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A review by mixxie67
The Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert
1.0
This goes on the 'could-not-finish' shelf. What a stinker. I was thoroughly impatient with the character descriptions and unnecessary explanations through dialogue, e.g., the mother explaining to the kindly old gardener why their youngest daughter is nicknamed "Callie"---I can almost picture the gardener nodding with polite disinterest. As an American, I was really irritated with the author feeling it necessary to include, during the mother's interior monologue, the information that her American husband called the motorway the 'interstate' (even though he's lived in England for 16 years and is a mechanical engineer?). As if that weren't enough, she does this again later with "gorge" and "ravine". Hello Mr.Herbert? We have gorges in the States as well, no need to explain what one is.
Once the kindly old gardener showed up with his "West Country burr" thoughtfully re-produced for us in phonetic dialogue, I gave up. I'm not interested in being told through pointless exposition that the boot of a car is a trunk, or that cling film is plastic wrap. I already hate the mother and can see her turning into a major pain. Another peeve--it is also not necessary to show that a character is American by having him constantly say, "yeah" and "hey" and "gonna". Another inconsistency in the father's character;he is a MECHANICAL ENGINEER, i.e, he builds bridges and such, yet he doesn't know that a brook that is relatively mild during late summer might not get a bit wilder during the wetter months? Isn't knowing that stuff part of the job description of an mechanical engineer? Also, HAVING LIVED IN ENGLAND FOR SIXTEEN YEARS, doesn't he know what the weather is like? I can't be distracted with this kind of shoddy attention to detail alternating with boring attention detail (I refer you back to my comment re the youngest daughter's nickname). Especially when I'm reading a scary story. I'm the type, who while reading a recent Stephen King story was distracted by the fact that he had his character, a women in her late 30's remembering obscure 7UP jingles and Winston cigarette ads. I'm in my mid-40's and I never heard of the 7UP jingle(it likes you you like it). My husband is a few years older and he had never heard it either. I only know the Winston thing from having read an earlier King story. Maybe King was being meta and his character knew that stuff because she read his books? It didn't fly with me at all and that is a very minor detail (except for that he kept referring back to the 7UP thing). I just knew I was in for so much more in Herbert's book. I can't put myself through that.
Once the kindly old gardener showed up with his "West Country burr" thoughtfully re-produced for us in phonetic dialogue, I gave up. I'm not interested in being told through pointless exposition that the boot of a car is a trunk, or that cling film is plastic wrap. I already hate the mother and can see her turning into a major pain. Another peeve--it is also not necessary to show that a character is American by having him constantly say, "yeah" and "hey" and "gonna". Another inconsistency in the father's character;he is a MECHANICAL ENGINEER, i.e, he builds bridges and such, yet he doesn't know that a brook that is relatively mild during late summer might not get a bit wilder during the wetter months? Isn't knowing that stuff part of the job description of an mechanical engineer? Also, HAVING LIVED IN ENGLAND FOR SIXTEEN YEARS, doesn't he know what the weather is like? I can't be distracted with this kind of shoddy attention to detail alternating with boring attention detail (I refer you back to my comment re the youngest daughter's nickname). Especially when I'm reading a scary story. I'm the type, who while reading a recent Stephen King story was distracted by the fact that he had his character, a women in her late 30's remembering obscure 7UP jingles and Winston cigarette ads. I'm in my mid-40's and I never heard of the 7UP jingle(it likes you you like it). My husband is a few years older and he had never heard it either. I only know the Winston thing from having read an earlier King story. Maybe King was being meta and his character knew that stuff because she read his books? It didn't fly with me at all and that is a very minor detail (except for that he kept referring back to the 7UP thing). I just knew I was in for so much more in Herbert's book. I can't put myself through that.