Shirley Jackson - The Haunting of Hill House

Shirley Jackson - The Haunting of Hill House (Penguin Classics)

One of the books I urgently wanted to read after I brought a fair amount back home from my trip to London was The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.
The story is set in a haunted house where four people - a doctor, two women and the heir to the house want to explore what the haunting is about.

That’s all I can say without spoiling anything of the story. I thought it brilliant, not only for the magnificent style of writing, but also for the story itself. It is beautifully evaluated and outstanding! Shirley Jackson writes in such a manner that everyone can feel for her characters when they experience pain, anger and true horror.

(originally posted July 2015)

Erik Wikki - Papenburger Puppenspieler

Erik Wikki - Papenburger Puppenspieler [German Review!]

Guten Abend, meine lieben Freunde. Ich komme aus dem kleinen Städtchen Papenburg an der Ems. Das Cover dieses Romans zeigt zwei zentrale Wahrzeichen von Papenburg - das Schiff, die Friederike und das Rathaus. An der Friederike hängt eine Leiche - beziehungsweise Leichenteile.
Und genau darum geht es in diesem Buch:

Der Schlächter von Papenburg hat sechs Jugendliche entführt, die nun Leichenteil für Leichenteil Tag für Tag zumeist in bekannten Papenburger Lokalitäten gefunden werden. Die Polizei wird bei ihren Ermittlungen nicht nur durch die beiden Privatdetektive Kern und Model, sondern auch durch die Presse auf die richtige Fährte gebracht.

Alles in allem muss ich sagen, dass es ein netter, lokaler Roman war. Nett, aber leider nicht vergleichbar mit dem, was ich bisher gelesen habe. Die, zugegeben, sehr anglophile Namensgebung der Personen hat mich am Anfang sehr gestört, bis ich mich allerdings daran gewöhnt hatte, hat es ein wenig gedauert. Ich bin kein großer Fan von gestellten Namen und unlogischen Biographien - deswegen stand ich dem Roman am Anfang sehr skeptisch gegenüber. Das einzige, was mir wirklich als großartig im Kopf geblieben ist, ist die erste Szene, in der der Mörder beschrieben wird, wie er eine Leiche zerschneidet.

Die folgenden Szenen waren leider regelrecht enttäuschend. Die Bipolarität zwischen sexistischen Äußerungen sowohl des auktoriealen Erzählers als auch einiger Personen gegenüber der Privatdetektivin Eileen Model (deren Name offensichtlich eine Anspielung darstellt) und der energischen Feministin Britta McAshford habe ich anfänglich als peinlich empfunden. Dies aus dem Grund, dass beide Personen ihre Einstellung nicht reflektieren, sondern bis zum Ende des Romans ihre Position beibehalten - es findet also, meiner Meinung nach, keine (bedeutende) Entwicklung der Charaktere statt, was eigentlich sehr schade ist.

(originally posted July 2015)

Stephen King - Doctor Sleep (The Shining #2)

Stephen King - Doctor Sleep [This is the German version]

This is the sequel to ‘The Shining’ where the young boy, Danny, has come of age. He is now in his forties and still has his gift. But there’s someone stronger than him - Abra, a girl just 12 years old when the actual part of the story sets in and she is in danger. There a people that feed of people like her and Danny.

I read this book in about 5 days. It was just so catchy I couldn’t put it down, really. Since I read this in German (I really didn’t have another option, sorry!) I can’t really talk about the style of writing in this one, but the translation was very easy to read and very well done. I have to say I was quite disappointed with how supernatural it actually was because normally I’m not into things like that. I enjoyed it anyway. It’s quite nice to get actually all of the references - or at least 90% of them - because this is one of his more recent books. I loved that.

(originally posted July 2015)

Stephen King - 11.22.63

Stephen King - 11.22.63 [This is the UK version, I guess?]

This is seriously one of my favourite books ever written. This is the first time Mr King made me actually cry - and I’ve never since been crying over one of his books. Also - I’m very proud this is the only hardcover edition of any Stephen King book that I own!

It’s about a man who travels back in time to save John F. Kennedy from being shot. Stephen King basically tells the story of how this man lives in the 1950s (because that’s where the time loop starts). He gets a job there and eventually falls in love.

I just love the references Stephen King makes to his own work. You can see clearly that this story is intertwined with the town of Derry (you know, evil clowns and such) where the kids from his novel ‘It’ have an appearance. And it is so well written!

