Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
26 June 2023
'Broken Light' by Joanne Harris
04 September 2021
The Real Deal
'Reality and Other Stories' by John Lanchester
So, as the nights are drawing in (just) and autumn is around the corner (more or less), it's time for a spine-chiller! And they don't come more chilling than 'Reality and Other Stories' by John Lanchester.
09 April 2021
Legs Eleven
'Eleven' by Patricia Highsmith
2021 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of my favourite authors, Patricia Highsmith. Best known for 'Strangers on a Train' and the five Tom Ripley books, her work has often been introduced to new generations through film adaptations. I discovered her via the 1999 Antony Minghella film 'The Talented Mister Ripley', and was hooked from that moment on - an atypical instance of a film doing justice to a novel. While too many of her works are currently out of print, I did manage to get hold of an ebook version of her short story collection 'Eleven'. But was is worth the effort?
19 July 2019
A Walk in the Dark
'Help the Witch' by Tom Cox (Unbound, 2018)
As some of you may remember, I really enjoyed Tom Cox's '21st Century Yokel' about this time last year. His next adventure was in short fiction, so, as a short story fan, I couldn't wait to try his folk horror collection 'Help the Witch'.
'Help the Witch' is a collection of ten tense tales which put the nature back into the supernatural. A village's dark past haunts a new resident in the story 'Help the Witch', while a covertly sinister waterway permeates 'The Pool'. Spirits walk in unlikely places in 'Speed Awareness' and 'Just Good Friends' and morality tales are modernised and subverted for comic effect in 'Folk Tales for the Twenty-Third Century'. This is a collection that draws readers' attentions to the murky shadows that are inevitably cast even on bright, sunny days in the countryside. You can't have one without the other, after all. You may not notice them as you picnic and play, but they're always there. And they may be out to get you...
As some of you may remember, I really enjoyed Tom Cox's '21st Century Yokel' about this time last year. His next adventure was in short fiction, so, as a short story fan, I couldn't wait to try his folk horror collection 'Help the Witch'.
'Help the Witch' is a collection of ten tense tales which put the nature back into the supernatural. A village's dark past haunts a new resident in the story 'Help the Witch', while a covertly sinister waterway permeates 'The Pool'. Spirits walk in unlikely places in 'Speed Awareness' and 'Just Good Friends' and morality tales are modernised and subverted for comic effect in 'Folk Tales for the Twenty-Third Century'. This is a collection that draws readers' attentions to the murky shadows that are inevitably cast even on bright, sunny days in the countryside. You can't have one without the other, after all. You may not notice them as you picnic and play, but they're always there. And they may be out to get you...
21 December 2018
The Most Natural Thing in the World
'Sealed' by Naomi Booth (Dead Ink, 2017)
I love it when publishers put a shout out for book bloggers on Twitter. This has led me to some absolutely incredible books, books that I would never have known about otherwise, let alone read. 'Sealed' by Naomi Booth is just one example.
When the heavily-pregnant Alice and her laid-back partner, Pete, move out of the city to a remote house in the mountains, they believe it's a fresh start. Away from urban pollution and the deadly skin-sealing disease it may be causing, they hope that they can put tragedy and worry behind them and prepare a safe home for the new arrival. But the grass isn't always greener, and not only does their new location provide new dangers, old ones prove hard to escape too...
I love it when publishers put a shout out for book bloggers on Twitter. This has led me to some absolutely incredible books, books that I would never have known about otherwise, let alone read. 'Sealed' by Naomi Booth is just one example.
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| 'Sealed' by Naomi Booth (Dead Ink, 2017) |
04 September 2017
Normal for Scarfolk
In retrospect, the 1970s and early '80s look a bit weird. A time of fantastic pop music, scratchy man-made fibres and cold war - talk about the good, the bad and the ugly. Those who lived through it may have noticed a sense of the sinister and supernatural that permeated popular culture. But while the rest of us moved on - perhaps with a sigh of relief - the people of the enigmatic northern town of Scarfolk appear to have chosen a very different path...
'Discovering Scarfolk' by Richard Littler is a work of fiction (we hope), based on 'evidence' compiled by Dr Ben Motte as he pieced together the story of his missing university friend, Daniel Bush. Bush and his two sons, Joe and Oliver, were travelling north to start a new life when a stop in Scarfolk changed everything. Joe and Oliver vanished, leaving behind nothing but a mysterious cloud of stationery. A panicked Daniel seeks help from the locals, who are at first unresponsive, then evasive and finally downright weird...
Very dark but also laugh out loud funny, 'Discovering Scarfolk' is a quintessentially British satire of a time long gone and a place that might still exist in some remote corner of our island. Graphic artist Littler includes some eye catching parodies of public information posters and other ephemera that are so realistic I had to remind myself that they weren't real. Not even the book about practical witchcraft. The skilled blurring of fact and fiction just adds to the simultaneous unease and feeling of familiarity that pervades the book. 'Discovering Scarfolk' is an uncanny valley for the UK in the 1970s.
The only weakness here is the plot, but it hardly matters. It's the idea of the time and place which is the star and the villain of the piece, and how Littler uses all the media at his disposal to teach us a thing or two about growing up before social media posts and digital photography allowed us to record every moment, making remembering anything almost unnecessary. On every level, this is a book about memory and the tricks it can play.
'Discovering Scarfolk' is a book for people with a 'League of Gentlemen' sense of humour (unsurprisingly, Mark Gatiss is a fan), especially those who grew up in the '70s. I'm sure there are many references this generation will get that I missed.
In Scarfolk, the past is a foreign county. They do things very differently there.
For more information, please reread this post.
Related Links
The Scarfolk Blog
'Discovering Scarfolk' by Richard Littler is a work of fiction (we hope), based on 'evidence' compiled by Dr Ben Motte as he pieced together the story of his missing university friend, Daniel Bush. Bush and his two sons, Joe and Oliver, were travelling north to start a new life when a stop in Scarfolk changed everything. Joe and Oliver vanished, leaving behind nothing but a mysterious cloud of stationery. A panicked Daniel seeks help from the locals, who are at first unresponsive, then evasive and finally downright weird...
Very dark but also laugh out loud funny, 'Discovering Scarfolk' is a quintessentially British satire of a time long gone and a place that might still exist in some remote corner of our island. Graphic artist Littler includes some eye catching parodies of public information posters and other ephemera that are so realistic I had to remind myself that they weren't real. Not even the book about practical witchcraft. The skilled blurring of fact and fiction just adds to the simultaneous unease and feeling of familiarity that pervades the book. 'Discovering Scarfolk' is an uncanny valley for the UK in the 1970s.
