Book Reviews

[Sock Monkey]

Yep - like Gilmore Girls. Girlfriend is a huge fan so I've been waiting for a signed version to show up on eBay. She did two signings at B&N in New York. The first one that hit eBay went for over $250 which shocked me. So I've been waiting for more copies to show up.

That's really cool. I didn't know she had written any books. I'm actually quite a fan of her as an actress. Though not my favorite, I have watched every episode of Gilmore Girls, including the Netflix revival (my wife is a BIG Gilmore Girls fan) along with the entire series of Parenthood (my personal favorite).

[RonClinton]

Tis the Season, I passed on the Collector, just can't get it all lol!!

Yeah, I passed as well. Between this, the new Delany three-volume set, Aldiss' FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND, C.A. Smith's collection, and Carroll's THE LAND OF LAUGHS, that's five Centipede releases I've passed on, all within the last few months. Normally a Centipede fan-boy who picks up most of their stuff, these recent releases just didn't do enough for me to justify a purchase(s), some of them at pretty hefty prices. The Smith one I do still regret a bit, though not enough to pick up a copy on the aftermarket, still at around pub. price.

Looking at upcoming books, though, I'll certainly need to loosen up my wallet for the Brown volumes and maybe -- maybe -- THE VAMPIRE TAPESTRY by Suzy McKee Charnas. Anyone read the Charnas book?

[mhatchett]

Tis the Season, I passed on the Collector, just can't get it all lol!!

[TacomaDiver]

Like Gilmore Girls Lauren Graham?

I was thinking about picking up The Collector as well, but it's a little rich for my blood right now, especially with a new Masters of the Weird Tale on its way. On a side note: still kicking myself for not picking up the Fritz Leiber volume.

Yep - like Gilmore Girls. Girlfriend is a huge fan so I've been waiting for a signed version to show up on eBay. She did two signings at B&N in New York. The first one that hit eBay went for over $250 which shocked me. So I've been waiting for more copies to show up.

[Sock Monkey]

I saw that in the CP newsletter this morning - little out of my splurge but it now never read before price range. (If I wasn't trying to buy Lauren Graham's new book - signed - this would be a slam dunk.)

Like Gilmore Girls Lauren Graham?

I was thinking about picking up The Collector as well, but it's a little rich for my blood right now, especially with a new Masters of the Weird Tale on its way. On a side note: still kicking myself for not picking up the Fritz Leiber volume.

[TacomaDiver]

I saw that in the CP newsletter this morning - little out of my splurge but it now never read before price range. (If I wasn't trying to buy Lauren Graham's new book - signed - this would be a slam dunk.)

The Collector is now up for sale on the Centipede website for $175.

[Sock Monkey]

I'm intrigued by The Collector now - definitely adding this to my buy list (unless it's some crazy expensive edition.)

The Collector is now up for sale on the Centipede website for $175.

[Martin]

I tried to read Ghost Story but I don't think I even made it 25 pages in before I put it down. Maybe I just need to try harder.

I agree with Bugen. Ghost Story, like many of Mr. Straub's longer stories takes its time developing but in the end it is well worth it.

[bugen]

Franklin does great work, and a pic on ebay of their limited looks awesome! And if I had that print, I'd hang it on the wall, too. Thanks for the tip on The Night of the Hunter. People seem to really love it--I added it to a tracker for an e-book price drop and look forward to reading it.

[TacomaDiver]

I'm intrigued by The Collector now - definitely adding this to my buy list (unless it's some crazy expensive edition.)

[RonClinton]

Love Fowle's THE COLLECTOR. I have the signed/limited, leather Franklin Library edition and am very pleased to have it, so will very likely pass on the upcoming Centipede reprint edition...otherwise I'd be all over it. Also have the 18"x24" framed canvas print of the 1st ed. HC art upstairs in the reading loft...got it from B&N a decade or more ago. My wife thought it was a nice piece of art...until she read the book, and then shuddered at the fact that it was on the wall. But it's still there. This one:

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A Centipede reprint I'm looking forward to is THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER by Davis Grubb. No idea when that's on their schedule, though.

[Brian861]

Thanks, Sock Monkey!

That's an apt comparison to Straub. Neither of them are in a rush to get the story told, just letting it develop and breathe on its own. Ghost Story was my first book by him, and I spent a good portion of it wondering when this legendary novel was going to pop out and grab me. Then somewhere in there it hit me that the author had been slowly weaving a fog around me with a slow burn, literary style, and that was a crucial element in making the story so good. What a great book...

I tried to read Ghost Story but I don't think I even made it 25 pages in before I put it down. Maybe I just need to try harder.

[bugen]

The Collector - John Fowles

“What I’m trying to say is that having her as my guest happened suddenly, it wasn’t something I planned the moment the money came.”

They call it a thriller. And it is, heightening suspense and anxiety, but since nearly half the book takes place from the point of view of the disturbed and mentally challenged kidnapper, and the other half from the highly capable but terrorized victim, we could call it a psychological thriller. And it is, but since each page turn brings with it a mounting, disabling dread, we should probably just call it horror.

A young butterfly collector, shunned by his peers and sheltered by his mother and aunt, wins a lottery and sends the two women traveling. Alone and with means, he hatches his plan to kidnap the object of his affection, having only watched her from afar. He’ll shelter her in his home and give her everything she wants until she realizes how much he loves her and returns the affection.

The stubborn logic and justification in the kidnapper’s mind lends a type of pity to his POV. On the other side, the woman’s thoughts reveal a life she’s now realizing she’s wasted because of her inability to see its value until these events. As she spirals into her own madness, fixating on a relationship with a man who’s lived his life for each moment and without compromise, she learns more about herself in these few weeks than in her preceding decades.

Reading this book, one imagines the constant struggles and sometimes electric, sometimes somber manner in which the author must have figured out the next steps of his characters. The clinical assessment and character judgments made by the educated young woman, the perversity and naivety of the unhinged young man, the struggle and hopelessness of the human condition–this goes way beyond fascinating and is truly scary stuff. The Collector is a mesmerizing work of dark genius, and you may have no choice but to read it in one sitting.

“There must be a God and he can’t know anything about us.”

5 stars

Collector, The.jpg
*Soon to be a Centipede release

[bugen]

Thanks, Sock Monkey!

That's an apt comparison to Straub. Neither of them are in a rush to get the story told, just letting it develop and breathe on its own. Ghost Story was my first book by him, and I spent a good portion of it wondering when this legendary novel was going to pop out and grab me. Then somewhere in there it hit me that the author had been slowly weaving a fog around me with a slow burn, literary style, and that was a crucial element in making the story so good. What a great book...

[Sock Monkey]

Well, I'm not happy with Bugen's fantastic reviews because it keeps reminding me that I don't have the signed limited editions on my shelf and how much I want them!

I haven't read the second or third book yet so I can't talk on their improvement over the first, but I didn't have the issues with pacing that others have had. Maybe it's because I heard in advance about the shift in narrative so I didn't find it as jarring. Or maybe it's because Cronin's writing reminds me of early Straub so I just sat back and let the world-building take the time it needed, knowing that it would get somewhere. I also just enjoyed the journey so much! I look forward to sitting down the remaining two books in the future!

Thanks for the great reviews, bugen!