The end is just heartbreaking - and although I don’t usually enjoy romance - the parts that have romance in them are just great. Not too cheesy, not too romantic - they’re just right. I love it.
If you haven’t read this novel yet, you definitely should.

(originally posted July 2015)

Stephen King - Christine

Stephen King - Christine

This is a book I read quite a while ago. It was given to me by my dear friend whom I met in Prague when I was on exchange. She was also a major King’s fan and I was so happy about her gift - I read it like five times since.

It’s basically about a boy who owns a car and he names it Christine. He also has a girlfriend, but Christine gets very jealous at times.

This book really fascinated me. Not only did King do a very good research on the car itself - he also captured the mind of teenagers just turning into adults (or not, for that matter). Sometimes it was a little hard to get all the references since this book is a bit older than I am, but I still enjoyed it. I enjoyed it a fair amount, I daresay.

(originally posted July 2015)

Stephen King - The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

Another book I have recently finished is ‘The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon’ by Stephen King (here you see the Czech version since I’ve read it in Czech).

It is basically about a young girl who gets lost in the forests and isn’t able to get out for at least a week or so.

I’ve been really excited about this book because I live near a forest (which isn’t nearly as big as the woods described by Stephen King) and I always imagined how I would find my way out of the woods if I was to get lost in it. I used to imagine how I would be brave and strong and not let anyone (or anything) get near me or capture me or whatsoever.

Trisha McFarland is described as a 9-year-old girl who has rather genuine information about surviging in the woods. I think it’s a little exaggerated, I personally don’t think anyone at that age would memorize what to eat and what not to eat, how to find out where you are or how to behave when facing animals. It’s a bit too far fetched, either, that Stephen King adds a supernatural element rather than to finish the story appropriately to match the rest of the book.

Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this book (mainly because I can now add a lot of nature-words to my Czech vocabulary) because it was well written and scaring altogether. I could feel empathy for the little girl which is a huge thing for me. If I can’t feel the character’s pain - I don’t enjoy a book. It’s as simple as that.
I would’ve wished for an alternate ending, but Stephen King works in mysterious ways, I guess.

(originally posted July 2015)

Stephen King - 'Salem's Lot

The book I have just finished is ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. As you probably know from the post before (if you have read it), I am a major Stephen King fan and I adore his work - which doesn’t mean I can’t be objective when reviewing.

'Salem’s Lot is about a little town in Maine, USA (I’ll tell you just in case you don’t know Stephen King’s stories are usually set in Maine) where the inhabitants are turned into vampires. Ben Mears, a merely successful author returns to 'the Lot’ to get to closure with his childhood memories he is traumatised by. All of that seems to get together in the Marsten House, a really spooky place where suspicious, strange new owners dwell.

Many fellow readers of Stephen King’s claim this book to be the most terrifying he’s ever written - I don’t agree with that. Although it is rather dark and mysterious at times (I really have to say I got the chills while reading) it remains mysterious which I find horrifying just the same, but for the story it doesn’t make a good impression on me. The UK version which I’ve read reveals a collection of deleted scenes and - I guess it’s an additional short story - which I think is a plus. What isn’t is that we don’t get to know the concept that these vampires live on. Stephen King gets a few things from Bram Stoker’s Dracula there, but he doesn’t really define his ideal of the vampires’ nature, which is quite confusing, I’d claim.

Another thing I’m not quite comfortable with is while Stephen King introduces us, the readers, to the new inhabitants of the Marsten House (the really, really dark and spooky haunted house you wouldn’t want to sneak in) he reveals some of the backgrounds of the two characters but not all of it, which is unusual. Of course, this is his second novel published, but I think I enjoyed 'Carrie’ more because it gives deeper insight to the concept of madness and the effects bullying can have, whereas 'Salem’s Lot is clearly a tribute to Bram Stoker when it’s not at the same time.

However, I enjoyed the characteristics Stephen King gives to his characters. While you find the drunk wife-beating agressive man and the old wise, witty and charming man and the young beautiful woman and, of course, the intelligent main character in every Stephen King book you also find a range of different characters that you can’t clearly place in this one which I find just great.
If you enjoy Stephen King but haven’t read as many books by him, this is the right choice for you. If you are an experienced Stephen King fan, you may have already read this one.

(originally posted July 2015)