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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Aaaaagh, what a dark, dark, twisted story!! The epitomy of human evil and influence of one greedy, horrible , albeit charismatic, man on a quaint country town. The destruction of everything these hardworking people have accomplished through this man's insidious nature. Slow burn? Perhaps. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, begging for an uprising from the townspeople. I found the reactions and timing of the townspeople's reactions be realistic; we'd all like to think this behavior wouldn't be tolerated for any amount of time... but that's how cults are made. Loved this. A LOT!
I had never heard of this book before I saw it sitting on a table in Barnes and Noble, and decided on a whim to buy it because I thought the cover looked cool. It took me longer to read than it should have, but I am glad I decided to buy this and read it. It’s a story about a family in a very small New England town called Harlowe, and a mysterious outsider named Perly Dunsmore (one of the best names for a villain I’ve ever seen in my life) who arrives in town and slowly becomes more and more influential on its citizens. It was written in the 70s, but a lot of it felt very relevant to today. A charismatic grifter convincing a group of uneducated farmers to go against their own best interest basically describes how the Republican Party stays in power. But there’s also a lot of themes about family and tradition that gave me a lot to think about. I was not sure how it was going to end, and the last 30 or so pages did not let me down. It was a fitting ending, and left me with a lot to consider. I wish they had made this into a movie back in the day, it could’ve been really really good. Perly Dunsmore would have been a great role for a big name, A List actor to play.
I learned midway through that Joan Samson died shortly after she finished the book, which made me really upset. I think this was the only book she ever published, and while I did feel like the story got a bit repetitive at times, I think she did such an awesome job at creating some complicated and fascinating characters. She probably had a lot more good stories in her brain, and it’s a shame the world never got to see them. I can see how this book influenced the work of Stephen King, as the tight-knit, small town, New England vibes felt like something out of Salem’s Lot or Cujo or It.
I learned midway through that Joan Samson died shortly after she finished the book, which made me really upset. I think this was the only book she ever published, and while I did feel like the story got a bit repetitive at times, I think she did such an awesome job at creating some complicated and fascinating characters. She probably had a lot more good stories in her brain, and it’s a shame the world never got to see them. I can see how this book influenced the work of Stephen King, as the tight-knit, small town, New England vibes felt like something out of Salem’s Lot or Cujo or It.
I had so many problems with this book and had it not only been 223 pages, I think I would have given up on it very early on. Had half stars been allowed, this book would have been a 1.5 stars. I rounded up only because I reserve 1 star ratings for books I DNF'ed or was forced to read in school growing up (like The Giver or Heart of Darkness).
My biggest complaint with this novel is that it is classified as a horror classic, one that has a cult following since it was out of print for so many years, and for the life of me I cannot understand how any of that is possible. First off, there's nothing terrifying in this book at all. The scariest thing this novel holds is that Moore and his mother are so jaded that they refuse to leave when their family is in danger and they only ended up with their lives being threatened because they didn't have enough of a backbone to tell the sheriff and this auctioneer that they can't come into their house every week and steal their stuff. Furthermore, how this book has a cult following is just beyond me. This was one of the most boring books I have ever read. It just kept repeating itself over and over until we got to the clumsy conclusion. I felt like I was in seventh grade all over again being forced to read All Quiet on the Western Front, except things actually happen in that book.
The family dynamic in this novel is so fucked. I'm pretty sure it implies that the father raped his wife when they were 15 and then continued to do so throughout their marriage, and that the grandmother knew and was okay with this fact. What makes this extra eerie is that these are supposed to be the good guys in the book! Except, really, it just comes down to the wife, Mim, telling her arrogant husband over and over that they need to leave Harlowe in order to protect their 4-year-old daughter from harm and from basically falling into poverty. Mim is 100% correct, and yet every time she says something reasonable, she is forcibly shut down by her asshole husband and his overbearing mother. This goes on for like 150 pages. "They've come to take the cows!" "But we need the cows!" "There's nothing we can do now. They've taken the cows!" and then they take the tractor, the guns, the bedroom furniture, the onions, EVERYTHING! And all of the characters just let this happen over and over!
***Spoilers***
So then we get to this crazy conclusion where we learn that everyone is just allowing the police and the auctioneer to just steal their stuff, and their CHILDREN, and only when everyone realizes that this is happening to everyone (even though they all have known that this is happening to everyone since like the fifth page of the book) they decide to kill the auctioneer (who, side note, impregnated a 14-year-old girl and stole her child for some weird reason). Lo and behold, the auctioneer is able to get away and they accidentally burn one of their friends in a house fire and BOOM! Book is over. Not sure if this saved the town, not sure what happened to the auctioneer, not sure how the marriage of our protagonists is going to evolve after we spent 223 pages to hear that everything worked out for the abusive, rapist husband. Also, what is this? 1880? I know the book is set in the early '70s, so why does no one have any electricity or phones or heating?!?! This book was so infuriating. Moral of the story: don't ever give up your cows and skip this book.
My biggest complaint with this novel is that it is classified as a horror classic, one that has a cult following since it was out of print for so many years, and for the life of me I cannot understand how any of that is possible. First off, there's nothing terrifying in this book at all. The scariest thing this novel holds is that Moore and his mother are so jaded that they refuse to leave when their family is in danger and they only ended up with their lives being threatened because they didn't have enough of a backbone to tell the sheriff and this auctioneer that they can't come into their house every week and steal their stuff. Furthermore, how this book has a cult following is just beyond me. This was one of the most boring books I have ever read. It just kept repeating itself over and over until we got to the clumsy conclusion. I felt like I was in seventh grade all over again being forced to read All Quiet on the Western Front, except things actually happen in that book.
The family dynamic in this novel is so fucked. I'm pretty sure it implies that the father raped his wife when they were 15 and then continued to do so throughout their marriage, and that the grandmother knew and was okay with this fact. What makes this extra eerie is that these are supposed to be the good guys in the book! Except, really, it just comes down to the wife, Mim, telling her arrogant husband over and over that they need to leave Harlowe in order to protect their 4-year-old daughter from harm and from basically falling into poverty. Mim is 100% correct, and yet every time she says something reasonable, she is forcibly shut down by her asshole husband and his overbearing mother. This goes on for like 150 pages. "They've come to take the cows!" "But we need the cows!" "There's nothing we can do now. They've taken the cows!" and then they take the tractor, the guns, the bedroom furniture, the onions, EVERYTHING! And all of the characters just let this happen over and over!
***Spoilers***
So then we get to this crazy conclusion where we learn that everyone is just allowing the police and the auctioneer to just steal their stuff, and their CHILDREN, and only when everyone realizes that this is happening to everyone (even though they all have known that this is happening to everyone since like the fifth page of the book) they decide to kill the auctioneer (who, side note, impregnated a 14-year-old girl and stole her child for some weird reason). Lo and behold, the auctioneer is able to get away and they accidentally burn one of their friends in a house fire and BOOM! Book is over. Not sure if this saved the town, not sure what happened to the auctioneer, not sure how the marriage of our protagonists is going to evolve after we spent 223 pages to hear that everything worked out for the abusive, rapist husband. Also, what is this? 1880? I know the book is set in the early '70s, so why does no one have any electricity or phones or heating?!?! This book was so infuriating. Moral of the story: don't ever give up your cows and skip this book.
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This was good. I had a hard time reading it bc the themes are just too real at the moment. I read for escape and this was just so bleak, hopeless and exasperating. The writing was wonderful. It was very slow but the details were excellent. I don’t know.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wish I had DNF'd this when I thought about it near the beginning of the novel.
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No