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mh_books's Reviews (1.12k)
Is this the best Haunted House book ever written? I don’t know as I haven’t read all the Haunted House books ever written. Let me say its the best one I have ever read (second best being Stephen King’s The Shining).
Rather than an out right “scare fest” Shirley Jackson lets us live the experience via her Character Eleanor. We walk those corridors (with the doors that keep shutting themselves) in the mind of Eleanor. The house is slowly tearing Eleanor apart. Is it real? Is it imagined? Is Eleanor going crazy? In the end, does it matter? To find out why not spend a few nights at Haunted Hill House.
Rather than an out right “scare fest” Shirley Jackson lets us live the experience via her Character Eleanor. We walk those corridors (with the doors that keep shutting themselves) in the mind of Eleanor. The house is slowly tearing Eleanor apart. Is it real? Is it imagined? Is Eleanor going crazy? In the end, does it matter? To find out why not spend a few nights at Haunted Hill House.
Well I missed out on some sleep last night as I couldn’t put it down so I guess I must have liked it :)
The story is about a young girl from the Midlands of Ireland who has not eaten in four months and yet looks to be relatively healthy. The religious are claiming she is a miracle and the sceptics that she and her family are cheats and liars. To decide the point, an English Florence Nightingale trained nurse together with an Irish Catholic Nun are tasked with observing whether she is eating or not over the course of two weeks.
Lib, the atheist English Nurse finds herself in the heart of old fashioned Catholic Ireland only seven years after the famine killed half of the Irish population. Personally, I found her rather amusing in her lack of knowledge and ignorance of the culture. Of course the saucer of milk left in the kitchen was for the fairies , who else not a starving child! Of course you must bless somebodies work or they may injure themselves at it. Yes, washing a rag in a sacred well, rubbing it on a sore spot on your body and tying it on a tree until it rots, is a well known cure - Don’t believe me I live in Dublin in the 21st Century and there is such a well and tree not 200 yards from where I live! Sadly though yes, there was a time when religious mania ruled Ireland and the majority of the populace believed in it so absolutely and literally that they could not see the harm that was being done in its name right in front of their faces.
This is a story the pits an Educated English Sceptical Scientist against Superstitious Catholic Ireland. Yet somehow in the midst of this Lib and her charge Anna find a common ground and begin to bound. But then it all goes terribly terribly wrong.
The pace is very slow moving at the beginning and speeds up near the end. The resolution or twist will be obvious if you try to guess it (there are only a few possibilities after all). So I would recommend just relaxing and let story flow.
If you read this and found the old fashioned catholic superstitious element intriguing I would recommend [bc:The Loney|25458371|The Loney|Andrew Michael Hurley|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1430426895s/25458371.jpg|42849250].
Overall a good read.
The story is about a young girl from the Midlands of Ireland who has not eaten in four months and yet looks to be relatively healthy. The religious are claiming she is a miracle and the sceptics that she and her family are cheats and liars. To decide the point, an English Florence Nightingale trained nurse together with an Irish Catholic Nun are tasked with observing whether she is eating or not over the course of two weeks.
Lib, the atheist English Nurse finds herself in the heart of old fashioned Catholic Ireland only seven years after the famine killed half of the Irish population. Personally, I found her rather amusing in her lack of knowledge and ignorance of the culture. Of course the saucer of milk left in the kitchen was for the fairies , who else not a starving child! Of course you must bless somebodies work or they may injure themselves at it. Yes, washing a rag in a sacred well, rubbing it on a sore spot on your body and tying it on a tree until it rots, is a well known cure - Don’t believe me I live in Dublin in the 21st Century and there is such a well and tree not 200 yards from where I live! Sadly though yes, there was a time when religious mania ruled Ireland and the majority of the populace believed in it so absolutely and literally that they could not see the harm that was being done in its name right in front of their faces.
This is a story the pits an Educated English Sceptical Scientist against Superstitious Catholic Ireland. Yet somehow in the midst of this Lib and her charge Anna find a common ground and begin to bound. But then it all goes terribly terribly wrong.
The pace is very slow moving at the beginning and speeds up near the end. The resolution or twist will be obvious if you try to guess it (there are only a few possibilities after all). So I would recommend just relaxing and let story flow.
If you read this and found the old fashioned catholic superstitious element intriguing I would recommend [bc:The Loney|25458371|The Loney|Andrew Michael Hurley|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1430426895s/25458371.jpg|42849250].
Overall a good read.
This was the second of my "Halloween Reads".
It's a charming little novella telling a classic ghost story. It reminded me of the "true" stories in my first Halloween read [b:Ireland's Haunted Women|13353108|Ireland's Haunted Women|Christina McKenna|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387753435s/13353108.jpg|18578467], in that there are more questions asked in the end than answered. For example was the ghost real or is it imagination/mental illness, if the ghost is real who is s/he, is it something to do with the history of White house? etc. etc.
Worth a read on Halloween, or by an open fire one winter night.
It's a charming little novella telling a classic ghost story. It reminded me of the "true" stories in my first Halloween read [b:Ireland's Haunted Women|13353108|Ireland's Haunted Women|Christina McKenna|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387753435s/13353108.jpg|18578467], in that there are more questions asked in the end than answered. For example was the ghost real or is it imagination/mental illness, if the ghost is real who is s/he, is it something to do with the history of White house? etc. etc.
Worth a read on Halloween, or by an open fire one winter night.
Dick Turpin was one of my favourite characters when I was an adolescent. Add to this a gory murder story, the plague and of course stinky, overcrowded London of the 17th century and this book should have been right up my alley. The plot was fast moving (it would make a good action movie) and the dialogue, for the male characters at least, well written.
