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A review by linark
The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story by Stephen R. Donaldson
4.0
Donaldson is a funny guy. Such dark and disgusting subject matter yet it's still a stellar book. Bases the story on simple ideas - Victim, Villain and Rescuer (and the shifting of these roles) - unbelief and leprosy. Stephenson seems to gravitate toward stories that contain his male protagonist raping a female character, with complex motivations behind the rape. The rape or sexual abuse is always a large part of the book(s), with many consequences. It's like Uncle Ben's murder or when I drop my bread butter side down on the floor after a long tumultous day - the last straw off the camel's back, the point after which the plot starts tumbling.
I find it endlessly faschinating the way he handles it in his books, how he explores the minds of immoral peope, allows us to look around and understand - and the discussion of redemption, which is interesting because Stephenson is never actually pushing the agenda of redeeming rapists. He lets the characters speak for themselves. That's quality! So I do really want to read more.
What I also do admire about his books is how he manages, after a quality first book, make the subsequent ones of the same high quality. Both Lord Foul's Bane and now The Real Story have been of exceptional quality, with that same shine true classics have, and the next two of the Thomas Covenant books were the same. I have high expectations of Forbidden Knowledge. Victim turned Rescuer question mark?
I find it endlessly faschinating the way he handles it in his books, how he explores the minds of immoral peope, allows us to look around and understand - and the discussion of redemption, which is interesting because Stephenson is never actually pushing the agenda of redeeming rapists. He lets the characters speak for themselves. That's quality! So I do really want to read more.
What I also do admire about his books is how he manages, after a quality first book, make the subsequent ones of the same high quality. Both Lord Foul's Bane and now The Real Story have been of exceptional quality, with that same shine true classics have, and the next two of the Thomas Covenant books were the same. I have high expectations of Forbidden Knowledge. Victim turned Rescuer question mark?