Reviews

Czerwone drzewo by Caitlín R. Kiernan

pamwinkler's review against another edition

4.0

I had a craving for this one, so I read it again. It's good. I only figured out a good two or three weeks after finishing it that Caitlín R. Kiernan is not the same lady as Gemma Files who did Experimental Film, because for some reason I conflated the authors. It wasn't until I was looking up Experimental Film for something that I realized that these are two different people.
For me, these two books have a lot of similarity. They're both very much of the cosmic horror/lovecraftian horror, but reading them again closer in sequence, The Red Tree is much more Lovecraftian horror, while Experimental Film is very much cosmic horror. I love them both very much.

jamiezaccaria's review against another edition

4.0

I really loved this book but I would have liked a little bit more clarity or some answers. A fun, queer tale reminiscent of Picnic at Hanging Rock or House of Leaves.

fionab_16's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

gilroi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

sooky's review against another edition

2.0

I don't think I'm the target audience. I like my horror a bit more straight forward. The concept was good, but I did not enjoy the journal style and felt it was too vague. The mention of other books and stories just muddied the waters even further.

jess_the_ninth's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

flat_castle's review against another edition

5.0

When I first started this book, the "editor's preface" had me a bit disappointed - at first read it seemed to set the novel up for a House of Leaves type affair with the footnotes and although I love that book, I don't really want to see it imitated. However, it was apparent right away that this wasn't really the case with The Red Tree. Told in journal entries, narrator Sarah has a clear voice that keeps you interested. The novel manages to capture feelings I remember having as a kid, seeing the great tree in our front yard something different and not quite right in the night; the fear of the dark that sometimes a person has reserved for the unknown of a dark basement.

foggy_rosamund's review against another edition

3.0

Containing multiple narrative voice, The Red Tree is a haunted house story about a chilling farmhouse located near an ancient, inexplicable red oak tree. Sarah, the principal narrator, is a struggling writing, who comes to stay in the farmhouse following the death of her former partner, Amanda. Isolated and depressed, Sarah becomes obsessed with reading a narrative left in the house by a former tenant, who committed suicide five years before Sarah's arrival. She begins to write her own journal commenting on his work. It's a curious story, full of digressions and dream-sequences. Sarah has a colloquial narrative voice, and at times I was frustrated by her: by her grumpy temperament, her tendency to pick fights, and her repetitions. But as the narrative continues, her voice comes to reflect her struggle to understand her experiences, and her overwhelming fear and despair. This works well as a chilling horror story, leaving much to suggestion, and on this, my second reading, I found it both compelling and entertaining. Sarah works less well for me as a principal character: though she shows strong emotions, it's hard to grasp where she's coming from -- the constant digressions and dream sequences keep her at a distance from the reader, and I couldn't connect with her. I needed to be more fully immersed in her head for the true horror of this book to come across. Still, there is a lot to like in the complex narrative, and it stands up to rereading well.

cblueweaver's review against another edition

4.0

Kiernan's other book, and the other side to the Drowning Girl coin. There are a lot of similarities between the books, or thematic opposites, and both are about women being driven to the edge (or over the edge) of madness. This text is also palimpsestuous, and Kiernan plays with form again to emphasize Sarah Crowe's state of mind. Ultimately the form, characterization, and layers upon layers of atmospheric quoting, referencing, and researching come together to craft a bleak psychological horror about one woman, one house, and one horrible, horrible old tree.

m4tr1m0ny's review against another edition

5.0

It took me a while to get thoroughly invested but this was wholly worth it. I never did find it quite as enthralling as The Drowning Girl, but that may be because Kiernan published that one a few years after this. I made a list of the aspects of this book that carry over to TDG:
the "Lobster Quadrille"
local lycanthropic myth
ghosts of women from bodies of water
false memoir framing (also layers of false excerpts from other writers)
the process of writing & painting
New England
dreams
citation of a combination of real & fictitious artists, journalists, pieces of art, etc.
the Heaven's Gate cult
lesbianism
la Bête de Gévaudan
a short story written by the narrator
lost memories/false memories
Albert Perrault

Edit: I actually feel quite freaked out by the ending of this, it's much less wrapped up than TDG & the uncertainty is a bit spooky.