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170 reviews for:
The Complete Clive Barker's The Great And Secret Show
Gabriel Rodríguez, Chris Ryall, Clive Barker
3.83 AVERAGE
170 reviews for:
The Complete Clive Barker's The Great And Secret Show
Gabriel Rodríguez, Chris Ryall, Clive Barker
3.83 AVERAGE
5/10, bumping up to 3 stars for the sake of my childhood.
I read The Great and Secret Show early in my teen years. I wouldn’t say it had a big influence on me (for that, I have to go with Dune and House of Leaves), but I liked it and I always thought of it as a great book. That’s a lesson for me that nostalgia can be deceptive.
As a recent Stephen King fan, I have to compare this book to his work. And I don’t think the comparison is very favorable. The Stand is one of my favorite books and is a big SOB. But the depth and breadth of characters makes it a story you want to live in. Not so with The Great and Secret Show. The main characters are mostly cyphers and many of them are intentionally difficult to relate to (multiple god-like characters).
The prose is good, though, perhaps better than King. I can see why some people might call it pretentious, and it does straddle that line. But I think Barker clears it, mostly. But boy is there sure a lot of it and the pacing is deeply uneven. The first 100 pages are break neck and cover several decades of time. Things slow down a bit for the remainder of the first half, but I think it still moves along with energy. The second half drags and feels like it could have been cut down a lot.
If you know Clive Barker, you know that he has a (delightfully) twisted mind and that’s very much on display here. There is a lot of pretty sick shit (LITERALLY in some cases) in these pages. But overall, I do think Barker mostly accomplished his mission of telling an American story.
Although, I have to quibble with some of his language: flashlights described as torches and the occasional British usage of drink (as in drink driving). I know these are minor, but if he wanted to write a quintessentially American book, I’d expect he’d want it to sound American, and these were little stones in my shoe while walking through his twisted playground.
I read The Great and Secret Show early in my teen years. I wouldn’t say it had a big influence on me (for that, I have to go with Dune and House of Leaves), but I liked it and I always thought of it as a great book. That’s a lesson for me that nostalgia can be deceptive.
As a recent Stephen King fan, I have to compare this book to his work. And I don’t think the comparison is very favorable. The Stand is one of my favorite books and is a big SOB. But the depth and breadth of characters makes it a story you want to live in. Not so with The Great and Secret Show. The main characters are mostly cyphers and many of them are intentionally difficult to relate to (multiple god-like characters).
The prose is good, though, perhaps better than King. I can see why some people might call it pretentious, and it does straddle that line. But I think Barker clears it, mostly. But boy is there sure a lot of it and the pacing is deeply uneven. The first 100 pages are break neck and cover several decades of time. Things slow down a bit for the remainder of the first half, but I think it still moves along with energy. The second half drags and feels like it could have been cut down a lot.
If you know Clive Barker, you know that he has a (delightfully) twisted mind and that’s very much on display here. There is a lot of pretty sick shit (LITERALLY in some cases) in these pages. But overall, I do think Barker mostly accomplished his mission of telling an American story.
Although, I have to quibble with some of his language: flashlights described as torches and the occasional British usage of drink (as in drink driving). I know these are minor, but if he wanted to write a quintessentially American book, I’d expect he’d want it to sound American, and these were little stones in my shoe while walking through his twisted playground.
The beginning of this book was amazing and very enthralling, the whole story itself was interesting as well but the further into the book I got, the harder it was to read. A little over halfway through it's almost like it changed authors.. the pacing got weird, the story got dull and the dialogue was as if a 12 year old author of fan fiction started writing. Probably wouldn't be recommending this book. I want to think the second one is better but I doubt I'll be reading it.
What I learned from this book? I didn't know there was a dead letter office.
What I learned from this book? I didn't know there was a dead letter office.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I guess Barker is not the author for me. What a profoundly stupid book.
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I remember reading this book in bed late at night while I was pregnant years ago.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Excrement, Death of parent, Murder
Moderate: Racial slurs, Religious bigotry
Minor: Homophobia