The only weakness here is the plot, but it hardly matters. It's the idea of the time and place which is the star and the villain of the piece, and how Littler uses all the media at his disposal to teach us a thing or two about growing up before social media posts and digital photography allowed us to record every moment, making remembering anything almost unnecessary. On every level, this is a book about memory and the tricks it can play.
'Discovering Scarfolk' is a book for people with a 'League of Gentlemen' sense of humour (unsurprisingly, Mark Gatiss is a fan), especially those who grew up in the '70s. I'm sure there are many references this generation will get that I missed.
In Scarfolk, the past is a foreign county. They do things very differently there.
For more information, please reread this post.
Related Links
The Scarfolk Blog
18 June 2017
Real to Reel
Disclaimer: Today is very, very hot. As a result, this post might be complete gibberish. If so, I apologise. If not, I clearly have more stamina than I realise. But the only way you're going to find out is by reading on!
While recovering from a bout of flu earlier this month, I staggered to the bookshelf and, with much effort, coughing and spluttering, managed to pick up 'It's Only a Movie: Reel Life Adventures of a Film Obsessive' by established critic Mark Kermode. Fortunately, it was a good choice.
'It's Only a Movie' is a charming, whistlestop tour through Kermode's life and career as a film journalist in print and on radio. An entertaining collection of loosely linked anecdotes, it hop, skips and jumps through tales of how his childhood obsession developed into an unlikely career with the energy of a comic book fan on their way to yet another superhero movie. From inspirational schoolboy cinema visits, to teenage pretension and adult near incompetence at university and in his early jobs, this is the story of a man who nearly ruins Time Out, gets shot at in LA, champions horror movies, enters a long term, on air relationship, is broken by Russia, gets kicked out of Cannes Film Festival and, of course, watches an awful lot of movies. When there's love, peril and (hopefully) a happy ending, it's bound to be a hit.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's silly, but it's fun. The author freely admits that he may not be quite telling the truth, but that's fine. He clearly knows that the stories he's telling are just a bit nuts, perhaps only believing them himself because he was there.
One thing that did please me was that name dropping was kept to a minimum. It would've been so easy to wheel out a load of gossip about the big industry names just to attract a wider audience, but fortunately Kermode hasn't stooped to this and it's a much better book for it. You get the impression that, with a few specific exceptions, it's the movies that matter and he finds the whole celebrity circus a bit gross. This means that it's the art form that he loves that stays centre stage.
As a result, this is a great book for movie buffs, a bit of a change from all those expensive, in depth 'making of' books and long nights spent arguing over the top 50 1980s South Korean horror movies. Come out of the cinema and read this in the sunshine, people. Although maybe not on a day like this...
Now, what next...
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| 'It's Only a Movie' by Mark Kermode (Random House, 2010) |
'It's Only a Movie' is a charming, whistlestop tour through Kermode's life and career as a film journalist in print and on radio. An entertaining collection of loosely linked anecdotes, it hop, skips and jumps through tales of how his childhood obsession developed into an unlikely career with the energy of a comic book fan on their way to yet another superhero movie. From inspirational schoolboy cinema visits, to teenage pretension and adult near incompetence at university and in his early jobs, this is the story of a man who nearly ruins Time Out, gets shot at in LA, champions horror movies, enters a long term, on air relationship, is broken by Russia, gets kicked out of Cannes Film Festival and, of course, watches an awful lot of movies. When there's love, peril and (hopefully) a happy ending, it's bound to be a hit.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's silly, but it's fun. The author freely admits that he may not be quite telling the truth, but that's fine. He clearly knows that the stories he's telling are just a bit nuts, perhaps only believing them himself because he was there.
One thing that did please me was that name dropping was kept to a minimum. It would've been so easy to wheel out a load of gossip about the big industry names just to attract a wider audience, but fortunately Kermode hasn't stooped to this and it's a much better book for it. You get the impression that, with a few specific exceptions, it's the movies that matter and he finds the whole celebrity circus a bit gross. This means that it's the art form that he loves that stays centre stage.
As a result, this is a great book for movie buffs, a bit of a change from all those expensive, in depth 'making of' books and long nights spent arguing over the top 50 1980s South Korean horror movies. Come out of the cinema and read this in the sunshine, people. Although maybe not on a day like this...
Now, what next...
11 December 2016
Children of the Evolution
There's nothing quite like a bookshop find. Spotting something you like the look of. Moving away from it, going back, your brain telling you you don't need any more books while your heart wails that this could be the best book you've ever read. Ever!
It was in these circumstances that I discovered 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' by Ransom Riggs. The steampunk-style, grey scale cover got my attention, as did the sulky look of the child in the old photo it featured. Who was she? And why did she look so indignant? My head won in the short term as I borrowed it from the library. But I knew I'd fallen in love and a purchase followed.
'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' is the story of the disaffected American teen Jake
Portman and how he discovers his world is far from ordinary. As a child, Jake's grandfather, Abraham, told him stories of his time in a Welsh children's home and the strange talents of the children he lived with; the invisible boy, the girl who could fly, the siblings who could lift enormous boulders. He proves his tales with his tattered collection of old photographs, but as Jake gets older, he stops wanting to look and to listen. By the time Jake is 16, Abraham has dementia and no one is listening to him at all. But when his grandfather is attacked and killed by a mysterious creature, leaving Jake disturbed and frightened, he begins a journey that will lead to a truth far more chilling and extreme than Jake could possibly have imagined...
While I really enjoyed 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children', my goodness it's dark! It's classified as 'young adult' book, but I think if I'd read it as a youngster it would've given me nightmares! Then again, perhaps, as an adult, I'm reading more into it than your average teen, such as hearing echos of the Holocaust and feeling a pang of sadness at the lost identities of the photographs' sitters. (The book developed from the author's collection of unwanted old photos, bought at flea markets and often without any clue as to who they show.)
Overall, I found 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' to be a tense thriller, even though it's set on the very edges of reality. Many older readers will see the plot twist coming a mile off, but there's enough originality and detail in the characters and their back stories to make this a very engaging adventure that feels genuinely frightening at times. So, weirdly, while I wouldn't recommend it for the young people it's actually aimed at, I suspect many adults will enjoy 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'. I just hope that the next book is as good as this one!
