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desertdreamsanddarkthemes
I am oftentimes disappointed in a book because my high expectations aren't met, which is no one's fault but my own. The blurb on the cover of the book by Stewart O'Nan puts the bar up really high when it compares Freeman to Stephen King. I don't know who O'Nan is, but I sure as sh*t know who Stephen King is. That isn't to say that Freeman isn't a good writer, but Stephen King is a legend. Like King, I imagined the ending to The Painted Darkness to be a profound revelation, but it is actually quite mundane. I liked this book alright; it had struck my eye at the library and I thought "Why not? It's under 200 pages." For under 200 pages, it's not that bad; it's not that great, but you know...
It's something you'd pass a day away with and then give it back to the person you borrowed it from.
It's something you'd pass a day away with and then give it back to the person you borrowed it from.
You have to be careful with this book; it isn't what it appears especially in the first hundred pages.
I've seen reviewers comment that they did not finish this book - having only gotten to around the 170-page mark before putting the book down. Putting this book down before the half-way point is a mistake. The quirky and humorous writing does wear down on the reader rather quickly and the book becomes monotonous, but pushing through to the end offers a surprising reward.
The reward is understanding. Once you reach a certain point, everything falls into place and you reach a point of clarity. Every town is Night Vale; there may be no murderous librarians or invisible pie or mysterious flamingos, but every town has Jackies and Dianes and Joshs and Troys and monsters that come in human form. When you look at each quirk as a metaphor for something in the physical world, you realize that this book is more real than you realized.
I've seen reviewers comment that they did not finish this book - having only gotten to around the 170-page mark before putting the book down. Putting this book down before the half-way point is a mistake. The quirky and humorous writing does wear down on the reader rather quickly and the book becomes monotonous, but pushing through to the end offers a surprising reward.
The reward is understanding. Once you reach a certain point, everything falls into place and you reach a point of clarity. Every town is Night Vale; there may be no murderous librarians or invisible pie or mysterious flamingos, but every town has Jackies and Dianes and Joshs and Troys and monsters that come in human form. When you look at each quirk as a metaphor for something in the physical world, you realize that this book is more real than you realized.
There are books out there that be discussed ad nauseam. You can take entire classes to talk about the symbolism and significance of minute details in books that haven't been relevant in decades, even centuries. The Lightkeepers isn't a book you can discuss; it is an experience, but most importantly it is a feeling. I can't tell you about Geni's book; you are just going to have to read it.
