Ende mal wieder einiges bereit hält.Sprachlich war das Buch anfangs gar nicht so einfach, da sich die gesprochenen Wörter einfach auf ein Minimum reduziert haben. Cocoan erzählt die Geschichte aus der Ich-Form und manchmal fällt es ihm so schwer etwas zu beschreiben, dass er stattdessen Bilder sprechen lässt. Das lockert die Geschichte sehr angenehm auf und man weiß zumindest grob, wie gerade der Gedankengang des Protagonisten ist.Fishy-Fished ist einer von Mellicks besseren Werken. Und es bekommt deshalb auch 4/5. Glog bless you...

This is one of Carlton Mellick III's earlier books, written in what he refers to as a 'schizo' style. Told with a unique voice and stark, jolting style, it is the story about a world where everybody has the powers that Jesus Christ had, and some scientists develop time-travel. The characters are interesting, the narrator has a particularly strong voice, which really helps the story feel like its moving at all times. The narrator's wife is a strange character, her motives are often unclear, but that is due to the narrator's understanding, as opposed to bad writing!The version I got had HUGE writing, like, maybe 50 words a page or something, so being 240 pages long was almost a trick, it could probably have been 80 pages long in a reasonable sized font. Not that I really minded, the big writing just meant that I felt like a success for blitzing through a 240 page book.As with all the Mellick books I have read, there is a strong exploration of humanity's metaphysical concepts involving religion, love, identity and the such. It is always dealt with in a playful manner, but with enough meat that if you really wanted to talk about it philosophically, you could use a Mellick book as a source text for your argument and I personally wouldn't bat an eye.The plot develops speed as it progresses, with the final part belting along. I imagine that anybody who reads this book will find themselves quite happy to read to the end, it reads fast, it reads intelligently, it reads fun.I found an affinity for the illustrated thoughts of the narrator Mellick spreads through the book too, they reminded me of the type of doodle I covered my school books in, the ineffable sense inherent in genius... or something