Now, what next...?
A Note on the Film
Almost as soon as I'd finished reading 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children', I started seeing adverts for the Tim Burton film. "Brilliant!" I thought "I can't imagine a better person to direct it!" Unfortunately, I found it incredibly disappointing. I could list so many things that felt wrong about the film, but ultimately, I think it was a case of trying too hard to squeeze a quart into a pint pot. By its nature, this first book in the series includes many characters, all with back stories, plus a plot to bring them all together. Perhaps it would've made a better TV series or it should've aimed at a slightly older audience, like the later Harry Potter films. I'm no purist and can name films that are better than the books as easily as books that are better than the films, but on this occasion, I'd stick with the book. I'm so glad I read it first.
It was in these circumstances that I discovered 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' by Ransom Riggs. The steampunk-style, grey scale cover got my attention, as did the sulky look of the child in the old photo it featured. Who was she? And why did she look so indignant? My head won in the short term as I borrowed it from the library. But I knew I'd fallen in love and a purchase followed.
'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' is the story of the disaffected American teen Jake
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| 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' by Ransom Riggs (Quirk Books, 2013) |
While I really enjoyed 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children', my goodness it's dark! It's classified as 'young adult' book, but I think if I'd read it as a youngster it would've given me nightmares! Then again, perhaps, as an adult, I'm reading more into it than your average teen, such as hearing echos of the Holocaust and feeling a pang of sadness at the lost identities of the photographs' sitters. (The book developed from the author's collection of unwanted old photos, bought at flea markets and often without any clue as to who they show.)
Overall, I found 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' to be a tense thriller, even though it's set on the very edges of reality. Many older readers will see the plot twist coming a mile off, but there's enough originality and detail in the characters and their back stories to make this a very engaging adventure that feels genuinely frightening at times. So, weirdly, while I wouldn't recommend it for the young people it's actually aimed at, I suspect many adults will enjoy 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children'. I just hope that the next book is as good as this one!
Now, what next...?
A Note on the Film
Almost as soon as I'd finished reading 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children', I started seeing adverts for the Tim Burton film. "Brilliant!" I thought "I can't imagine a better person to direct it!" Unfortunately, I found it incredibly disappointing. I could list so many things that felt wrong about the film, but ultimately, I think it was a case of trying too hard to squeeze a quart into a pint pot. By its nature, this first book in the series includes many characters, all with back stories, plus a plot to bring them all together. Perhaps it would've made a better TV series or it should've aimed at a slightly older audience, like the later Harry Potter films. I'm no purist and can name films that are better than the books as easily as books that are better than the films, but on this occasion, I'd stick with the book. I'm so glad I read it first.
07 May 2016
Carmilla Cameleon
Like most normal people, the minute the days start getting sunnier and warmer, I get an incredible yearning to read horror novels. As such, I recently read 'Carmilla' by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, one of the unholy trio of classic 19th century vampire novels in my collection. (The others are Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' (1897) and Dr John Polidori's sideswipe at Lord Byron, 'The Vampyre' (1819).)
Published in 1872, 'Carmilla' is the story of a young aristocrat named Laura and the mysterious Carmilla. Living in a remote castle with her father and two governesses, Laura feels the bite of her isolation keenly and longs for more contact with those of her own age. Her prayers seem to have been answered when her father offers refuge to a young woman, Carmilla, involved in a dramatic carriage accident nearby. But the dream soon becomes a nightmare as Carmilla proves an idiosyncratic house guest, prone to passions and melancholies and unexplained nocturnal absences...
As you know, I often struggle with 'classic' books and, even though I hate to admit it, my blood often runs cold when I think about reading them. 'Carmilla' surprised me because I found it highly readable, a page turner even, and I really wanted to keep reading it right until the end.
The classic vampire is an aristocratic male, so I was curious about a story with a female revenant. It's interesting that whether villain or villainess the overall structure of the vampire tale and a number of traditional features are pretty much the same. For example, when Carmilla is at her most obsessive about Laura, there is a definite sexual energy and her femininity and animal magnetism save her on a number of occasions. She's also charming, aristocratic and able to appear in animal form. There are predictive dreams, mysterious deaths, a historic back story and an expert in vampires who helps sort everything out. Basically, there's everything you'd expect.
Overall, I'd say that this book is worth a read, although, like any vampire tale, it's teeth are probably blunter because variations on the story have stolen its originality over the past 150 years ago. As well as the female vampire, I think it is Laura who makes the difference. Her honesty, naivety and vulnerability made it hard not to root for her and hope things turn out well. It's a compliment to the writer that I didn't think her a sap!
In many ways, Carmilla's changeable personality made me think of the complexities of growing up and being a teen, so perhaps this is something teenaged readers might relate to in particular.
'Carmilla' is ripe for a new TV adaptation. We've seen Dracula and other vampires revived so many times on screen, it would be interesting to see what the female of the species has been up to all this time. The New Year slot seems to have become the home of gothic dramas, so perhaps 'Carmilla' will turn up there in a few years time. One thing I am sure of - she's far from dead and gone.
Published in 1872, 'Carmilla' is the story of a young aristocrat named Laura and the mysterious Carmilla. Living in a remote castle with her father and two governesses, Laura feels the bite of her isolation keenly and longs for more contact with those of her own age. Her prayers seem to have been answered when her father offers refuge to a young woman, Carmilla, involved in a dramatic carriage accident nearby. But the dream soon becomes a nightmare as Carmilla proves an idiosyncratic house guest, prone to passions and melancholies and unexplained nocturnal absences...
As you know, I often struggle with 'classic' books and, even though I hate to admit it, my blood often runs cold when I think about reading them. 'Carmilla' surprised me because I found it highly readable, a page turner even, and I really wanted to keep reading it right until the end.
The classic vampire is an aristocratic male, so I was curious about a story with a female revenant. It's interesting that whether villain or villainess the overall structure of the vampire tale and a number of traditional features are pretty much the same. For example, when Carmilla is at her most obsessive about Laura, there is a definite sexual energy and her femininity and animal magnetism save her on a number of occasions. She's also charming, aristocratic and able to appear in animal form. There are predictive dreams, mysterious deaths, a historic back story and an expert in vampires who helps sort everything out. Basically, there's everything you'd expect.
