5 stories - each centerized around indulged metaphors.
It doesn't seem to fit neatly into the "horror" category, but its there.
It may take more than just the first story to get a hold on the author's writing style, but hang in there, you may appreciate it.
If you have read this book, I would like to say that one of the most interesting things about it I found, was the different ways in which people with similar lives dealt with the same horror. That may just be me, and my usual scientific approach. I am not sure if they author intended this to be important to the rest of the story as I did.
I would not recommend this book to most people who want to read horror. I would rather recommend it to people who would enjoy what I would call "dark poetry".
I am not going to recap any stories, because I feel that once a reader makes their mind up about what the stories are about, they becomes personal opinions which may or may not be discussed.
Some quick notes which may or may not be pertinent to the review -
Copyright 1994
I took the tests while I worked 3rd shift
I can not find any details on the book to check for errors
I did worse than I thought I would
I don't think age would make a book this type more likely to contain errors. However, I would still recommend getting a newer version. I am sure there are always a few questions which can be argued, but I find that in many tests I have taken.
I can't say the book was fun, interesting, or even helpful as I don't plan on taking the GMAT, GRE or LSAT, but it was good exercise for mental muscle.
This book won the Whitbread Book of the Year award for 2003. OK, I have never heard of that award myself, but it did raise my expectations quite a bit. And that became a problem - similar to the way in which all the hype that surrounded the "Matrix" movie had affected my opinion - not too favorable to say the least.
Synopsis in a sentence - an autistic 15-year old boy writes a mystery story.
The story he writes is contained in the book itself, which is basically just a diversion. From this imaginary character, the author is able to allow the reader to peer intot he mind and out of the eyes of someone afflicted with autism. The author does this quite well (althogh who can really say) and that created another problem ! I found myself reading the book in staccato a few times ! Shame on me !
I hope the books strongpoint does not mislead people into believeing that all autistic people are savants. That may be harmful.
Autism is the author's topic du jour here, which seems unfortunatley quite relevant these days. I'm sure there are many people who will enjoy reading this book. However, if you have no desire to experience the author's guess at what may be going on inside an autistic mind, through the eyes of his imaginary character, the story itself will be of very little interest.
I wanted to choose a book written by a hero, but I don't have any heroes except for my dad, who hasn't written anything yet. I also wanted to read about a person's view on the life they have lived thus far, for insight on how decisions affect us in the long term.
Well, I picked the wrong book because this is pretty much a travel log. It is interesting to see how Neil manages to get through some very tough times, but this almost seems secondary compared to the copious amounts of flora, fauna, and geographic information.
Overall the book was ok, but I would not recommend it. And for all you Rush fans out there, don't expect any insights about the band or their music, that is not what this book is about.
