Customer Reviews

The Crocodile Bird

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

i will never understand why rendell doesn't have a bigger following in this country. her characters are so much better drawn than anything found in a john grisham novel, and she's no slouch with a plot, either. in this book, she creates one of the most compelling mother/daughter relationships i've ever read, and the character of liza has stayed with me since i first read the book in 1994. everyone out there reading grisham, turow and cornwell, please, please read one rendell book.....you won't believe the difference!'

Along with Tree of Hands, this is my favorite work by Ruth Rendell. She is such a gifted novelist and talented writer. The first time through this book, I was totally captivated by the artistry of her presentation and the intriguing-ness of the plot. I can't believe that one professional reviewer found it slow. I was totally gripped as the story progeressed and completely unsure about what would happen. I feared the worst and thought the whole thing had been set up brilliantly. Everything about this was great in my opinion: the mystery, the characterizations, the captivating setting. I've reread it just to see the artistry. There's much here of the passion of physical love and how parents can hurt their children and the resilience of a gifted human spirit. The characterizations are real and not contrived. This is so much better than just about any other mystery writer, it's in a class of it's own. Fine and moving literature.

This is another taut, well-written psychological thriller by the queen of this genre. The author weaves a compelling tapestry of events and characters, and, as the story unfolds, the reader is held in its thrall. Fans of the author will find this spellbinding tale riveting.

Eve and Liza, mother and daughter, live in isolation in a remote location in the English countryside, where Eve acts as caretaker for Shrove House, a large estate, to which she has an extreme attachment. Liza has lived her entire life on the estate, removed from the outside world with little or no contact with other people. She was also home schooled by her mother. Consequently, Liza, removed from all normal congress with other people, has never known what it is to have a playmate nor was she aware of the existence of television or radio. The only people with whom she has ever come into contact, other than the occasional delivery person or estate worker, were the men, friends of Eve, who arrived at their home only to disappear later under mysterious circumstances.

The Shrove House estate is owned by Jonathan Tobias, a childhood friend of Eve's, and when he suddenly dies, the police question Eve concerning his death, as she is a suspect. Liza, now sixteen, begins to see her world crumble around her. Eve, fearing the worst, concocts a plan for Liza to leave home and go to stay with a friend of hers. Liza, however, who has, unbeknownst to Eve, formed an attachment to Sean, the new young groundskeeper for the estate, has her own plans. Thus, the story begins to unfold.

Unburdening herself to Sean and revealing her strange upbringing and the odd goings on in her mother's household, Liza proves herself to be a modern day Scheherazade. Holding the reader captive with the story of her life, which is set against the backdrop of her mother's obsession with Shrove House and the murders that take place there whenever anyone threatens to upset her mother's apple cart, Liza's story is, indeed, a beguiling one. While telling her tale, Liza finds herself discovering a world that she never knew existed. Liza eventually finds herself at a crossroad, and the path she takes will define the rest of her life.

Because I am lazy, by way of a synopsis I am just going to copy from this book's blurb:

Liza and her mother have led a strange, enclosed life in their remote home, the gatehouse of a country mansion. But now all this must end. Eve has told Liza she must leave. Because Eve has killed a man. And he is not the first.

At seventeen years of age, with £100 in cash, Liza is cast adrift into a terrifying world she has never known. But she is not alone. For there is one secret that she has kept from her mother - her love-affair with Sean, the young man from the big house. With him, Liza gradually learns about the world, about herself, and must come to terms with the possibility that the murderous violence of her mother may also be present in her.

The Crocodile Bird (I love that title) is one of those very curious Rendell titles: one that is more literature than a crime novel, and one that is also very close to the style of the books published under her Barbara Vine name, in that it deals heavily with ideas about the effect of hidden crimes from the past coming to haunt the present. Indeed, this should probably have been published under that other name, so similar is it in style.

If I were forced to pick a favourite title by Rendell...no, strike that. I couldn't possibly choose a favourite. If I were forced to pick a top five, this would unquestionably be in there somewhere. Thinking about it, though, I am finding it hard to elucidate upon exactly why, apart from saying something like, It's brilliant. It is, that is true, but there is far more that can be said about it.