Overall, I'd say that this book is worth a read, although, like any vampire tale, it's teeth are probably blunter because variations on the story have stolen its originality over the past 150 years ago. As well as the female vampire, I think it is Laura who makes the difference. Her honesty, naivety and vulnerability made it hard not to root for her and hope things turn out well. It's a compliment to the writer that I didn't think her a sap!
In many ways, Carmilla's changeable personality made me think of the complexities of growing up and being a teen, so perhaps this is something teenaged readers might relate to in particular.
'Carmilla' is ripe for a new TV adaptation. We've seen Dracula and other vampires revived so many times on screen, it would be interesting to see what the female of the species has been up to all this time. The New Year slot seems to have become the home of gothic dramas, so perhaps 'Carmilla' will turn up there in a few years time. One thing I am sure of - she's far from dead and gone.
18 December 2015
And the Cat Came Back...
I can't believe it's over a month since I last blogged. And I was doing so well! So what's stopped me? Christmas shopping? Internet problems? Or maybe I was just too scared to revisit the superlative 'Pet Sematary' by the master horror writer Stephen King.
Dr Louis Creed has left behind the rough and tumble of the city for a chance at the peaceful, rural idyll in Maine. Louis, his wife Rachel, children Ellie and Gage, with cat Church, think they've found the perfect family home and move in eager to begin a new life together. Creed soon bonds with elderly neighbour Jud Crandall, a man full of stories about the town who can't help sharing news of a notable local landmark through the woods behind the house. Beyond the fields where Creed hoped his children would play lies a pet 'sematary' where local youngsters have buried their beloved animals for decades. At first Louis likes the eccentric charm of the place, but it's not long before death raises its ugly head and he discovers that the secrets of the cemetery cast a very long shadow indeed...
I've read a number of Stephen King books before ('Christine', 'Different Seasons', 'Carrie' and 'The Green Mile'), but none of them are any where near as impressive as this one. King himself says that this is the most frightening book he's written and it's easy to see why. It deals with powerful, universal themes and fears including family, grief and anxiety about our loved ones and helped me finally see why Mr King is popular worldwide. This book deals with the worst of everyday fears and what ifs, then pushes further, forcing you to consider how far you would go in the name of familial love.
Louis Creed is a completely relatable, flawed yet optimistic human being and was so expertly written that I had to find out what happened to him. He does so many things wrong, but completely understandably, and I just couldn't leave him on his own or shake the hope that someone, anyone, would help him pull back from the brink. This is the first time that I can remember screaming 'No, don't do it!' at a book! Mr King's descriptions of every physical exertion, every rogue thought, every painful emotion kept the novel tense right to the very last pages and my heart ached as I had to stand by and watch his life torn apart by the opposing forces of love and the cemetery.
This book is horrific in a very specific sense of the word. It's not about cheap gore and even cheaper thrills, it touches a much more fundamental nerve that I still find tremors several weeks after finishing the novel. I have no doubt that 'Pet Sematary' will stay with me for a long time to come, a credit to an incredible author who is clearly full of surprises.
'Pet Sematary' is about family and how far you'll go to protect them. If you think you already know, then read this book. It might change your mind.
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| 'Pet Sematary' by Stephen King (Hodder and Stoughton, 1989) |
I've read a number of Stephen King books before ('Christine', 'Different Seasons', 'Carrie' and 'The Green Mile'), but none of them are any where near as impressive as this one. King himself says that this is the most frightening book he's written and it's easy to see why. It deals with powerful, universal themes and fears including family, grief and anxiety about our loved ones and helped me finally see why Mr King is popular worldwide. This book deals with the worst of everyday fears and what ifs, then pushes further, forcing you to consider how far you would go in the name of familial love.
Louis Creed is a completely relatable, flawed yet optimistic human being and was so expertly written that I had to find out what happened to him. He does so many things wrong, but completely understandably, and I just couldn't leave him on his own or shake the hope that someone, anyone, would help him pull back from the brink. This is the first time that I can remember screaming 'No, don't do it!' at a book! Mr King's descriptions of every physical exertion, every rogue thought, every painful emotion kept the novel tense right to the very last pages and my heart ached as I had to stand by and watch his life torn apart by the opposing forces of love and the cemetery.
This book is horrific in a very specific sense of the word. It's not about cheap gore and even cheaper thrills, it touches a much more fundamental nerve that I still find tremors several weeks after finishing the novel. I have no doubt that 'Pet Sematary' will stay with me for a long time to come, a credit to an incredible author who is clearly full of surprises.
'Pet Sematary' is about family and how far you'll go to protect them. If you think you already know, then read this book. It might change your mind.
25 February 2015
The Time-Traveller's Strife
A few years ago, I read the brilliant 'Little Boy Lost' by Marghanita Laski. Ever since, I've wanted to read more by her and this month I finally got around to 'The Victorian Chaise-Longue'.
In 1950s London, new mother Melanie is recovering from TB, supported by her husband Guy, the calm, firm Dr Gregory and the efficient childminder Sister Smith. Following months confined to bed, the doctor decides Melanie can have a change of scene and rest in a room nearer her infant son. After some consideration, a suitable place is chosen for her, a Victorian chaise-longue she bought just before she was diagnosed. Thrilled by even this small freedom, Melanie is tucked up on the antique couch and soon falls asleep. But when she wakes, everything is different. Is it all just a vivid dream or has she really slipped through time to become a stranger?
It's clearly not a good month for me. I saved reading PD James' introduction to 'The Victorian Chaise-Longue' until I'd read the novella itself. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have realised it was a horror story. I suppose that I'm so used to the time-traveller narrative that I never expected anything other than a happy ending. I'm not saying that there is a happy ending, just that I always thought there would be, which affected my reading of this book.
The story plays on the themes of identity and appreciating what you have in the modern world, rather than longing for a rose-tinted view of the past. The heroine becomes increasingly frustrated at being trapped in body of someone long dead, which other readers have found frightening. I suppose it's a measure of how unimpressed I was with Melanie and how used I am to exploring lives real and imagined through books that I just didn't find this unnerving at all. Perhaps as some people can happily watch the most gory of horror films with no concerns, I can read about irritating women being taught a lesson without getting scared.
Which is probably the basic issue I had. 'The Victorian Chaise-Longue' was an interesting and well written book, but ultimately I didn't give two hoots about Melanie. She was clearly pampered and properly looked after and, though TB is a terrible disease, she was recovering from it. Even when the metaphorical rug is whipped out from under her and she gets a taste of a very different time with morals and medical care that seem almost barbaric by today's standards, I'd pegged the book as a morality tale, little more than a fairy story for grown ups.
