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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
So, I'll have to admit, first of all, that I really thought Stephen King wrote this. I felt like such a putz when it was pointed out that he did not. At least I can breathe a sigh of relief, because this was not up to King's usual level. Duh!
This diary entry book tells the story of Ellen Rimbauer and her life at the mansion Rose Red. The story actually begins on the day footings are being laid for the mansion's foundation, and then follows Ellen and John Rimbauer on their year long honeymoon around the world, with their eventual return to the completed Rose Red. We are shown early on what sort of man John is, and that Ellen, despite being a bit non-conventional, is going to accept this behaviour, not only for the benefits of his wealth, but for the chance at children and a family. A well respected family.
Ellen Rimbauer is an infinitely fascinating character to me, almost from her first diary entry at 19. She is writing in 1902, but her inner feelings, thoughts, desires, are so out of step with the times that I couldn't wait to see what she would do with them. Turns out...nothing. Well, nothing, except marry a womanizing pig, albeit a rich one, contract syphilis from his easy ways, and then spend the rest of her life punishing him for it by spending his money on the never ending expansion of Rose Red.
I'm sure it's meant to be ambiguous, but it was never clear who or what exactly was "haunting" Rose Red. The fact that she was haunted was undeniable. She also needed "feeding" and was able to help herself in that regard. Many women disappeared and many men died within her grounds. Many of the women actually seemed to disappear in defense of Ellen Rimbauer or her honor, so even from the beginning the house seemed protective of, if not loving, of her. How was this relationship fostered? That's one question I would really like an answer to.
I own this book, but audio-ed it this time. I found many of the editorial notes amusing, especially on the audio. The diary entries are supposedly edited by Joyce Reardon, PH.D. as she is using them for her thesis. Where omissions are made, they are explained as unneccesary, repetitive, or in one large chunk, as too "risque". The book leaves it at Reardon's explanation, but the audio goes on to say that the edited entries can be found on a website for Beaumont University by entering a particular URL. I wonder how many listeners tried to read those edited entries since it was made clear they were not only sexual in nature, but downright deviant!
This diary entry book tells the story of Ellen Rimbauer and her life at the mansion Rose Red. The story actually begins on the day footings are being laid for the mansion's foundation, and then follows Ellen and John Rimbauer on their year long honeymoon around the world, with their eventual return to the completed Rose Red. We are shown early on what sort of man John is, and that Ellen, despite being a bit non-conventional, is going to accept this behaviour, not only for the benefits of his wealth, but for the chance at children and a family. A well respected family.
Ellen Rimbauer is an infinitely fascinating character to me, almost from her first diary entry at 19. She is writing in 1902, but her inner feelings, thoughts, desires, are so out of step with the times that I couldn't wait to see what she would do with them. Turns out...nothing. Well, nothing, except marry a womanizing pig, albeit a rich one, contract syphilis from his easy ways, and then spend the rest of her life punishing him for it by spending his money on the never ending expansion of Rose Red.
I'm sure it's meant to be ambiguous, but it was never clear who or what exactly was "haunting" Rose Red. The fact that she was haunted was undeniable. She also needed "feeding" and was able to help herself in that regard. Many women disappeared and many men died within her grounds. Many of the women actually seemed to disappear in defense of Ellen Rimbauer or her honor, so even from the beginning the house seemed protective of, if not loving, of her. How was this relationship fostered? That's one question I would really like an answer to.
I own this book, but audio-ed it this time. I found many of the editorial notes amusing, especially on the audio. The diary entries are supposedly edited by Joyce Reardon, PH.D. as she is using them for her thesis. Where omissions are made, they are explained as unneccesary, repetitive, or in one large chunk, as too "risque". The book leaves it at Reardon's explanation, but the audio goes on to say that the edited entries can be found on a website for Beaumont University by entering a particular URL. I wonder how many listeners tried to read those edited entries since it was made clear they were not only sexual in nature, but downright deviant!
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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:
Yes
I really liked this book a lot. Some parts were a bit slow and redundant. However, still a page turner in it’s own right. Very Stephen king in that there was a lot of male sexual fantasy. SK writing the perspective of a woman; I could see right through it. Pretty much how I realized this was fiction.
dark
tense
fast-paced
When I last reviewed a book in diary form - [b:Stray|10493813|Stray (Touchstone, #1)|Andrea K. Höst|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298111679s/10493813.jpg|15399425] - I mentioned, that it's not my favourite type of narrative and here's a very good example of why this is.
Ellen's superficial and self absorbed ramblings are simply annoying. I couldn't stand her and since it's her diary there is no escape. And if you skip pages of details about wardrobe or her feeling sorry for herself because her husband isn't treating her well (a man she only married because of his money and social status, mind you) there just isn't enough story left to make this a good book.
I have to admit it was probably my mistake to read this now and not while I was watching the TV show. It might have made more sense in that context and I might have enjoyed it more. Who knows.
Ellen's superficial and self absorbed ramblings are simply annoying. I couldn't stand her and since it's her diary there is no escape. And if you skip pages of details about wardrobe or her feeling sorry for herself because her husband isn't treating her well (a man she only married because of his money and social status, mind you) there just isn't enough story left to make this a good book.
I have to admit it was probably my mistake to read this now and not while I was watching the TV show. It might have made more sense in that context and I might have enjoyed it more. Who knows.
This story had some very good ways that it tied itself to the Mini-Series
Total garbage. I picked this up at a thrift shop because I'm a big Stephen King fan and I enjoyed the Rose Red mini series that aired years ago (yes, it's cheesy and predictable, but I love a haunted house). I knew this was a tie-in but I mistakenly thought it was authored by King. Needless to say, within one page I knew without a doubt that it was not. This book has none of the style or draw of King's writing, and frankly I'm shocked that he allowed it to be published and associated with his work.
