Books: For Strong Stomachs

STATIONS by Burt Blechman. 137 pages. Random House. $3.95.

Violence in the subways is an up-to-the-minute topic for the enterprising young novelist, and in skilled hands could certainly be transformed into a recognizable allegory for the tensions that haunt the urbanized world. But to turn such an allegory simultaneously into a surrealistic re-enactment of Christ's Passion, as Novelist Blechman has done, will strike many readers as blasphemy. The novel is also perverse, obscure, flagrantly obscene. It is thus sure to arouse revulsion—but those with strong stomachs may find it fascinating at the same time. For it is redeemed by a white-hot anger,...