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A review by futurama1979
The Other by Thomas Tryon
5.0
fuck, this book took me for a ride. Tryon's craft is just insane and i know i'm way too dazzled by it to say anything really original about this. pequot landing was a real place to me while i read it, i could picture each street, the houses. it's so interesting, because separated from other characters, Niles would collect so much more possible guilt in the mind of the reader. but within this fucked up family context Tryon gave us his ardent love of his brother -- that anything he's hiding is to protect Holland, he'll clean up any mess and cover up any bad thing Holland does -- which gives him a projected sense of innocence to us. he's such a compelling character; my mind is going in so many ways i don't even know how to write about him. somehow, even as the book ends, Niles retains innocence in some form. perhaps only in the form of, even as we realise every utterly evil thing his hands have done, it really and genuinely does feel sickeningly sad when he realises he can no longer reach his brother.
from basically the first handful of chapters, the Other made me think of both [b:The Turn of the Screw|12948|The Turn of the Screw|Henry James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567172392l/12948._SY75_.jpg|990886] and [b:We Have Always Lived in the Castle|89724|We Have Always Lived in the Castle|Shirley Jackson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1704229774l/89724._SX50_.jpg|847007]. it is easily the equal of either in craft. they all toe a line between fantasy and delusion, ultimately, between childhood and adulthood. Niles is in denial about Holland, yeah, but he's also in denial of the fact that he’s growing up. he’s so desperate to hang onto his brother because in accepting what happened to Holland he has to accept every twisted cruelty and unfair spur of adulthood and actually deal with it, rather than retreat into the safety of innocence, games. the way a child views the world is unlimited, unbounded and magical, and ultimately safe. giving up that world is just as impossible as (and very interwoven with) giving Holland up.
every single thing about this book was so on it. this feels stupid and inarticulate in comparison and i'm not even brushing the surface of what makes Niles and the book so special but god the internet already dropped once trying to post this so i will shut up.
from basically the first handful of chapters, the Other made me think of both [b:The Turn of the Screw|12948|The Turn of the Screw|Henry James|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567172392l/12948._SY75_.jpg|990886] and [b:We Have Always Lived in the Castle|89724|We Have Always Lived in the Castle|Shirley Jackson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1704229774l/89724._SX50_.jpg|847007]. it is easily the equal of either in craft. they all toe a line between fantasy and delusion, ultimately, between childhood and adulthood. Niles is in denial about Holland, yeah, but he's also in denial of the fact that he’s growing up. he’s so desperate to hang onto his brother because in accepting what happened to Holland he has to accept every twisted cruelty and unfair spur of adulthood and actually deal with it, rather than retreat into the safety of innocence, games. the way a child views the world is unlimited, unbounded and magical, and ultimately safe. giving up that world is just as impossible as (and very interwoven with) giving Holland up.
every single thing about this book was so on it. this feels stupid and inarticulate in comparison and i'm not even brushing the surface of what makes Niles and the book so special but god the internet already dropped once trying to post this so i will shut up.