You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

1.39k reviews for:

Wolf in White Van

John Darnielle

3.74 AVERAGE


Hail Satan!

For like the first 40 pages or so I was a little worried it would end up feeling like that it's neat if you already like Darnielle, but not like something that can really stand up on its own. Almost immediately after thinking that it proved me wrong.

that PROSE!

There was some interesting writing in this book and I wrote down a few quotes I liked. However, I didn't like any of the characters and I wasn't interested in Sean's accident enough to be truly invested in the story. I really looked forward to reading this book and I ended up disappointed.
adventurous dark reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Phenomenal! Darnielle is a master of tension and unadulterated emotions. This book is _not_ just for gamers; don't let its premise fool you.
dark
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

To bardzo przyjemne uczucie: przeczytać książkę nieco bezrefleksyjnie, zirytować się, że to kolejny niewypał w złej serii tegorocznych lektur, po czym nagle, dzień po jej skończeniu, doznać epifanii i zrozumieć naczelną alegorię, która umknęła podczas czytania. Siedzę od kilku godzin i wsłuchuję się w klikanie zameczków w mojej głowie - to wszystkie części książki wskakują na swoje miejsca i zatrzaskują się w doskonały mechanizm.

W jednej z recenzji ktoś napisał, że to książka, którą i chciałoby się przeczytać ponownie, i nie powinno się do niej wracać. Z takim paradoksem chyba zostanę. Sprawdziłbym, jak się czyta tę powieść po Zrozumieniu, ale jeszcze sobie popsuję epifanię.

Krótki streszcz dla Przyszłego Bartka: człowiek z makabrycznie oszpeconą w wypadku twarzą tworzy grę przygodową dziejącą się w dystopijnym Kansas. Odwrócona chronologia powieści. Nie zrozumiałeś, co symbolizuje gra.

Don't think this book was for me. The plot (if there was one) was very disjointed. It was the longest a 200 book has ever taken me to read.
challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I don't know what else I could have expected from Darnielle. Of course he would find the universal in a level of time and place specificity so fine, so granular, that it blows past all manner of triviality and self-indulgence. It's a dark, backward spiraling, nonsequential narrative that does great justice to the many "what could have been" branching lives we're all seemingly obsessed with in these days of, "too little, too late," without (thankfully) resorting to sloppy multi-timeline nonsense. Our regrets are real enough without all the metaphysics to animate them. But most of all, it is a solemn prayer to the unspeakable truth of how easily and arbitrarily it can all change forever.