Everything about it is fascinating: How Liza copes as she is forced to venture out alone into the world and "discover" everything her mother has kept hidden from her; the relationship between Liza and her mother: the developing relationship between Liza and Shaun, as she gradually grows more dependent, away from her "protector"; the gradual unfolding of the events from the past, and the tale of Liza's upbringing, isolated in the gatehouse. Its atmosphere grows incrementally more sinister as Rendell sticks each needle into the doll with relish.

It's not as crime-ey as her other books; there's little mystery, only carefully explored tension. It is delicate and graceful, and the ending is a delight. It is entirely different in tone from the norm of Rendell finales: it is less catastrophic, and unlike many of her books little of the restrained brutality manages to seep out into the conclusion. Instead, we have an ending that tells us that sometimes, things may not turn out as badly as we expect. They may not turn out as we would wish, but people can overcome hurdles and the damage of their lives and have functional, normal lives. We are not necessarily confined by our upbringing.

It's a fascinating, compelling and powerful book. Observing Liza as she finds her way in the world is a priceless experience. Rendell shows us the quirks of our world, and she makes the mundane aspects of it which we are all so familiar with seem magical and remarkable, when seen from the eyes of one who has never known it before. This, in all justice, should have been Booker-winning stuff.

When I read the back cover of the book, it really did not seem that interesting to me. I started reading the book because I had heard good things about Ruth Rendell, and wanted to "check out" the author. I was very pleasantly surprised.

First of all, Ruth Rendell is an excellent writer. I have read so many books that are really so-so when it comes to the author's ability to construct complex and descriptive prose. This is not one of them. There is amazing character development, and although the book tells the story of a very unusual life, I felt the author was able to tell the story in such a way as to make the reader understand the lifestyle.

Secondly, this book is a departure from so many tales that are really interchangable. The story was unique, and interesting. I could summarize the book, but doing so would not do justice to the storyline. A summary simply cannot encapsulate the story. The story is in the telling, not the tale.

Lastly, I could not anticipate with certainty how the book would end. More than once I thought to myself, "Ok, I can see where this is going. . .," and I was wrong. It is refreshing to truly wonder HOW the events will unfold, instead of wondering WHEN the events will unfold.

I look forward to reading another Ruth Rendell book.

Ruth Rendell is one the living stars of modern British detective fiction. But she is also, in other books, the direct continuator of Dickens with a social and highly psychological inspiration.

In this book, the main heroin is completely trapped by life. At first by her mother. Then by the mansion her mother is in love with. Then by her first love-at-first-sight boyfriend.

The book is the full story of this imprisonment and how she will manage to get free. The ending is absolutely unpredictable and it comes after the heroin has cajoled and caressed all other possible exits, either partial, total or just thE continuation of her mother's life and obsession.

What is best in this book is the way the story is told. We are constantly shifting from the time when the story is told, to the past and even the distant past. The tortuous line enables us to enjoy every single chapter as a whole and then the book as an absolutely clever construction that does not reveal us the end before the last three pages.

A must also for those who are interested in the psychology of women in our age of their liberation. It is very well done and very finely analyzed.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

In one of her most "psychological" novels, Ruth Rendell focuses on Liza, a sixteen-year-old girl whose mother, Eve, orders her to flee alone from the only home she has ever known and her mother's "protection." Home schooled in the remote countryside, kept away from TV and radio, and with no friends of her own, Liza learns that her mother is about to be arrested for murder and that she herself may be considered an accessory if she is caught. Running to her boyfriend Sean, a young man hired to work on the estate where her mother works, Liza unfolds the story of Eve, her mother, through tales she likens to those of Scheherazade, keeping her boyfriend interested in the outcome of her own story by slowly unveiling the details of more than one murder.

As Liza recreates her earliest years and the disappearances of her mother's suitors, she is also exploring her own growing sense of independence, her sexuality, her need to experience the world beyond Shrove House, and her desire for books and serious schooling. Skillfully and subtly, Rendell draws parallels between Liza's motivations and the presumed motivations of the reader, making this strange and limited girl seem more normal, less bizarre, despite her upbringing. Liza's ingenuousness and her acceptance of the men's fates as a "normal" part of her life increase the horror and tension.

