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leia_lynn's review against another edition
Interesting premise, dull and tedious plot, anticlimactic "climax", somewhat redeemed by the ending.
lavenderspark's review against another edition
I actually really enjoyed it. After I got about halfway through the feeling of having read it before passed, so I'm not sure if maybe I started it once and didn't finish or what. Trying to explain what it was about/what was happening when my husband asked was interesting: <spoilers>"oh you know, quantum theory/multiverse, but you know, bad guy killing people and a detective trying to catch him." :) The hardest part for me was remembering that the story took place in the sixties. LOTS of racism. But only in the bad guy, so I'm pretty sure it was done so that the reader hates him more. And I had to remind myself that there were things technologically they couldn't do at that time. I kept thinking "why don't they just do X? Oh yeah, because it didn't exist then..."</spoilers>
lauriereadslohf's review against another edition
3.0
Still updating my old reads. Ugh, what a tedious task. I read this many years ago for All About Romance. The review is archived HERE .
theembodiedyogi's review against another edition
5.0
This book was a good one. It started out as the most weirdest book I have ever read(heard that is very like mr. koontz ) but it was intriguing enough to keep me reading. As I read on I became attached emotionally to some of the characters - Barty- the passages where he first begins to lose his sight was almost unbearable being a mother- you can hardly take it. I enjoyed it overall and am looking forward to reading another Dean Koontz book!
kingjason's review against another edition
5.0
Shockingly good book, I sat down with this book and read it all in one sitting, over 700 pages, quite an accomplishment for me.
This book is Dean Koontz at his very best, a moving story with plenty of action and suspense. It will always have a place in my top 10.
This book is Dean Koontz at his very best, a moving story with plenty of action and suspense. It will always have a place in my top 10.
brettt's review against another edition
3.0
Dean Koontz could probably be compared with Stephen King in many ways -- they are contemporaries and they write primarily human-centered fiction that weaves the everyday world with some very strange places, characters and ideas. Although both made their initial successes with horror and horror-related novels, neither has stayed exclusively in that field.
The comparisons aren't exact, though. Both are excellent storytellers and write with smooth, clear styles that don't fall so much in love with their own words as to become incomprehensible. But King probably has more of a literary gift and has in recent years, for better or worse, turned his hand to the production of work that tries to Say Important Things. He succeeds now and again, but he fails just as often and those failures are indeed yucky.
Koontz, on the other hand, seems more content to spin some great yarns which, if they happen to provoke a thought or two, so much the better, but that's not his first goal. From the Corner of His Eye is one of those kinds of books. Koontz said the story idea for the 2000 novel came to him after reading some articles about what's called the "many worlds theory" of quantum mechanics. Oversimplified, that theory suggests that there may be many universes besides our own -- in fact, every universe which might exist actually does exist. Corner offers the idea that these universes relate to human actions and choices, and that some rare individuals have the ability to transfer objects between the worlds. Or maybe even access them.
Bartholomew "Barty" Lampion and Angel White are two preschoolers in the late 1960s who have this kind of gift. Both came into the world through tragedy, and although they don't meet until later in the novel, both are also intertwined with the killer Enoch Cain, called "Junior" because he hates "Enoch." Corner is largely the story of Barty and Angel beginning to display their gifts and of Junior seeking them out because of his belief that a spirit-being of some kind named Bartholomew will mean his end.
Like most of Koontz's work, Corner flows easily and moves much faster than its nearly 800 pages might seem to suggest. Koontz is a devout Catholic and usually includes some kind of theistic worldview in his novels, here weaving it with the many-universes idea underneath it all. An especially neat touch is that his evil killer is not the usual supernally smart and urbane wicked genius but instead a stupid and vain sociopath whose violence stems straight from his inability to accept that other people's lives don't have anything to do with him.
Corner has some interesting ideas, even if the story in which they're embedded isn't likely to stick with you for very long. But that's something Koontz does well, has been doing well for some time and will probably continue to do well for some time more.
Original available here.
The comparisons aren't exact, though. Both are excellent storytellers and write with smooth, clear styles that don't fall so much in love with their own words as to become incomprehensible. But King probably has more of a literary gift and has in recent years, for better or worse, turned his hand to the production of work that tries to Say Important Things. He succeeds now and again, but he fails just as often and those failures are indeed yucky.
Koontz, on the other hand, seems more content to spin some great yarns which, if they happen to provoke a thought or two, so much the better, but that's not his first goal. From the Corner of His Eye is one of those kinds of books. Koontz said the story idea for the 2000 novel came to him after reading some articles about what's called the "many worlds theory" of quantum mechanics. Oversimplified, that theory suggests that there may be many universes besides our own -- in fact, every universe which might exist actually does exist. Corner offers the idea that these universes relate to human actions and choices, and that some rare individuals have the ability to transfer objects between the worlds. Or maybe even access them.
Bartholomew "Barty" Lampion and Angel White are two preschoolers in the late 1960s who have this kind of gift. Both came into the world through tragedy, and although they don't meet until later in the novel, both are also intertwined with the killer Enoch Cain, called "Junior" because he hates "Enoch." Corner is largely the story of Barty and Angel beginning to display their gifts and of Junior seeking them out because of his belief that a spirit-being of some kind named Bartholomew will mean his end.
Like most of Koontz's work, Corner flows easily and moves much faster than its nearly 800 pages might seem to suggest. Koontz is a devout Catholic and usually includes some kind of theistic worldview in his novels, here weaving it with the many-universes idea underneath it all. An especially neat touch is that his evil killer is not the usual supernally smart and urbane wicked genius but instead a stupid and vain sociopath whose violence stems straight from his inability to accept that other people's lives don't have anything to do with him.
