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50books_pocThe Good House by Tananarive Due.
I'd give this one a B or B-. I really, really loved the beginning of this book, but found myself frustrated with Due's structural decisions for the second half of the book, and unsatisfied by the ending. Here's part of the blurb from the back:
The trouble is, the "present day" action, which is the only chunk we don't know the ultimate outcome of, takes place over a span of only a few days of Really Intense Stuff. While teasing with partial information by jumping from time to time and perspective to perspective is effective while what's going on is still a mystery, it becomes pretty clear what the basic backstory is and what's happening in the present by about mid-way through the book's 480 pages. After that, the switches diffuse tension instead of building it; constantly getting yanked away from the build-up of the present-day events prevents them from developing the kind of inexorability that I think this kind of story really needs.
Also, as the story goes on, Due adds in more and more viewpoints, giving us a first-hand look at stuff that really could've happened off-stage just fine (the most egregious example being a shift away from "OMG THE BAD THING IS HERE AND IT'S DESTROYING THE HOUSE" to "here's how, exactly, these two sheriff's deputies we've never met before, don't really care about, and are already certain will die soon, ultimately met their ends").
In addition, I found the rather amorphous handling of how the Bad Thing "got at" people a little frustrating. Different kinds stuff happens to different people and while it makes a certain amount of sense considering the different contexts of each situation, the hows-and-whys are never really explained to my satisfaction. Also frustrating, although we're never told at one time that the Thing can do something it later can't do, or vice-versa, the scope of the Thing's powers seemes a lot like "gee, it would really be convenient if It were able to do / were not able to do THIS right now!"
Worst of all, I ultimately found the ending to be wayyyy too happily-ever-after, with no hard choices or consequences resulting from all the stuff we've just lived through with the characters. It's a variant of the "and then we woke up from the scary nightmare and the little birdies were singing and we had CRUMPETS!" trope that I find deeply annoying wherever it crops up.
On the other hand, as I said, the first half is creepy as hell, the writing is always literate and enjoyable, the characters are engaging, the storyline is pretty fun, and Due treats vodou with a decent believability and respectfulness, for all of which I give her points. I wouldn't re-read this, but I'm not sorry to have read it this first time.
I'd give this one a B or B-. I really, really loved the beginning of this book, but found myself frustrated with Due's structural decisions for the second half of the book, and unsatisfied by the ending. Here's part of the blurb from the back:
Angela has not returned to the Good House since her son, Corey, died there two years ago. But now, Angela is finally ready to return to her hometown and go beyond the grave to unearth the truth about Corey's death. Could it be related to a terrifying entity Angela's grandmother battled seven decades ago? And what about the other senseless calamities that Sacajawea has seen in recent years? Has Angela's grandmother, an African American woman reputed to have "powers," put a curse on the entire community?Due's narrative structure, an interweaving of storylines from the past and the present, in which she relates primarily the experiences of Angela, Corey, Angela's ex-husband Tariq, and Angela's grandmother, is quite effective at the beginning of the story in creating and maintaining tension and suspense. Lately, I don't seem to get really creeped out reading horror stories, but I found the first half of this book truly, deeply, creepifying in a very enjoyable way.
The trouble is, the "present day" action, which is the only chunk we don't know the ultimate outcome of, takes place over a span of only a few days of Really Intense Stuff. While teasing with partial information by jumping from time to time and perspective to perspective is effective while what's going on is still a mystery, it becomes pretty clear what the basic backstory is and what's happening in the present by about mid-way through the book's 480 pages. After that, the switches diffuse tension instead of building it; constantly getting yanked away from the build-up of the present-day events prevents them from developing the kind of inexorability that I think this kind of story really needs.
Also, as the story goes on, Due adds in more and more viewpoints, giving us a first-hand look at stuff that really could've happened off-stage just fine (the most egregious example being a shift away from "OMG THE BAD THING IS HERE AND IT'S DESTROYING THE HOUSE" to "here's how, exactly, these two sheriff's deputies we've never met before, don't really care about, and are already certain will die soon, ultimately met their ends").
In addition, I found the rather amorphous handling of how the Bad Thing "got at" people a little frustrating. Different kinds stuff happens to different people and while it makes a certain amount of sense considering the different contexts of each situation, the hows-and-whys are never really explained to my satisfaction. Also frustrating, although we're never told at one time that the Thing can do something it later can't do, or vice-versa, the scope of the Thing's powers seemes a lot like "gee, it would really be convenient if It were able to do / were not able to do THIS right now!"
Worst of all, I ultimately found the ending to be wayyyy too happily-ever-after, with no hard choices or consequences resulting from all the stuff we've just lived through with the characters. It's a variant of the "and then we woke up from the scary nightmare and the little birdies were singing and we had CRUMPETS!" trope that I find deeply annoying wherever it crops up.
On the other hand, as I said, the first half is creepy as hell, the writing is always literate and enjoyable, the characters are engaging, the storyline is pretty fun, and Due treats vodou with a decent believability and respectfulness, for all of which I give her points. I wouldn't re-read this, but I'm not sorry to have read it this first time.
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Date: 2010-11-06 01:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-06 02:23 am (UTC):)