Captain Coke is a gentleman Highway man. The thief-catcher is a working class, religious man who is trying to earn enough to raise his every growing family. The ward Dickson was a fun character, learning to read from salacious pamphlets and eating nothing but nuts. All three had some interesting traits and an interesting backstory but needed some character development. The women were very 2 dimensional and I am not surprised some reviewers could not tell them apart.
I have also read that some reviewers found the narrative overly gory. I found the opposite, there was a lack of descriptions that I have become used to. I have gotten used to books that take time to describe the scenery and place settings. I realise that this is not ideal for an action story but now it is something that I miss when it’s not there. The simple descriptions of dead cats, hundreds of rats, grass growing through paving stones (that nobody walked on any more due to lack of people during the plague outbreak) give tantalising glimpses into a 17th Century world of plague, pestilence and an ever growing overcrowded London.
Overall recommended for anybody who just wants to escape into a good adventure story.
Captain Coke is a gentleman Highway man. The thief-catcher is a working class, religious man who is trying to earn enough to raise his every growing family. The ward Dickson was a fun character, learning to read from salacious pamphlets and eating nothing but nuts. All three had some interesting traits and an interesting backstory but needed some character development. The women were very 2 dimensional and I am not surprised some reviewers could not tell them apart.
I have also read that some reviewers found the narrative overly gory. I found the opposite, there was a lack of descriptions that I have become used to. I have gotten used to books that take time to describe the scenery and place settings. I realise that this is not ideal for an action story but now it is something that I miss when it’s not there. The simple descriptions of dead cats, hundreds of rats, grass growing through paving stones (that nobody walked on any more due to lack of people during the plague outbreak) give tantalising glimpses into a 17th Century world of plague, pestilence and an ever growing overcrowded London.
Overall recommended for anybody who just wants to escape into a good adventure story.
Lets’ face it you do not read this book for its prose but for the bone chilling thrill of the “hero” being a serial killer. Written in the first person you are stepping in one dark mind. Be warned!
Most people already know that there is a TV Series based upon these books and it does spoil the first book somewhat as the characters are portrayed slightly differently in the TV series to the books. Actors and screen writes are inevitably going to bring something new and different to the characters that Jedd Lindsay wrote. That’s fine but it’s somewhat hard to take when you realise that a character you kinda’ admire and like is a real dumb ass bitch in the original book.
However fortunately you can see by the end of this the first novel that the books and TV series diverge somewhat. So I am determined to continue with this series of book and follow Jeff Lindsay’s serial killer with a small kernel of humanity within.
Most people already know that there is a TV Series based upon these books and it does spoil the first book somewhat as the characters are portrayed slightly differently in the TV series to the books. Actors and screen writes are inevitably going to bring something new and different to the characters that Jedd Lindsay wrote. That’s fine but it’s somewhat hard to take when you realise that a character you kinda’ admire and like is a real dumb ass bitch in the original book.
However fortunately you can see by the end of this the first novel that the books and TV series diverge somewhat. So I am determined to continue with this series of book and follow Jeff Lindsay’s serial killer with a small kernel of humanity within.
Unfortunately, I am going to break from the crowd on this and give it only 3 stars. For me, the Story did not live up to its premise and its rave reviews. Rather than a page turner I found it rather on the boring side and wished the characters would just get on with it so I could finish the book. I listened to it on the Audible version so forgive me if I get the spelling of some of the names below wrong.
As I have already said I find the premise to be particularly good this may be because I have studied and worked with Funghi to Ph.D. level and/or that I spent my formative years in Australia and remember Bush Fire season. Anyway, it is safe to say I love Joe Hill’s idea of the ultimate plague being a fungus called Dragon Scale with its own particular fiery method of propagation. A world where the noninfected chase, eliminate and kill the infected “for their own good’ is also intriguing. Normally we read/hear this story from the other side - think every Zombie book and every other plaque end of the world style book - we normally want to kill the infected not root for their survival.
However I never really identified with Joe Hill’s Characters, I could not understand an intelligent woman Harper’s reasons for marrying her husband Jakob, the Firemans character was cold and odd (not in a good kinda sexy I understand the heroine fancying him way) , I was unsympathetic to Allie, and Renae, after a very promising start, let herself down. The Religious community left me cold from the beginning (maybe more to do with me being an Atheist and not really understanding them, though Horns religious overtones were really enjoyable). I would have liked to feel some sympathy for Carol but couldn’t. I rather liked Harold, despite him being an obnoxious teenager, his journal reminded me of a very well kept Science notebook (appealing to the past scientist and fascinating to the storyteller in me in equal measures). Sarah’s character was intriguing by virtue of not being there for most of the narrative. Nick, his attempts to domesticate a cat and the understandable errors made as he couldn’t hear the rest of the community was sweet. Yes, I noted the homage to the Stand in Nicks name! I did enjoy the Fireman’s back story - it did connect me a little with the other characters - maybe we could have used a little more of it?
I enjoyed the pop culture references, and what happened to JK Rowling is not beyond the realms of possibility - seriously, I used to read press releases from the Vatican in a former life!
The narrative is excellent and there is no doubt the action scenes are great - this will make a great movie with a lot of special effects. The ending is well geographically very close in location to where a major movie of 2015 ended and has already been established as a great place to end your movie - particularly if you're thinking sequel (hint, hint). It's a shame really that I didn't connect with the characters and really didn't care who lived or died at the end.
Joe Hill is an author who writes a crackin’ good story however this one is not really for me. My opinion, this time, is very different to those reviewers I normally trust so don't take my word on this. Maybe if I read it in another time and place? Still I am looking forward to his next one and perhaps the movie.