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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
I read Bayard's The Black Tower some years ago, and though I found it too wordy in places, causing the narrative to drag, overall I enjoyed the story.
The Pale Blue Eye has more of what I disliked about The Black Tower, and less of what I liked. That is to say in the first case, flowery, purplish prose, and in the second case well paced mystery and suspense with satisfying depth.
The goal with this novel was, one assumes, to write it as it would have been written in the time frame of the story-- the 1830's. I suppose he succeeds in doing this, but it was after all the 1830's and hence much of the language is antiquated and thick. Authentic to some extent perhaps, but more of a slog in the 21st century wherein I of course had to read it.
Ironic that this should have been worse when the writing was authored by "Edgar Allen Poe." That is to say, the reports Cadet Poe would send to Landor. The actual Poe had his issues when it came to pacing at times, but even being an actual citizen of the 19th century, he holds attention for the reader for better than the writing of Poe in this universe. These moments didn't strike me so much as unknown Poe, and they did an author who very much wanted to write as Poe wrote, and gave himself the chance by way of this device.
It would have been better if the Poe accounts had at least advanced the plot. Sadly, most of the time, it was Poe writing about being in love, or some other passing fancy, just for the sake of doing so. Very few clues to the mystery were ever discovered by way of Poe's activities. Combined with the main narrative, way too much verbosity for even an atmospheric mystery.
The twist ending: I've read worse, but the turn is not earned by what leads into it. It's an out of no where "shocker" that seemed a bit desperate to me.
I'll point out that I consumed both Bayard novels on CD. I don't know how much the different readers played into my thoughts; the reader for Black Tower was, in my view the better of the two. But the material was also better. I'd have finished Black Tower on paper. Something tells me I wouldn't have gotten through The Pale Blue Eye that way.
I don't regret reading this, but it was quite different than what I expected it to be, then how it was sold. I will still read more Bayard, however.
The Pale Blue Eye has more of what I disliked about The Black Tower, and less of what I liked. That is to say in the first case, flowery, purplish prose, and in the second case well paced mystery and suspense with satisfying depth.
The goal with this novel was, one assumes, to write it as it would have been written in the time frame of the story-- the 1830's. I suppose he succeeds in doing this, but it was after all the 1830's and hence much of the language is antiquated and thick. Authentic to some extent perhaps, but more of a slog in the 21st century wherein I of course had to read it.
Ironic that this should have been worse when the writing was authored by "Edgar Allen Poe." That is to say, the reports Cadet Poe would send to Landor. The actual Poe had his issues when it came to pacing at times, but even being an actual citizen of the 19th century, he holds attention for the reader for better than the writing of Poe in this universe. These moments didn't strike me so much as unknown Poe, and they did an author who very much wanted to write as Poe wrote, and gave himself the chance by way of this device.
It would have been better if the Poe accounts had at least advanced the plot. Sadly, most of the time, it was Poe writing about being in love, or some other passing fancy, just for the sake of doing so. Very few clues to the mystery were ever discovered by way of Poe's activities. Combined with the main narrative, way too much verbosity for even an atmospheric mystery.
The twist ending: I've read worse, but the turn is not earned by what leads into it. It's an out of no where "shocker" that seemed a bit desperate to me.
I'll point out that I consumed both Bayard novels on CD. I don't know how much the different readers played into my thoughts; the reader for Black Tower was, in my view the better of the two. But the material was also better. I'd have finished Black Tower on paper. Something tells me I wouldn't have gotten through The Pale Blue Eye that way.
I don't regret reading this, but it was quite different than what I expected it to be, then how it was sold. I will still read more Bayard, however.
Interesting mystery investigation with a surprise ending. Hoping the movie stays true to the book.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I was intrigued by the premise of this book. I recently read another book by this author "The Wildes" and enjoyed it (not a 5/5 but more like 4/5). As with "The Wildes", the ending threw me for a loop. While I liked the ending of this book, I also felt that it created some plot holes, and it didn't come together as tightly as I would have liked, which is the reason I rated it 3.5/5. The writing is really compelling, though I did find parts of the story to be a bit of a slog. I wanted to finish the book and then watch the Netflix film adaptation but I have read that the film adaptation is not great, so I am not sure if I will take the time to watch it.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Suicide
The mystery in itself was ok, but with this style of writing (which, on a general basis, I loved), the already too much detailed reports by one of the characters really became insufferable. Many times I wanted to just skip through them, but then I thought: "it probably is like this because of the character's personality, but also because there are cues about the mystery". In reality? Half of it could have been cut.
Also, there really was no need whatsoever for that final surprise, most of all because of the close relationship that was developed with the reader.
Also, there really was no need whatsoever for that final surprise, most of all because of the close relationship that was developed with the reader.
This book was not what I expected it to be. I guess I had assumed it would be more focused on the murder mystery side of it - but, to me, it was really a story about Landor and Poe. That would have been fine, but for most of the book, I found that I didn't really care about either of them. I also found that some parts of the book dragged. I was originally going to give this two stars but the ending surprised me so much I went with three stars. Genuinely did not see that coming at all - and it made me like Poe more.
*I read this as part of the 2023 Popsugar Reading Challenge - "A book becoming a TV series or movie in 2023"
*I read this as part of the 2023 Popsugar Reading Challenge - "A book becoming a TV series or movie in 2023"