This hasn't put me off wanting to read more by Ms Laski and I understand that Persephone Books publish more of her work, but I was a bit disappointed by 'The Victorian Chaise-Longue'. I hope that a second reading will allow me to pick up some hints that I missed the first time round, but I'm afraid that the best I can say about it is that it's alright. Still, I suppose I can't adore everything.
Fingers crossed that I'm a bit more excited by my next read! If you have any suggestions, don't forget that you can tweet them to me via @Girl_LovesBooks.
Now, what next...!
 |
| 'The Victorian Chaise-Longue' by Marghanita Laski (Persephone Books, 1999) |
It's clearly not a good month for me. I saved reading PD James' introduction to 'The Victorian Chaise-Longue' until I'd read the novella itself. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have realised it was a horror story. I suppose that I'm so used to the time-traveller narrative that I never expected anything other than a happy ending. I'm not saying that there is a happy ending, just that I always thought there would be, which affected my reading of this book.
The story plays on the themes of identity and appreciating what you have in the modern world, rather than longing for a rose-tinted view of the past. The heroine becomes increasingly frustrated at being trapped in body of someone long dead, which other readers have found frightening. I suppose it's a measure of how unimpressed I was with Melanie and how used I am to exploring lives real and imagined through books that I just didn't find this unnerving at all. Perhaps as some people can happily watch the most gory of horror films with no concerns, I can read about irritating women being taught a lesson without getting scared.
Which is probably the basic issue I had. 'The Victorian Chaise-Longue' was an interesting and well written book, but ultimately I didn't give two hoots about Melanie. She was clearly pampered and properly looked after and, though TB is a terrible disease, she was recovering from it. Even when the metaphorical rug is whipped out from under her and she gets a taste of a very different time with morals and medical care that seem almost barbaric by today's standards, I'd pegged the book as a morality tale, little more than a fairy story for grown ups.
This hasn't put me off wanting to read more by Ms Laski and I understand that Persephone Books publish more of her work, but I was a bit disappointed by 'The Victorian Chaise-Longue'. I hope that a second reading will allow me to pick up some hints that I missed the first time round, but I'm afraid that the best I can say about it is that it's alright. Still, I suppose I can't adore everything.
Fingers crossed that I'm a bit more excited by my next read! If you have any suggestions, don't forget that you can tweet them to me via @Girl_LovesBooks.
Now, what next...!
08 April 2014
Boxing Clever
Last month, the lovely people at Waterstones made a bit of a boo-boo and sent me two books through their Read and Review system just a couple of days apart. One was 'The Devil in the Marshalsea', the other 'Bird Box' by Josh Malerman. On the one hand, I was delighted to have two new interesting books to read. On the other, I knew that I'd never get through both of them in the requested time frame. So, with humble apologies, here are my thoughts on 'Bird Box'. Sorry they're late.
Malorie hasn't looked outside in over four years. Human society has disintegrated as an unnamed and unknown horror has swept across the globe, bringing instant madness to anyone who sees it. Before long, even the most ardent sceptics have boarded up their windows and locked themselves away. Now, years later, Malorie is trapped in a house with two small children, Girl and Boy, remembering the past and nervously waiting for the right moment to escape. But escape into what?
This is a fantastic book. I really wish I could say something cleverer or more entertaining about it, but this really sums it up. 'Bird Box' is the first book I've read in a long time that I've found impossible to put down - a definite case of 'just one more page before bed'. From the beginning, I was gripped by the story, intrigued and unnerved by the frightening reality our world had warped into. The build to the terrifying climax is expertly paced, but the journey is not one for the faint hearted.
Although I thought this was a great read, it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. It's very dark and violent, claustrophobic and horrifying, with key themes of madness, suicide and being trapped by circumstances beyond the characters' control. In a way, it's very, very stressful, but it's also got a number of glimmers of hope. Readers are kept guessing right to the very end, however, and it's not until then we know for sure whether this is a tale of survival or disaster. Even then, after everything that's gone before, it's hard to believe that everything will be entirely OK.
Overall, if you enjoy science fiction/horror along the lines of 'I Am Legend' or 'The Year of the Flood', you will probably enjoy (if that's the right word!) this book too. I look forward to seeing more from this author.
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| 'Bird Box' by Josh Malerman (HarperVoyager 2013) |
This is a fantastic book. I really wish I could say something cleverer or more entertaining about it, but this really sums it up. 'Bird Box' is the first book I've read in a long time that I've found impossible to put down - a definite case of 'just one more page before bed'. From the beginning, I was gripped by the story, intrigued and unnerved by the frightening reality our world had warped into. The build to the terrifying climax is expertly paced, but the journey is not one for the faint hearted.
Although I thought this was a great read, it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. It's very dark and violent, claustrophobic and horrifying, with key themes of madness, suicide and being trapped by circumstances beyond the characters' control. In a way, it's very, very stressful, but it's also got a number of glimmers of hope. Readers are kept guessing right to the very end, however, and it's not until then we know for sure whether this is a tale of survival or disaster. Even then, after everything that's gone before, it's hard to believe that everything will be entirely OK.
Overall, if you enjoy science fiction/horror along the lines of 'I Am Legend' or 'The Year of the Flood', you will probably enjoy (if that's the right word!) this book too. I look forward to seeing more from this author.
17 December 2013
Mega Bite
I really don't get the modern thing about vampires being sexy. I understand where it all came from - the whole hypnotic, animal magnetism thing - but it's really gone too far. They're predators that rip people's throats out, for crying out loud, not harmless, puppy-eyed boys who just need someone to change them! If I were conspiratorially inclined, I'd start wondering if we were being prepared for some sort of undead invasion. Or was that just an episode of 'Being Human' I once saw..?
The big noise in vampire circles has to be Dracula and I have finally finished the Bram Stoker novel of the same name.
'Dracula' begins with solicitor Jonathan Harker travelling to a castle in remote Transylvania. Seeing the local superstitions as quaint and backward, he fails to realise how much danger he is in until it's too late. Harker has been employed to complete a house purchase for Count Dracula and, once done, he finds himself trapped in the castle as his host's eccentricities are revealed as something more sinister. Meanwhile, back in England, friends Lucy Westernra and Mina Murray are planning their futures. While Mina waits for her fiancé Harker to return and Lucy picks Arthur Holmwood from a trio of suitors, the girls dream of a future of wedded bliss. But dreams soon turn to nightmares as Lucy's sleepwalking puts her in harm's way and the friends find themselves the victim of some unknown horror...
