tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post670883864984451248..comments2023-04-21T00:57:59.827-05:00Comments on Nearly nothing but novels: book reviews of fiction and crime fiction: On, Off: A Novel by Colleen McCullough. A serial killer terrorizes Connecticut in the turbulent 1960's.Jim's Words Music and Sciencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-37917825988085381732010-02-21T23:44:45.636-06:002010-02-21T23:44:45.636-06:00Thanks for the comment, Munu. I agree that the bo...Thanks for the comment, Munu. I agree that the book was extremely scary and haunting... a little too haunting, for me, in fact. I think I have a pretty good feel for who did what, although it took the end of the book to bring me to that point (and I could be wrong).<br /><br />I really don't have a problem with gruesome descriptions, as long as they fit the narrative, and these did. However, the fact that the gruesome images involved children in a horrific and sexually-explicit way was, to me, far over the top. If children were to be the victims, a different approach was needed, at least for me. I felt that it would have been entirely possible to write this story without bringing us into the lives of the wonderful young girls and their families while nearly simultaneously subjecting the victims, their families and the reader to crimes that I can't even mention here. I felt that the characters were exploited and the very idea of child abuse was exploited- I felt exploited. Clearly, this is a very personal opinion on my part. I don't hold anyone else to it, but I felt compelled to warn readers about how sick this book made me feel.<br /><br />In my view, the story could have been perfectly effective without the terribly detailed and explicit crimes against young girls. I read a lot of gritty crime fiction, and am not squeamish about many subjects. I'm not against writing about crimes against children, either (it is important to do so, but to do so in a way that doesn't exploit the fictional children so the the book itself is vile, in addition to the crimes). To write about such crimes in the context of "mere entertainment" was offensive to me, yet this book, for all of its promising horror and mystery, never rose above the tawdry. The writing and plot, in spite of being very clever in parts, were really quite pedestrian and flawed in many places. In fact, I found the writing to be lazy. For example, the academic characters were mostly two-dimensional and cliched, as was the whole University atmosphere. The use of such violent images seemed to be another example of authorial laziness, substituting shock value for substance.<br /><br />In fact, for an author who simply wanted to "do a mystery," this really seemed to me to be uneven, poorly edited, and done in poor taste. <br /><br />So, I don't dispute the powerful horror of the book's ending, but I do dispute the need for making the crimes both against children and so horribly explicit. The crimes could have been bad enough to get the point across without going to these extreme lengths (in my opinion). A good book could have been made from the outline of this story, but the author failed, in my view.<br /><br />Peter, from Detectives beyond borders (comment and blog address above) has great taste, and you might want to follow his suggestion...<br /><br />Thanks again for stopping by and offering your opinion. I agree with you on many points, but I cannot recommend this book.<br /><br />Best wishes.Jim's Words Music and Sciencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-3820313528424344412010-02-21T02:41:30.962-06:002010-02-21T02:41:30.962-06:00i read the book in one night flat and i swear it l...i read the book in one night flat and i swear it left my hands trembling. it is a very disturbing book, the kinds that would scare and haunt you for days! and after getting thru almost 600 pages of gruesome descriptions n mental images, it still leaves you wondering in the end abt who EXACTLY did what! the last 2-3 pages of the book was pure torture - it gave me the heeby-jeebies!!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18366797325274504685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-79442517302511373562008-01-19T00:44:00.000-06:002008-01-19T00:44:00.000-06:00You might add Gunnar Staalesen's The Writing on th...You might add Gunnar Staalesen's <I>The Writing on the Wall</I> to those crime novels that put an interesting spin on this unpalatable subject. <BR/><BR/> ===================<BR/> Detectives Beyond Borders<BR/>"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"<BR/> http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-72563067861948867072008-01-15T22:16:00.000-06:002008-01-15T22:16:00.000-06:00I tried to leave a comment thanking you for your r...I tried to leave a comment thanking you for your remarks before, but my comment system is acting up and my words seem to have disappeared. So, Thanks, and thanks for all of your work!Jim's Words Music and Sciencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12882203075812395266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2286486548997104497.post-47264659811906636282008-01-15T12:24:00.000-06:002008-01-15T12:24:00.000-06:00All I can say is thank you. Thanks for NOT recomm...All I can say is thank you. Thanks for NOT recommending this book. And thanks FOR joining us for the blog carnival against child abuse. Glad to have you aboard! (I maintain the carnival.)Marj aka Thriverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06825698906631474866noreply@blogger.com