Corner has some interesting ideas, even if the story in which they're embedded isn't likely to stick with you for very long. But that's something Koontz does well, has been doing well for some time and will probably continue to do well for some time more.
Original available here.
raehink's review against another edition
1.0
I tried. But I just can't get into this book. I've given it way more than my customary 50-100 pages grace. If it hasn't caught me yet, I doubt it ever will. I won't be finishing it.
alexctelander's review against another edition
3.0
“Like the cold and fragile ectoplasm of summoned spirits, the gossamer architecture pressed against their faces, and much of it clung tenaciously to their clothes that even in the gloom, they began to look like the risen dead in tattered gravecloth.”
Thus begins the latest novel from bestselling author Dean Koontz, who has brought us such great tales as Fear Nothing, Watchers, Intensity, and Dark Rivers of the Heart. In From the Corner of His Eye Koontz transcends his revered storytelling, reaching a new and higher plateau, both in narrative style and plot. From the Corner of His Eye becomes a story that one wants to keep, both in their hears and on their shelf, to return to often.
The novel uses a casts of fantastically strong characters, each with their own unique and complex lives that the reader learns about in turn. The main character, Bartholomew Lampton, is a young boy who is almost a miracle birth, the mother having suffered a near-death accident on the way to the hospital. Early on, Barty appears to be a prodigy of a new dimensions, excelling in all fields to a shocking degree. Approaching the age of four, he develops a rare form of retinal cancer; the only solution is to have the retinas removed. For the next ten years of his life, Barty is blind, dealing with this deformity and coping just fine. Then one day, through powers both mystical and supernatural, Barty gains his sight.
Each of the other characters forms part of a beautiful circular puzzle, where Barty is at the cent, the rest accompanying pieces. The reader is taken on journeys into the minds and lives of these characters, orchestrated by the great puppet master, Mr. Koontz, from one character to the next, from this chapter to that.
Koontz lays such a solid groundwork with From the Corner of His Eye that one is left hoping for possible sequels with this wonderful setting. The book concludes with a satisfying end, opening up the reader’s narrow mind to a world of impossibilities made possible and events – ruled not empirically possible by scientists – to reality and fruition.
“Through the mind, odd and disconnected thoughts rolled like slow, greasy eye-of-the-hurricane waves on an ominous sea.” Koontz’s words broach the realm of poetry with their imagery, making the story not only compelling and spellbinding but outright charming and exquisite. When one begins reading From the Corner of His Eye, it will be unlike any book ever read by anyone. The tale is magnificent, the pace strong and continuous, the characters unique and incomparable to any others. The power is like a charging, one-manned train, where Mr. Koontz is the driver and the reader is the only passenger, where he or she will remain belted into the sea, reading paragraphs and turning pages, until the very last, collapsing in an exhausted heap; then rising after recuperation, hoping for a sequel.
Originally published on March 26, 2001 ©Alex C. Telander.
For over 500 book reviews, and over 40 exclusive author interviews (both audio and written), visit BookBanter.
Thus begins the latest novel from bestselling author Dean Koontz, who has brought us such great tales as Fear Nothing, Watchers, Intensity, and Dark Rivers of the Heart. In From the Corner of His Eye Koontz transcends his revered storytelling, reaching a new and higher plateau, both in narrative style and plot. From the Corner of His Eye becomes a story that one wants to keep, both in their hears and on their shelf, to return to often.
The novel uses a casts of fantastically strong characters, each with their own unique and complex lives that the reader learns about in turn. The main character, Bartholomew Lampton, is a young boy who is almost a miracle birth, the mother having suffered a near-death accident on the way to the hospital. Early on, Barty appears to be a prodigy of a new dimensions, excelling in all fields to a shocking degree. Approaching the age of four, he develops a rare form of retinal cancer; the only solution is to have the retinas removed. For the next ten years of his life, Barty is blind, dealing with this deformity and coping just fine. Then one day, through powers both mystical and supernatural, Barty gains his sight.
Each of the other characters forms part of a beautiful circular puzzle, where Barty is at the cent, the rest accompanying pieces. The reader is taken on journeys into the minds and lives of these characters, orchestrated by the great puppet master, Mr. Koontz, from one character to the next, from this chapter to that.
Koontz lays such a solid groundwork with From the Corner of His Eye that one is left hoping for possible sequels with this wonderful setting. The book concludes with a satisfying end, opening up the reader’s narrow mind to a world of impossibilities made possible and events – ruled not empirically possible by scientists – to reality and fruition.
“Through the mind, odd and disconnected thoughts rolled like slow, greasy eye-of-the-hurricane waves on an ominous sea.” Koontz’s words broach the realm of poetry with their imagery, making the story not only compelling and spellbinding but outright charming and exquisite. When one begins reading From the Corner of His Eye, it will be unlike any book ever read by anyone. The tale is magnificent, the pace strong and continuous, the characters unique and incomparable to any others. The power is like a charging, one-manned train, where Mr. Koontz is the driver and the reader is the only passenger, where he or she will remain belted into the sea, reading paragraphs and turning pages, until the very last, collapsing in an exhausted heap; then rising after recuperation, hoping for a sequel.
Originally published on March 26, 2001 ©Alex C. Telander.
For over 500 book reviews, and over 40 exclusive author interviews (both audio and written), visit BookBanter.
ehunsy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Drew out some deeper thinking and research into different areas of science, due to the interesting and strange elements in this, which made this book my favorite Koontz book for quite a while. Has some rather heartwarming and heart breaking moments that make it slightly more emotional than some of his other works.