- Joined
- Feb 13, 2005
- Messages
- 3,126
- Reaction score
- 768
- Location
- Near Cincinnati
- Website
- www.allensedge.com
I believe I bought Ghost Story based on the recommendations given by Stephen King in Danse Macabre. I picked it up in 1990, tried to read the bizarre first chapter, then put it on the shelf. I finally read the whole book starting a month ago.
An amazon reviewer said that if you can get past the first fifty pages, the book is really very good. So, with that in mind, I read my first (and I promise, my ONLY) Peter Straub novel.
I found the first chapter, detailing the kidnapping of a strange little girl, perplexing and confusing. Once I got past that, the story got off-and-on interesting (with the Chowder Society members and their stories), and by a third of the way in, I still had no idea what the story was supposed to be about. I have always learned that you're supposed to know what the story is about after the first chapter or so. Not in this case.
The plot was multi-layered and more complex than any book I've ever read. The cast of characters grew so large I had trouble remembering who was who every time a character returned.
Characterization, however, was excellently done. Nobody was cardboard or flat. Setting and mood very rich and detailed. Once I got into the story, I wanted to know how it would all finally finish.
But, I found it meandering at times. A main character's journal started going on and on and on, and I found myself skimming through it. In another scene, I read four or five pages of another character walking through his house then taking a car ride. The barely-important event happened during the car ride. If I had written (or edited it) I would have cut 95% of those scenes, if not the entire scene because it added practically nothing to the story.
The resolution was disappointing. All along, we thought these were supernatural creatures that MIGHT be able to be killed, but were very vicious and have existed for thousands, maybe millions of years. Then, the good guys are able to kill two of the villains with knives and an axe. Although the buildup was awesome, that resolution was a letdown.
Plus, there were hints of things that were never referred to again. (To paraphrase, a younger character said something like "We know what will really kill them, don't we?" And then the reader never finds out what that was supposed to be. I waited for pages to find out, but it was never mentioned.)
The ending got very confusing, which took place immediately following the first chapter kidnapping. The little girl all but disappeared, there was a baffling car scene that ended in the ocean, then the spirit, the "manitou" became a wasp and the character was able to kill it. What, that's it? Then it gets worse when we find out that the character must next go find and confront another person/being in charge of the last one he just killed. Uhh, what? How long will this go on? Well, it didn't, because the book ended.
Oftentimes, I found Straub's style irritating. He used colons all the time. I mean, several per page. And characters spent so much time looking at things, that I stopped cutting "looks" out of my own novel figuring it must be okay.
Also, he had some loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong paragraphs. Where's the white space when you need it?
So, my take on it is this: I'm glad I read it. His was a style I had not read before (and my cousin's debut novel was bizarrely written too--I couldn't even get through it) but if any of Straub's other books are like this, then I'll pass on reading him again.
allen
An amazon reviewer said that if you can get past the first fifty pages, the book is really very good. So, with that in mind, I read my first (and I promise, my ONLY) Peter Straub novel.
I found the first chapter, detailing the kidnapping of a strange little girl, perplexing and confusing. Once I got past that, the story got off-and-on interesting (with the Chowder Society members and their stories), and by a third of the way in, I still had no idea what the story was supposed to be about. I have always learned that you're supposed to know what the story is about after the first chapter or so. Not in this case.
The plot was multi-layered and more complex than any book I've ever read. The cast of characters grew so large I had trouble remembering who was who every time a character returned.
Characterization, however, was excellently done. Nobody was cardboard or flat. Setting and mood very rich and detailed. Once I got into the story, I wanted to know how it would all finally finish.
But, I found it meandering at times. A main character's journal started going on and on and on, and I found myself skimming through it. In another scene, I read four or five pages of another character walking through his house then taking a car ride. The barely-important event happened during the car ride. If I had written (or edited it) I would have cut 95% of those scenes, if not the entire scene because it added practically nothing to the story.
The resolution was disappointing. All along, we thought these were supernatural creatures that MIGHT be able to be killed, but were very vicious and have existed for thousands, maybe millions of years. Then, the good guys are able to kill two of the villains with knives and an axe. Although the buildup was awesome, that resolution was a letdown.
Plus, there were hints of things that were never referred to again. (To paraphrase, a younger character said something like "We know what will really kill them, don't we?" And then the reader never finds out what that was supposed to be. I waited for pages to find out, but it was never mentioned.)
The ending got very confusing, which took place immediately following the first chapter kidnapping. The little girl all but disappeared, there was a baffling car scene that ended in the ocean, then the spirit, the "manitou" became a wasp and the character was able to kill it. What, that's it? Then it gets worse when we find out that the character must next go find and confront another person/being in charge of the last one he just killed. Uhh, what? How long will this go on? Well, it didn't, because the book ended.
Oftentimes, I found Straub's style irritating. He used colons all the time. I mean, several per page. And characters spent so much time looking at things, that I stopped cutting "looks" out of my own novel figuring it must be okay.
Also, he had some loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong paragraphs. Where's the white space when you need it?
So, my take on it is this: I'm glad I read it. His was a style I had not read before (and my cousin's debut novel was bizarrely written too--I couldn't even get through it) but if any of Straub's other books are like this, then I'll pass on reading him again.
allen