In a way, I feel a bit sorry for 'Dracula'. The book was seized by film makers almost as soon as it was published and, like Sherlock Holmes or James Bond, the character has outgrown and evolved far beyond the original source material. Everyone thinks they know Dracula, so it's really hard to leave all that baggage at the front cover and come to the book with an open mind.
The other reason why this book took me six weeks to read is the language. 'Dracula' is at times tense, exciting, unnerving and action-packed, but unfortunately I find 19th century prose really heavy going. The long sections of dialogue were frustrating and hard work and Stoker's depiction of Professor Van Helsing's accent swings between embarrassing and racist to modern eyes. As a result, I didn't exactly steam through it.
I'm very glad I persevered, however, and did finish the book because I discovered that it wasn't about what I thought it was about. It's often said that great stories or characters live on because they're reinterpreted for different times. So, for example, vampirism has been used as a metaphor for lust, for addiction and for contageous disease. It turns out that 'Dracula' is actually about old vs new, ancient vs modern and tradition vs technology.
It's also about other things too, like solitude and friendship, teamwork and faith. But what it's not about is sexy, seductive, aristocratic men and the promise of eternal youth. But hopefully, that's just the latest interpretation and in a few years we'll see something new come around which doesn't seem quite as distasteful in a modern world of airbrushing, body dysmorphia and eating disorders.
Overall, 'Dracula' was quite an interesting and, I suppose, thought-provoking, read, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're lucky enough to find old fashioned writing styles a doddle. Equally, however, I'm not aware of any film or TV adaptation I'd recommend either. In truth, although I doubt I'll ever read this book again, I may listen to it on CD, which I suppose continues the novel's main theme! Hopefully the BBC have done a really good adaptation, but in the meantime, it's back to the shelves!
The big noise in vampire circles has to be Dracula and I have finally finished the Bram Stoker novel of the same name.
'Dracula' begins with solicitor Jonathan Harker travelling to a castle in remote Transylvania. Seeing the local superstitions as quaint and backward, he fails to realise how much danger he is in until it's too late. Harker has been employed to complete a house purchase for Count Dracula and, once done, he finds himself trapped in the castle as his host's eccentricities are revealed as something more sinister. Meanwhile, back in England, friends Lucy Westernra and Mina Murray are planning their futures. While Mina waits for her fiancé Harker to return and Lucy picks Arthur Holmwood from a trio of suitors, the girls dream of a future of wedded bliss. But dreams soon turn to nightmares as Lucy's sleepwalking puts her in harm's way and the friends find themselves the victim of some unknown horror...
In a way, I feel a bit sorry for 'Dracula'. The book was seized by film makers almost as soon as it was published and, like Sherlock Holmes or James Bond, the character has outgrown and evolved far beyond the original source material. Everyone thinks they know Dracula, so it's really hard to leave all that baggage at the front cover and come to the book with an open mind.
The other reason why this book took me six weeks to read is the language. 'Dracula' is at times tense, exciting, unnerving and action-packed, but unfortunately I find 19th century prose really heavy going. The long sections of dialogue were frustrating and hard work and Stoker's depiction of Professor Van Helsing's accent swings between embarrassing and racist to modern eyes. As a result, I didn't exactly steam through it.
I'm very glad I persevered, however, and did finish the book because I discovered that it wasn't about what I thought it was about. It's often said that great stories or characters live on because they're reinterpreted for different times. So, for example, vampirism has been used as a metaphor for lust, for addiction and for contageous disease. It turns out that 'Dracula' is actually about old vs new, ancient vs modern and tradition vs technology.
It's also about other things too, like solitude and friendship, teamwork and faith. But what it's not about is sexy, seductive, aristocratic men and the promise of eternal youth. But hopefully, that's just the latest interpretation and in a few years we'll see something new come around which doesn't seem quite as distasteful in a modern world of airbrushing, body dysmorphia and eating disorders.
Overall, 'Dracula' was quite an interesting and, I suppose, thought-provoking, read, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're lucky enough to find old fashioned writing styles a doddle. Equally, however, I'm not aware of any film or TV adaptation I'd recommend either. In truth, although I doubt I'll ever read this book again, I may listen to it on CD, which I suppose continues the novel's main theme! Hopefully the BBC have done a really good adaptation, but in the meantime, it's back to the shelves!
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| A view across Whitby |
12 February 2013
A Life Extraordinary
I've just finished 'Fluke' by James Herbert, which probably wins the 'shortest title on the list' competition!
'Fluke' is the story of a dog with a difference. He may look like a scruffy, underfed mongrel, but Fluke remembers being something else - a human. At first he has just an inkling that he's not the same as other canines - he doesn't feel and see the way they do - and as he grows from puppy to adult, memories of his pre-dog life begin to filter through. Unfortunately, by the time he realises that memory can be a false friend, it's far too late...
I found this book totally absorbing. We follow Fluke from his birth through an eventful canine life which encompasses dysfunctional marriages, criminal fraternities and deceptive old ladies, not to mention a menagerie of pets and British wildlife. The book is written in the first person and I was completely hooked by the narrative from the very beginning. Even though I guessed what had happened to Fluke quite early on, there was still a great twist in the tale that I didn't expect at the end. The story is very character-driven and I found I couldn't help wanting to know what was going to happen to Fluke next.
One thing I would say is don't be put off by the 'horror' label often applied to Mr Herbert's work. I really can't handle anything graphically violent or scary, but enjoyed this and didn't think it felt like a 'horror' novel at all. It's got a slightly unusual perspective and the first person narrative means that you are right in the thick of all the action, but it certainly didn't give me nightmares! I've been known to stop reading books by the man often considered Herbert's American equivalent, Stephen King, because I found them too revolting, but I didn't find that at all with 'Fluke'. The subject is a bit off the wall, but it certainly wasn't horrific!
Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes stories which explore unusual ideas and take a slightly skewed view of life. You'll never look at an animal in the same way again!
Now, what next?
