Customer Reviews

Eye of the Beholder

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

 

 

This 1980 private eye novel isn't like any other I've ever heard of. Some private eye novels have PI's who are obsessed with women. Or who shadow femme fatales. In this one, a nameless, at-the-end-of-his-rope private eye shadows the same woman (who happens to be a serial killer of men) all over the U.S. for 10 to 15 years, without her ever knowing. Occasionally he acts to protects her; it's like he's appointed himself her angel; it's his reason to be. "Eye" is a pure, uncluttered novel, poignant to the max. Though it's presently out of print, it's achieved a genuine cult status, and I firmly believe that it will find its audience and literary place in coming years

I read this book because, despite the 1-star rating I gave the film, I suspected that there was some at-least-decent material in the underflying source (the novel). My expectations were vastly superceded; it is clear that the movie was unintelligible because (a) too much was cut out and (b) there was an obvious effort to over-modernize it (the book was written almost 20 years ago).

"The Eye," a private investigator becomes obsessed with a woman after he witnesses her kill a man who he has been surveilling. Unlike the film (which takes place over a relatively short period of time), in the book he trails her for over a decade. Also, unlike the film, one begins to really "understand" both characters' motivations. The result is a fast-paced, tight psychological page-turner.

This novel is a hynotic journey that questions the definitions of love and compassion and presents a wasteland America seen through the eyes of one man who has stumbled on a woman who quickly becomes the center of his universe. All other questions become secondary when she walks into the lense of his camera. A tragic love story or a disturbing novel of obsession? The line between the two is cleverly blurred in this breathtaking novel.

Strange and sad, this epic multi-year tale of loss and obsession is one book you will not easily forget. Behm creates a cold and abusive world where his characters drift aimlessly across a dangerous and uncaring American landscape. Crossword puzzles, murder, sex, travel, and desperation all populate this story that will get under your skin. Much more interesting and believable than the movie.

The books is amazing in every way. I wanted to read it after watching the movie, and certainly didn't regret it.

Although, not quite. The author paints a picture of a private investigator chasing after a woman he was paid and instructed to find. He does his job, successfully, but then gets mildly infatuated with her. Then simply obsessed. And he also has a daughter who helps him at it; what is unnatural about this daughter one will have to read to find out.

What I disliked about this book was its coldness, its cruelty. The book throws you into endless feelings of discomfort and fear; until the very end. Though the main character does, in a sense, get what he wanted, the book felt very unemotional to me. I think the author did an outstanding job at providing this feeling, but in the end I wanted nothing more than to read or watch something with a PG rating. Maybe it's just me. Find out for yourself, you certainly have nothing to lose; I'm still fine.

Eye of the Beholder is a very suspenseful and thrilling book. It will keep your full attention from the beginning to the end. It barely made me use my imagination to put a face on every person in the book, that is how well Behm writes. Not knowing what's going to happen from one minute to the next keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what the author has in store for you next. Horror has always been my favorite kind of book but this suspense thriller is a welcome change. Behm's style of writing was very interesting to me because he didn't drag the story out,he filled this book with many different interesting events. In other words this book was written about the characters over a long period of time, it wasn't just one event throughout the whole book. It took you along with these characters for many years of their lives and gradually came to a climatic end. This was a great book full of suspense and thrills and I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

I only finished this book because a good friend loaned it to me and I felt obliged to give it a try. It is the sort of book I should imagine some men drool over - a beautiful murderess constantly undressing and making love as he peeps through uncurtained windows, then she marries her victims and kills them. There is no real belief that one person could follow someone through life and never be spotted and never really lose his quarry. There is no engagement with the characters.
Certainly would never read another book by this author. Relieved that I can go back to my satisfying Norwegian thrillers, my Donna Leon's, Michael Connelly et al.

Eye of the Beholder justly deserves its accolades of being "the detective story to end all detective stories". Its strange, sad story is very intriguing if somewhat contrived. Unfortunately Marc Behm's prose, and to a lesser extent his characterizations, is a bit thin. Also the dialogue is, at times, almost laugh-at-loud silly. Fortunately it's the story itself which keeps the reader's eyes glued the page.

As for the story, we have a private detective who becomes utterly obsessed with a homicidial young woman. He follows her from one murder to the next (..this sort book contains literally hundreds of killings), and by stealth helps cover up her crimes. They both eventually find themselves travelling across the USA multiple times over some 30 years. But his love is unspoken, and their relationship is certainly spooky. And Marc Behm concludes the book, and the relationship, in a most satisfactory way.

Bottom line: a very strange story of obsession, murder, and lonely people. Recommended.

Good golly, with the film being as bad as it was, was I insane to even attempt reading this book? Yeah, probably.

At least in the book, the characters' motivations are explained in much more detail and are more understandable. Also, the Eye is twenty years older than Joanna (who's bisexual in the book and has meaningful relationships with women) and follows her for about a decade instead of six months. Things that were difficult to understand in the movie, like why he stops her wedding to the wine mogul, are fully explained in the book.

Unfortunately, being able to understand the characters doesn't make them any more likeable. It's a tawdry tale with an excessive amount of gratuitous profanity. And, like the movie, the ending really STINKS. Not recommended.

Since this was a novel that a movie had been based on (not a novelization,) I had high expectations. I (though I have never quite figured out why) have always loved the movie form of Eye of the Beholder, I thought I would love the book as well. However, I was greatly disappointed.

The movie is about as different as possible from the book. The Eye in the book is much more unbalanced. In the book he follows Joanna Eris for purely selfish reasons whereas in the movie he is trying to help her. In the book, he intentionally kills at times where in the movie were totally accidental. Even though most people found the movie to be quite bad, the book was even worse.