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bookivore's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
This started off well, but then it lost me for the most part. Lots of wordy digressions and changes of scene break the flow of the plot. Weird scenes are just... weird, with the atmospheric effect they should have being replaced with confusion. That said, it's an intriguing enough book that I finished it. The good parts are good. Overall it feels a bit dated, more in style than content, but I've certainly read worse books.
verkisto's review
2.0
This is my second time through this novel, and I can't say I can make any more sense of it now than when I did ... twenty-three years ago.
(Jeezum CROW, twenty-three years? The gap between these two readings is old enough to go to a bar.)
I like Etchison's writing style. It's clean and precise, straight-forward and direct. I wish he could be the same with his plots, or his characterization, or even his atmosphere. I couldn't get a good handle on the story or the mood, and the characters ran together so much that I kept confusing them. They all felt bland and lifeless to me.
The theme feels like it's about family. At least, a family and its issues feature prominently in the story. Beyond that, though, I'm not sure I could tell you the point of the whole thing.
Etchison was apparently the master of the short story, and I ought to read one of those collections, because I can see how that would be the case. In a shorter format, I can see his stories having a lot of power, thanks to his style. As far as novels, though? Eh. Neither this nor Shadowman made much of an impression on me.
On the bright side, this book has one of my favorite quotes (which I wrote down and saved the first time I read it):
Abyss #46
(Jeezum CROW, twenty-three years? The gap between these two readings is old enough to go to a bar.)
I like Etchison's writing style. It's clean and precise, straight-forward and direct. I wish he could be the same with his plots, or his characterization, or even his atmosphere. I couldn't get a good handle on the story or the mood, and the characters ran together so much that I kept confusing them. They all felt bland and lifeless to me.
The theme feels like it's about family. At least, a family and its issues feature prominently in the story. Beyond that, though, I'm not sure I could tell you the point of the whole thing.
Etchison was apparently the master of the short story, and I ought to read one of those collections, because I can see how that would be the case. In a shorter format, I can see his stories having a lot of power, thanks to his style. As far as novels, though? Eh. Neither this nor Shadowman made much of an impression on me.
On the bright side, this book has one of my favorite quotes (which I wrote down and saved the first time I read it):
“The trouble was that there was no foolproof way to tell the difference between Zen emptiness and just plain empty.”
Abyss #46
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