'Fluke' is the story of a dog with a difference. He may look like a scruffy, underfed mongrel, but Fluke remembers being something else - a human. At first he has just an inkling that he's not the same as other canines - he doesn't feel and see the way they do - and as he grows from puppy to adult, memories of his pre-dog life begin to filter through. Unfortunately, by the time he realises that memory can be a false friend, it's far too late...
 |
| 'Fluke' by James Herbert (1999, Pan Books) |
One thing I would say is don't be put off by the 'horror' label often applied to Mr Herbert's work. I really can't handle anything graphically violent or scary, but enjoyed this and didn't think it felt like a 'horror' novel at all. It's got a slightly unusual perspective and the first person narrative means that you are right in the thick of all the action, but it certainly didn't give me nightmares! I've been known to stop reading books by the man often considered Herbert's American equivalent, Stephen King, because I found them too revolting, but I didn't find that at all with 'Fluke'. The subject is a bit off the wall, but it certainly wasn't horrific!
Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes stories which explore unusual ideas and take a slightly skewed view of life. You'll never look at an animal in the same way again!
Now, what next?
24 November 2012
Getting A Head
I've just finished reading 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' by Washington Irving on Kindle, an appropriate story for this time of year and the sort of weather we've been having this week!
'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' is a short story set in New England in the 1800s. Sleepy Hollow is an idyllic rural area where the Dutch settlers enjoy nothing more than a night swapping 'true' ghost stories on the porch after a good meal. Into their company comes Ichabod Crane, the school master employed by the community to teach the local boys. The geeky dreamer takes a shine to heiress Katrina Van Tassell, much to the annoyance of her beau, the mischievous Abraham Van Brunt. After an evening of spooky tales and rejection by the flirtatious beauty, Crane begins the lonely journey home, only to end up riding into legend.
I've wanted to read this story for an awfully long time. Ever since I can remember, it's come up in all sorts of programmes and movies I've watched, from Scooby Doo to the 1999 Johnny Depp/Tim Burton film. After seeing how it permeated American culture, I wanted to know what had inspired them so in the original.
To be honest, I think the key word here is culture. Just as it's hard to say why British stories such as the Loch Ness Monster or Beast of Bodmin Moor have caught the public imagination, I'm a bit perplexed as to why this story has seemed to me to be everywhere!
'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' is an OK story, with some excellently observed descriptions of the American countryside, but it's the latter that make it worth a read rather than the former. Perhaps the reason it's had such longevity is its simplicity - it makes it endlessly adaptable and possible to build a number of plots around the basic relationships of the key players.
'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' is a good, quick read for a classic dark, chilly winter's night, but don't expect to have nightmares or even find yourself spooked by something glimpsed from the corner of your eye. Unless of course you spend a lot of time walking through forests in the dark.
Right then, what next?
'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' is a short story set in New England in the 1800s. Sleepy Hollow is an idyllic rural area where the Dutch settlers enjoy nothing more than a night swapping 'true' ghost stories on the porch after a good meal. Into their company comes Ichabod Crane, the school master employed by the community to teach the local boys. The geeky dreamer takes a shine to heiress Katrina Van Tassell, much to the annoyance of her beau, the mischievous Abraham Van Brunt. After an evening of spooky tales and rejection by the flirtatious beauty, Crane begins the lonely journey home, only to end up riding into legend.
I've wanted to read this story for an awfully long time. Ever since I can remember, it's come up in all sorts of programmes and movies I've watched, from Scooby Doo to the 1999 Johnny Depp/Tim Burton film. After seeing how it permeated American culture, I wanted to know what had inspired them so in the original.
To be honest, I think the key word here is culture. Just as it's hard to say why British stories such as the Loch Ness Monster or Beast of Bodmin Moor have caught the public imagination, I'm a bit perplexed as to why this story has seemed to me to be everywhere!
'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' is an OK story, with some excellently observed descriptions of the American countryside, but it's the latter that make it worth a read rather than the former. Perhaps the reason it's had such longevity is its simplicity - it makes it endlessly adaptable and possible to build a number of plots around the basic relationships of the key players.
'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' is a good, quick read for a classic dark, chilly winter's night, but don't expect to have nightmares or even find yourself spooked by something glimpsed from the corner of your eye. Unless of course you spend a lot of time walking through forests in the dark.
Right then, what next?
23 August 2012
There's Something at the Bottom of the Garden...
I'm never going into a garden again and if you think I'll look at any future eclipses or other astronomical events, you've got another thing coming!
As you might be able to guess, I've just finished John Wyndham's 'The Day of the Triffids', probably the best known of this British author's novels.
'The Day of the Triffids' is a story of human survival in the midst of a terrifying worldwide apocalypse. Bill Mason wakes in a London hospital, his eyes bandaged following eye treatment. Confused and frightened by the lack of normal noise either in the hospital or outside his window, he cautiously removes the dressings and finds himself in the middle of a living nightmare. A 'meteorite' storm the previous night has blinded most of the world's population and, as he travels through London in shock, Bill finds that life as he knew it has gone for good. As he begins to encounter other survivors, he realises that the catastrophe has often brought out the worst in people. As the remaining population begins to find ways to group and cope with the new circumstances, a new, terrible threat emerges - the determined, devious and deadly Triffids...
Now, first things first. There was one part of this book that made me very, very irritated. One group of intellectualised survivors band together at a London university. One of the earliest things they do is call a meeting at which an eminent Sociologist talks about the future of society and how it will be necessary to leave elements of the old moral framework, behind for practical reasons. Fair enough. But why is sex their main priority when they haven't even found a safe way out of London yet? London, which is already littered with suicides and brutal gangs and already a breeding ground for disease? And when they only have one, shy nurse to provide pre- and postnatal care?!
I can only assume that when this book was written in the 1950s, talking about sanctioned sexual promiscuity was terribly, terribly shocking in a way it simply isn't today. Then it would sort of make sense. But to my modern (female) eyes, it just seemed like putting the cart before the horse. No point in having babies if you can't feed them or keep them safe, even if you are trying to save mankind.
On the whole though, this book is a real page turner, a brilliant combination of horror, socio-political comment and old fashioned adventure. It did get a bit preachy in places, particularly when an idealistic but impulsive character called Coker comes on the scene, but I think I understood most of the comparisons the author was drawing with different political ideologies.
I know I shouldn't be, but it still surprises me how relevant the science fiction of the last century still is. 'The Day of the Triffids' could be read as socio-political comment, environmental parable or analysis of how we might cope with extreme disaster. As a result, it's incredibly interesting as well as entertaining.
And, of course, you have a fantastic villain: The Triffids. Human beings may have had a hand in creating their predicament, but the constant and escalating onslaughts by the seven foot tall, alien-looking plants really is a danger all its own. They're clever, they're everywhere and they're topped with lightening-quick stings which can kill a man several feet away. As I say, Prince Charming can do the gardening from now on!
