A magnificent coming of age horror story. Some parts reminded me of Stephen King’s books, especially IT.
The story is centered around a young misfit nA magnificent coming of age horror story. Some parts reminded me of Stephen King’s books, especially IT.
The story is centered around a young misfit named Will. Janz does a wonderful job bringing Will to life, he is sympathetic and you can’t help but root for him. Sure, the story features quite a few classic tropes like a young kid who gets bullied and comes from a tragic situation. But it’s those type of underdog stories that I find oh so fun, and sometimes it doesn’t matter if it’s a common trope so long as it’s well done.
The story featured lots of winding twists and turns, never boring. Everything flowed, just right, great pacing. And some of the reveals I should’ve seen coming (but I didn’t).
Really hoping the author continues this series (damn cliffhangers!). I loved the characters and want to see what happens to them (that’s when you know you are into a series!). ...more
Book starts off landing us in the midst of a hike, a reunion trip with 4 f0rmer college buddies, things going wrong (wrong turn, getting lost). The prBook starts off landing us in the midst of a hike, a reunion trip with 4 f0rmer college buddies, things going wrong (wrong turn, getting lost). The premise, while not novel, is cool, and the writing is good. I enjoyed the bubbling tensions and relationship issues between the 4 hikers that came out as things started going to hell. Characters could have been more developed but it still worked, and the first half had some great atmospherics.
The story takes a SHARP turn about half way through. It's a gutsy change of pace by the author, and your opinion of this book will likely hinge on how you feel about this shift in story. For me, it was too jarring and random for my tastes.
That said, some very cool passages in this book, worth giving a shot....more
A heart-warming tale of murder and necrophilia, a fun romp that should be required reading for all the young boys and girls in 4th grade. Let them witA heart-warming tale of murder and necrophilia, a fun romp that should be required reading for all the young boys and girls in 4th grade. Let them witness the joyful horrors of the human condition! "Yes Timmy? You particularly appreciated the author's use of imagery, of mice sawing their way thru flesh, housing themselves in the recesses of our protagonist's skull? Why yes. That was good fun indeed."
Anyhow, per usual, very stark, bleak, grotesque, all those things. Very… McCarthy.
Lester Ballard loses his home and crosses the thin invisible line in the mind, crossing the threshold into a madness that had long-awaited his jumpstarting it into full ignition. We follow his descent into the caverns of the mind and the caverns of Tennessee. There is a sense of inevitability regarding sin, and sin as a sort of seed within us all kind of deal. Lots of biblical references.
The writing is great, the imagery sharp and stark which works with the story itself. I don’t know these parts of the country where the story takes place, but the dialogue feels real. (I think dialogue is hard as hell to do right, so that’s always a great accomplishment if a writer can pull it off). McCarthy would be a fun writer to parody, his style is quite particular.
Interesting historical reference: Whitecapping. I wasn’t familiar with that, had to look it up:
Whitecapping was a violent lawless movement among farmers that occurred specifically in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was originally a ritualized form of extralegal actions to enforce community standards, appropriate behavior, and traditional rights.[1] However, as it spread throughout the poorest areas of the rural South after the Civil War, white members operated from economically driven and anti-black biases. States passed laws against it, but whitecapping continued into the early 20th century.[2] (from Wikipedia)
Here’s a few quotes I liked. McCarthy’s descriptions of nature are often so wonderful. Rather mystical. He has a precision of language, especially when it comes to both nature and tools/objects/machinery:
“And the snow shone with a myriad crystal incandescence. The shrouded road wound off before him almost lost among the the trees and a stream ran beside the road, dark under bowers of ice, small glass-fanged caverns beneath tree roots where the water sucked unseen.”
“Or sort among the dusty relics of a nest seeking a whole hickory nut among the bone-shard hulls with their volute channels cleanly unmeated by woodmice, teeth precise and curved as sail-makers needles.”
“Perhaps they’d nest in his skull, spawn their tiny bald and mewling whelps in the lobed caverns where his brains had been. His bones polished clean as eggshells, centipedes sleeping in their marrowed flutes, his ribs curling slender and whitely like a bone flower in the dark stone bowl.”
(And no Timmy. I know you want to mess with your sister, but that is not a good reason to get a pet mouse.)
“As they went down the valley in the new fell dark basking nighthawks rose from the dust in the road before them with wild wings and eyes red as jewels in the headlights."...more
Along with It, probably one of my favorite Stephen King books. This was a great read. Fantastic storytelling and I love the psychological aspects of tAlong with It, probably one of my favorite Stephen King books. This was a great read. Fantastic storytelling and I love the psychological aspects of the characters. The careful and paced revealing of Jack's background help us understand his impending metamorphosis, grounding his disintegration with a believable psychological framework. My favorite horror generally has foundations in real-life problems and personal struggles of the characters (like Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House). The horror aspect can be an initial catalyzer for the characters' conflict, and/or can be a great prism to delve deeply into those characters' psyches and their personal struggles. But I do love the supernatural aspects as well. I especially liked the hedge-animals, those were cool and terrifying!... wish they could have included that part in the movie version but probably a bit too tricky in regards to CGI at the time.
Plus I just love the premise. Being stuck out in the middle of nowhere in some giant creepy hotel (with a dark past) for a very long period of time with an increasingly unstable partner (who exhibits violent tendencies) is pretty scary! maybe because I've watched the movie too many times since I was young I have imprinted the expectations of horrible things happening in these kind of places!
My main quibble was how the character Hallorann was depicted. There is the magical black man aspect which is such a common trope that it's hard to only beat up one writer for it. But it's the constant swirling racial aggression around Hallorann that seems excessive, pointless, and tacked on for no discernible purpose. I couldn't make heads or tails of it, but I mostly found it distracted from the story.
This book was so long, but it was very easy to get into and enjoy. I mean, I enjoyed it in a queasy sort of way, since the story is about a post-apocaThis book was so long, but it was very easy to get into and enjoy. I mean, I enjoyed it in a queasy sort of way, since the story is about a post-apocalyptic time where most everyone has died from a virus (good times!). The few humans that survive find that there are two societies gaining strength: one society is intent on evil and violence and centered around totalitarianism; the other society is intent on living somewhat peaceably and developing around democratic ideals. I think the word I'm looking for to describe the struggle between these two societies would be manichean. Yes, that is it, manichean. Normally I am leery of stories that involve straight up struggles between good and evil, since they tend to be overly simplistic and boring... but it works in this book. King has a decent feel for nuance and is a really good writer and damn, he knows how to spin an engrossing narrative. I also really liked the spiritual aspect that some of the characters and events had (it went well with the post-apocalyptic theme). The ending was a bit silly and some of the characters weren't that well-developed but hey, but what can you do, everything can't be perfect... really good read, highly recommended....more
Loading...