First, as many other reviewers have already noted, the writing style is just awful. It doesn't read like a true diary, and there are a lot of silly tangents meant to "prove" it was written in the early twentieth century. Freud is just an emerging whackadoodle! Kipling is an up and comer! Someday soon women's roles might expand, wouldn't that be neat?! Ok, we get it. The repeated use of the phrase Dear Diary also wears awfully thin, like the author is constantly trying to remind you that, hey, this is a diary, remember! Also, SO MANY LOOOOONG PARENTHETICALS.
Second, the plot. Having seen the miniseries I was familiar with the premise, and a lot of the events recounted here are mentioned in the series. I read this in the hopes it would offer greater insight to those events, but it really doesn't. The "author" poses some theories about the nature of the haunting but then just changes her mind and never comes to any conclusions. The only real insight gained is that her husband was a gross philanderer, and that women are punished (or maybe protected? who knows) for having sex/being raped. Cool.
Which brings me to my third and most important point of contention. This book felt like 90% terrible descriptions of sex and 10% spooky stuff. I say this as someone who enjoys good erotic fiction, but this is just not. There's awkward sex, bad sex, sex that is apparently supposed to be good but is still written badly, and then several allusions to rape, for good measure. All are equally off-putting. The book edits out the really "racy" stuff (no spoilers, but it involves two women being manipulated into numerous sexual encounters, so yeah, more rape). These excerpts were once available online, but I am glad they have apparently been lost to the forward march of time. Did the author even want to write a horror novel or did he just want to write a degrading sex novel about multiple women who are repeatedly abused by a rich jerk? Sorry, I just have so many problems with this aspect, which I do not remember being present in the original mini series.
Anyway, I got fed up and stopped around 30 pages from the end. I wasted all of my afternoon and just couldn't give it any more of my time. This is the first review I've even bothered to write on here because it just made me so aggravated. If you're a fan of horror, Stephen King, or just plain good writing, look elsewhere.
First, as many other reviewers have already noted, the writing style is just awful. It doesn't read like a true diary, and there are a lot of silly tangents meant to "prove" it was written in the early twentieth century. Freud is just an emerging whackadoodle! Kipling is an up and comer! Someday soon women's roles might expand, wouldn't that be neat?! Ok, we get it. The repeated use of the phrase Dear Diary also wears awfully thin, like the author is constantly trying to remind you that, hey, this is a diary, remember! Also, SO MANY LOOOOONG PARENTHETICALS.
Second, the plot. Having seen the miniseries I was familiar with the premise, and a lot of the events recounted here are mentioned in the series. I read this in the hopes it would offer greater insight to those events, but it really doesn't. The "author" poses some theories about the nature of the haunting but then just changes her mind and never comes to any conclusions. The only real insight gained is that her husband was a gross philanderer, and that women are punished (or maybe protected? who knows) for having sex/being raped. Cool.
Which brings me to my third and most important point of contention. This book felt like 90% terrible descriptions of sex and 10% spooky stuff. I say this as someone who enjoys good erotic fiction, but this is just not. There's awkward sex, bad sex, sex that is apparently supposed to be good but is still written badly, and then several allusions to rape, for good measure. All are equally off-putting. The book edits out the really "racy" stuff (no spoilers, but it involves two women being manipulated into numerous sexual encounters, so yeah, more rape). These excerpts were once available online, but I am glad they have apparently been lost to the forward march of time. Did the author even want to write a horror novel or did he just want to write a degrading sex novel about multiple women who are repeatedly abused by a rich jerk? Sorry, I just have so many problems with this aspect, which I do not remember being present in the original mini series.
Anyway, I got fed up and stopped around 30 pages from the end. I wasted all of my afternoon and just couldn't give it any more of my time. This is the first review I've even bothered to write on here because it just made me so aggravated. If you're a fan of horror, Stephen King, or just plain good writing, look elsewhere.
This book could have been so much better, but it was still pretty good to be written as a diary. It did keep me guessing. Certain parts of the book had me looking over my shoulder. All in all, a good read for an October day.
Ok, did anyone else see Stephen King’s miniseries Rose Red back in the day?! Another diary like book for the win!
This book is interesting because nowhere in or on the book does it actually say who the author was. It was created to be presented as a factual diary of a woman that never actually existed. Derived slightly from the story of the mysterious Winchester home, we have Ellen Rimbauer that writes from the time she is to be married off to the older but wealthy bachelor John Rimbauer, through their year long honeymoon across the world and throughout her life at Rose Red.
I’d you’ve seen Rose Red, this book follows along similarly in the sense that some of the ghosts and incidents in the movie happened while she was alive still and she tells us about it from the first person POV. From the African woman Sukeena who stayed with her to the seance to her daughter April with the withered arm. There were several moments when I got the chills reading about one of her ghostly experiences in a home that “wants” her. Well done in my opinion!
This book is interesting because nowhere in or on the book does it actually say who the author was. It was created to be presented as a factual diary of a woman that never actually existed. Derived slightly from the story of the mysterious Winchester home, we have Ellen Rimbauer that writes from the time she is to be married off to the older but wealthy bachelor John Rimbauer, through their year long honeymoon across the world and throughout her life at Rose Red.
I’d you’ve seen Rose Red, this book follows along similarly in the sense that some of the ghosts and incidents in the movie happened while she was alive still and she tells us about it from the first person POV. From the African woman Sukeena who stayed with her to the seance to her daughter April with the withered arm. There were several moments when I got the chills reading about one of her ghostly experiences in a home that “wants” her. Well done in my opinion!
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No