'The Day of the Triffids' begins with probably one of the most famous opening lines ever. Striking the reader like a slap across the face from the start, the book doesn't let up at any point. Before you know it, you've turned the last page... And you're wondering whether that rustling really is just the breeze through the trees. Shudder!
As you might be able to guess, I've just finished John Wyndham's 'The Day of the Triffids', probably the best known of this British author's novels.
'The Day of the Triffids' is a story of human survival in the midst of a terrifying worldwide apocalypse. Bill Mason wakes in a London hospital, his eyes bandaged following eye treatment. Confused and frightened by the lack of normal noise either in the hospital or outside his window, he cautiously removes the dressings and finds himself in the middle of a living nightmare. A 'meteorite' storm the previous night has blinded most of the world's population and, as he travels through London in shock, Bill finds that life as he knew it has gone for good. As he begins to encounter other survivors, he realises that the catastrophe has often brought out the worst in people. As the remaining population begins to find ways to group and cope with the new circumstances, a new, terrible threat emerges - the determined, devious and deadly Triffids...
Now, first things first. There was one part of this book that made me very, very irritated. One group of intellectualised survivors band together at a London university. One of the earliest things they do is call a meeting at which an eminent Sociologist talks about the future of society and how it will be necessary to leave elements of the old moral framework, behind for practical reasons. Fair enough. But why is sex their main priority when they haven't even found a safe way out of London yet? London, which is already littered with suicides and brutal gangs and already a breeding ground for disease? And when they only have one, shy nurse to provide pre- and postnatal care?!
I can only assume that when this book was written in the 1950s, talking about sanctioned sexual promiscuity was terribly, terribly shocking in a way it simply isn't today. Then it would sort of make sense. But to my modern (female) eyes, it just seemed like putting the cart before the horse. No point in having babies if you can't feed them or keep them safe, even if you are trying to save mankind.
On the whole though, this book is a real page turner, a brilliant combination of horror, socio-political comment and old fashioned adventure. It did get a bit preachy in places, particularly when an idealistic but impulsive character called Coker comes on the scene, but I think I understood most of the comparisons the author was drawing with different political ideologies.
I know I shouldn't be, but it still surprises me how relevant the science fiction of the last century still is. 'The Day of the Triffids' could be read as socio-political comment, environmental parable or analysis of how we might cope with extreme disaster. As a result, it's incredibly interesting as well as entertaining.
And, of course, you have a fantastic villain: The Triffids. Human beings may have had a hand in creating their predicament, but the constant and escalating onslaughts by the seven foot tall, alien-looking plants really is a danger all its own. They're clever, they're everywhere and they're topped with lightening-quick stings which can kill a man several feet away. As I say, Prince Charming can do the gardening from now on!
'The Day of the Triffids' begins with probably one of the most famous opening lines ever. Striking the reader like a slap across the face from the start, the book doesn't let up at any point. Before you know it, you've turned the last page... And you're wondering whether that rustling really is just the breeze through the trees. Shudder!
10 July 2011
No More Heroes...
I have just finished 'I am Legend' by Richard Matheson, a relatively short book often cited as a classic of Science Fiction and Horror and the first book to combine the two great genres. I've not seen the Will Smith film, but may do having read the book.
'I am Legend' is the intense and claustrophobic story of Robert Neville, (quite possibly) the last man standing after a plague has swept through the human race and made vampires a nightly reality. Trapped in his own world and left with nothing but memories and his survival instinct, the book tracks Neville's character over three years as he battles demons without and within.
Although this was a fantastically written book, capturing and developing the character of Robert Neville to great effect, I'm finding it hard to be passionate about it. Then again, that may just be the nature of the genre. After all, how many people want to recommend something they know may scare? I don't really want to give people nightmares! To be fair, though, this book isn't particularly gory, even for my relatively low horror threshold.
Speaking for myself, I found this book completely engrossing. The first half presents a fascinating, close quarters analysis of how someone might react and behave in such extraordinary circumstances and highlights the author's incredible imagination. In the second half, as Neville's mood moves from despair to acceptance, the pace of the novella changes and the plot starts moving towards its almost inevitable climax and conclusion.
Also - always the sign of a classic - the book doesn't feel at all dated, despite the fact that it's 57 years old. I love it when that happens. It's nice to know that when change comes, it doesn't automatically make everything that came before irrelevant and obsolete. It's horrible to think that the meaning of things we care about today may be completely lost to future generations, just as the significance of cave paintings or carved deities can only be guessed at by even the most eminent of modern academics.
Hmm, I'm clearly in a very philosophical mood today!
Anyway, back to the book. I would recommend it if you like these sorts of apocalyptic tales, but I don't think there's enough of a meal here for even the most sharp-toothed literary analyst. Then again, I doubt it was ever meant to be high culture, so, if you can, enjoy it for what it is. An engaging twentieth century classic.
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| 'I am Legend' by Richard Matheson (Film Tie-In Edition, 2007, Gollancz) |
Although this was a fantastically written book, capturing and developing the character of Robert Neville to great effect, I'm finding it hard to be passionate about it. Then again, that may just be the nature of the genre. After all, how many people want to recommend something they know may scare? I don't really want to give people nightmares! To be fair, though, this book isn't particularly gory, even for my relatively low horror threshold.
Speaking for myself, I found this book completely engrossing. The first half presents a fascinating, close quarters analysis of how someone might react and behave in such extraordinary circumstances and highlights the author's incredible imagination. In the second half, as Neville's mood moves from despair to acceptance, the pace of the novella changes and the plot starts moving towards its almost inevitable climax and conclusion.
Also - always the sign of a classic - the book doesn't feel at all dated, despite the fact that it's 57 years old. I love it when that happens. It's nice to know that when change comes, it doesn't automatically make everything that came before irrelevant and obsolete. It's horrible to think that the meaning of things we care about today may be completely lost to future generations, just as the significance of cave paintings or carved deities can only be guessed at by even the most eminent of modern academics.
Hmm, I'm clearly in a very philosophical mood today!
Anyway, back to the book. I would recommend it if you like these sorts of apocalyptic tales, but I don't think there's enough of a meal here for even the most sharp-toothed literary analyst. Then again, I doubt it was ever meant to be high culture, so, if you can, enjoy it for what it is. An engaging twentieth century classic.
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