Rendell's careful rendering of details and her juxtaposition of bloody scenes with idyllic country living make the story come alive, while Liza's normal curiosity about other people and her love of Sean throw her mother's damaged psyche and psychotic need to "protect" herself into sharp relief. Despite the fact that the reader knows from the outset that Eve has committed murder and is about to be arrested, the author develops considerable suspense about Liza's own life and her feelings for her mother.

Because Liza has observed her mother committing several murders associated with love and/or love-making, her own sexual freedom and lack of inhibition regarding Sean are surprising and seem emotionally incongruous, and some readers will not accept this implausible, but crucial, element. The story is skillfully constructed with its flashbacks, however, and Rendell's association of Liza's story telling with the legend of Scheherazade creates neat associations with other serial murders. Suspenseful and entertaining. n Mary Whipple

This is another taut, well-written psychological thriller by the queen of this genre. The author weaves a compelling tapestry of events and characters, and, as the story unfolds, the reader is held in its thrall. Fans of the author will find this spellbinding tale riveting.

Eve and Liza, mother and daughter, live in isolation in a remote location in the English countryside, where Eve acts as caretaker for Shrove House, a large estate, to which she has an extreme attachment. Liza has lived her entire life on the estate, removed from the outside world with little or no contact with other people. She was also home schooled by her mother. Consequently, Liza, removed from all normal congress with other people, has never known what it is to have a playmate nor was she aware of the existence of television or radio. The only people with whom she has ever come into contact, other than the occasional delivery person or estate worker, were the men, friends of Eve, who arrived at their home only to disappear later under mysterious circumstances.

The Shrove House estate is owned by Jonathan Tobias, a childhood friend of Eve's, and when he suddenly dies, the police question Eve concerning his death, as she is a suspect. Liza, now sixteen, begins to see her world crumble around her. Eve, fearing the worst, concocts a plan for Liza to leave home and go to stay with a friend of hers. Liza, however, who has, unbeknownst to Eve, formed an attachment to Sean, the new young groundskeeper for the estate, has her own plans. Thus, the story begins to unfold.

Unburdening herself to Sean and revealing her strange upbringing and the odd goings on in her mother's household, Liza proves herself to be a modern day Scheherazade. Holding the reader captive with the story of her life, which is set against the backdrop of her mother's obsession with Shrove House and the murders that take place there whenever anyone threatens to upset her mother's apple cart, Liza's story is, indeed, a beguiling one. While telling her tale, Liza finds herself discovering a world that she never knew existed. Liza eventually finds herself at a crossroad, and the path she takes will define the rest of her life.

...........~ ~ ~ ~ * * * * ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ Ruth Rendell is a master, when she takes extremely strange situations, and examines them from the point of view of the people inside them, and we suddenly find ourselves starting to find the strangeness, familiar!

In this book, a young girl has been brought up in almost total isolation. She must flee, as her mother, who has cared for her all her life, is about to be arrested.
The tale is about the girl's first glimpse at life outside her own little "castle", but even more about the life she grew up in. She has seen a young man around the estate she grew up on, and she flees with him, living in his motor home.

The fascinating part of the story is her recounting of her truly fantastically strange life with her mother, which she tells in very "matter of fact" way.
The ending is just nerve-wrackingly suspenseful enough, and provides a sense of closure

I give this book 4 **** stars, as an extremely absorbing mysterious story. It's definitely not your ordinary who-dun-it!

But not my last. I am a mystery reader - my wife gave me this one for Christmas. I am now definitely a Rendell fan. And this is definitely not your typical mystery. First off, within the first few pages you know who did it. But if you hang in there, a truly unusual tale unfolds, told in a nicely managed combination of flashback and present day. I thought I saw the ending written on the wall about half way through the book - and she keeps piling it on all the time - Rendell kept me riveted all the way to the very last page. I read the last hundred pages at one sitting because I couldn't stand it any longer. Looks like my Wish List is going to grow by several more titles. . .