A dark matter : a novel /
by Straub, Peter,
| Item type | Location | Collection | Call Number | Status | Date Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circulating | Nelsonville | Adult Fiction | AF Straub (Browse Shelf) | Checked out | 07/14/2010 |
| Circulating | Athens | Adult Fiction | AF Straub (Browse Shelf) | Checked out | 09/16/2010 |
From Product Description:
The charismatic and cunning Spenser Mallon is a campus guru in the 1960s, attracting the devotion and demanding sexual favors of his young acolytes. After he invites his most fervent followers to attend a secret ritual in a local meadow, the only thing that remains is a gruesomely dismembered body—and the shattered souls of all who were present.
Years later, one man attempts to understand what happened to his wife and to his friends by writing a book about this horrible night, and it’s through this process that they begin to examine the unspeakable events that have bound them in ways they cannot fathom, but that have haunted every one of them through their lives. As each of the old friends tries to come to grips with the darkness of the past, they find themselves face-to-face with the evil triggered so many years earlier. Unfolding through the individual stories of the fated group’s members, A Dark Matter is an electric, chilling, and unpredictable novel that will satisfy Peter Straub's many ardent fans, and win him legions more.
Related Titles
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A Book That Left Me Feeling Cheated Of My Time And Money
I love Peter Straub. Seriously, I do. He is the writer of "fine, fine novels" (anyone ID that quote for 10 points?) and on top of that he is a nice man who shows generosity toward his fans, has a delightful sense of humor, and for the clencher, he seems to be looking younger today than he did ten years ago, no mean feat in today's world! Still, Amazonians, I was livid with him when I came away after spending six hours and twenty-whatever dollars on a book that has its head stuck where the sun doth rarely shine. <br /> <br />Yes, I disappointed in this book because it never really fulfilled its early promise but just kept going from character to character re-telling the story of the same 1960s event over and over without answering the questions I wanted to know. A Dark Matter sounds much better in its dust jacket description that it ever gets to be in execution, largely because the living treasure who is Mr. Straub delivers a puzzlingly timid tale that is never allowed to flourish. I was rapt early on in the book, bored by the mid-point, infuriated at the end. So many unanswered questions, namely who the hell was the guy in the airport who gave the warning about the flight? <br /> <br />This could have been one of this writer's best novels in years, and for a while I thought it was going to be just that, but in the end... <br /> <br />I think I'll stick to vintage Peter Straub, because for the moment my interest in reading another of his more recent books is as dead as my one-time role model Stony Baxter Friedgood. <br />
Novelreader
If you want to read about the experiences of 8 kids from the sixties dropping acid, this is for you. Written in a particularly snobby style with poor proofreading.
Well worth reading
Having never read anything by Straub previously, I would say it was a very good read. Readers looking for a "big bang" ending are probably the ones who are slamming the book, but if you liked Stephen King's "It", I would say this is a somewhat similar book, with its emphasis on different characters' perspectives of a singular event. Consider it a sort of fictionalization of an entire era. Manson's 'family' and the psychology around these gurus and their followers and their tragic flaws is what is at the essence of this book. I would have really liked to have seen and 'heard' from the central character Spencer Mallon, but Straub decided to leave his account absent, the only flaw I could really find. The perspectives never confused me, and the ending of the book (no spoilers) was enough to satisfy me. Interestingly, I also thought the book (and its' almost paradoxically uplifting ending) had some elements from some of the better Christian thriller writers like Ted Dekker. Not the barnburner Stephen King claims on the back cover, but a fine read nonetheless!
such a disappointment
i have been a fan of peter straub for about 25 years and this is the first time i have been totally disappointed with one of his books. i hope first-time readers of straub try his earlier books such as floating dragon or his blue rose/koko series. they were so very well conceived, had well developed characters and great twisty plots that i couln't wait to continue reading. its almost sad that this book is a part of his otherwise excellent work
Disappointing though still worth reading
After reading Lost Boy Lost Girl and In the Night Room, both very well-modulated novels, filled with sadness and lingering horror, I had very high hopes for Peter Straub's new book. As others have noted, the synopsis sounds like a can't miss: the fallout of a failed mystic "rite" and how it affects the young people involved over the course of their lives. How could such a promising plot go so very wrong? In re-telling events over and over from each character's viewpoint, there's not much new added each time, so we basically get the same story told again and again. And it really isn't a very exciting story to begin with. Straub's characters aren't particularly interesting and they're not very well-delineated either. And it's just not a very scary book. Straub has written some of the best American horror novels ever written, including his famous Ghost Story, but this one just never delivers. It's still worth reading, but I have to say it's a major disappointment.
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