I am reading a newer novel by one of my favorite horror authors, James Herbert. He always has nifty ideas for his horror and has been writing it for years. However, as with all authors but especially those who write horror, his ability to close out the story in a satisfying way is a little hit or miss. In his best works (Moon, Rats, Domain, The Fog, The Magic Cottage), he hits just the right tone and nails the ending in a way that is very rewarding for the reader. When he misses, he doesn't miss by much (The Dark, The Survivor, Fluke).
In this new novel, Nobody True, he not only misses, but misses badly. The idea is promising; a man is killed by a serial killer while having an out-of-body experience. Since his spirit wasn't inhabiting the body when it was killed, he is not a ghost but he also cannot pass on to whatever awaits him beyond this life. He has little to no effect on the world in general, but soon learns that he must find his killer and stop him somehow.
The execution of this plot is simply bad. Herbert reiterates things as though he is writing a children's novel. There are pages and pages of repetitious examples of just how the main character, James True, cannot effect the world around him, how he can move around, how horrible the serial killer's actions are. Last night, there were five pages in a row that described, re-described, and then rehashed again the problems True was having. I got the point during paragraph one and two, I certainly didn't need the remaining 4.75 pages of reiterations to make me understand that what he was doing was hard. I don't think even the most obstinately stupid reader was confused after the first page of this-- and most readers are not that dumb to begin with-- so the remaining 4 pages of rehashing this concept were pointless. And this is just one example; the entire book is full of this kind of thing.
It is reminding me of the last Harry Potter book. While, ultimately, I enjoyed the book and the conclusion to the series, the middle about 200 pages were all about how nothing happened. Ron, Hermione, and Harry had run away, were 'porting around the countryside, hiding, and nothing happened to them for days and weeks on end except that they got on each other's nerves. Most of the readers, including children, got the point after the first time. The second and third times Rowling reiterates, it sets up that the three are in for a long, hard time. But each time basically the same thing continues to be iterated, it gets boring and I lose interest. And I'm not the only one; many of those with whom I have discussed this book say the same thing. And all of us are surprised that they are filming this book in two movies, as we all assumed they would cut this section out into a montage with a "Time Passes" type of segue to the end.
I still enjoy James Herbert and I see that there are still a couple of books by him that I do not own. I look forward to getting them but I sure hope that they don't fall into the same category as Nobody True. Here's hoping for another Moon or Rats, instead!
In this new novel, Nobody True, he not only misses, but misses badly. The idea is promising; a man is killed by a serial killer while having an out-of-body experience. Since his spirit wasn't inhabiting the body when it was killed, he is not a ghost but he also cannot pass on to whatever awaits him beyond this life. He has little to no effect on the world in general, but soon learns that he must find his killer and stop him somehow.
The execution of this plot is simply bad. Herbert reiterates things as though he is writing a children's novel. There are pages and pages of repetitious examples of just how the main character, James True, cannot effect the world around him, how he can move around, how horrible the serial killer's actions are. Last night, there were five pages in a row that described, re-described, and then rehashed again the problems True was having. I got the point during paragraph one and two, I certainly didn't need the remaining 4.75 pages of reiterations to make me understand that what he was doing was hard. I don't think even the most obstinately stupid reader was confused after the first page of this-- and most readers are not that dumb to begin with-- so the remaining 4 pages of rehashing this concept were pointless. And this is just one example; the entire book is full of this kind of thing.
It is reminding me of the last Harry Potter book. While, ultimately, I enjoyed the book and the conclusion to the series, the middle about 200 pages were all about how nothing happened. Ron, Hermione, and Harry had run away, were 'porting around the countryside, hiding, and nothing happened to them for days and weeks on end except that they got on each other's nerves. Most of the readers, including children, got the point after the first time. The second and third times Rowling reiterates, it sets up that the three are in for a long, hard time. But each time basically the same thing continues to be iterated, it gets boring and I lose interest. And I'm not the only one; many of those with whom I have discussed this book say the same thing. And all of us are surprised that they are filming this book in two movies, as we all assumed they would cut this section out into a montage with a "Time Passes" type of segue to the end.
I still enjoy James Herbert and I see that there are still a couple of books by him that I do not own. I look forward to getting them but I sure hope that they don't fall into the same category as Nobody True. Here's hoping for another Moon or Rats, instead!
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