Customer Reviews

Fluke

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It was a dog's life for Fluke the puppy until the images that had been haunting his canine mind came into sharp focus - he wasn't supposed to be a dog, he was actually a MAN! How had he ended up in this furry body? What of his wife, his child? What of HIM? Soon, though, the truth came - he the man had died, and had been reincartnated as a dog. And the visions hinted that he had been murdered! This begins a quest as Fluke sets out to his old town, determined to deliver out justice to whoever murdered him...An excellent book and a personal favorite of mine. But the best part of all was Fluke. He remained at all times a dog, even though he had human intelligence and memories, rather than some bizarre mix of human and animal that all too many books have. Fluke's friend Rumbo is also an enjoyable character, even if he did have a passion for crime. One of the best, well-written and beautiful stories I have ever read.

This book is a delightful and wondrous tale told by a writer who is best known by his forays into the Horror Genre.Author James Hebert abandons his usual ghosts and scares and takes the reader on a marvellous journey through the eyes of a dog , Fluke who was once a man in a previous life. In this book we see Fluke trying desperately to regain his life as a man as he goes on a journey to find his Human Family.Read this book and then give it to your children to read as it is a enchanting story for young and old.

There is the James Herbert who pioneered the visceral "creature feature" which emerged in Britain just as Stephen King was inventing modern American horror fiction, there is the James Herbert who went on to create tense supernatural or alternative reality thrillers - and then we have the James Herbert who wrote Fluke. This particular James Herbert has not really written anything similar since. The original publisher's blurb on the cover said: "The story of a man who thinks he's a dog...or a dog who thinks he's a man." There is no more concise way of summarising the plot. Perfectly imagined, beautifully-paced. For my money, this ranks alongside, if not ahead of, the best of Richard Adams. I remember seeing a TV interview with Herbert in which he recalled that his publisher was horrified by the manuscript...because there was no horror. He suggested that Herbert make the dog rabid. Luckily, Herbert didn't listen.

I've read hundreds of books in my life but only a handfull have really touched me. This is one of them. It's a simple story but it's told so well you can feel the frustration of the main character. I read this book a few years ago and to this day, it makes me wonder what my dog is really thinking or seeing. Most books have reviews that say things like, "couldn't put it down" or "made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up". This book really did all that and more. If you're looking for a good quick book, this is the one.

Fluke was quite a surprise to me. I would have never expected the author of The Fog and the Rats trilogy to write something like this. It isn't horror at all. Instead, it is a beautiful story about the adventures of a dog told in first-person by that dog who was once a man. Through out the novel, Fluke remembers bits and pieces of his former life as a human and this is what drives the story in a vague direction. For the most part, however, this novel doesn't have a specific purpose other than to follow Fluke's many interesting experiences. Herbert's writing is brilliant in this novel and his descriptions of life as a dog are so detailed and convincing that you would think he has been one himself at some point.

This novel is emotional and fast-paced all the way through. I have read books a bit similar to it (White Fang, Marley and Me, and the Redwall series to name a few) but this one is still unique. To me, reading yet another book about a dog seeming new and unique is a miracle.

Couldn't watch the film....because I'd recently lost 2 dogs. It hurt too much.

The book was equally hard to read, until I got caught up in it.

It's just beautiful, and there is 1 page (start of chapter 14) which is just fantastic.

A short wonderful road trip with a dog.

Not so fussed on the reincarnation theme, but it's still a great story.

FLUKE IS A NOVEL ABOUT A DOG WHO HAD FORMERLY BEEN A MAN BUT WAS REINCARNATED. IT IS VERY GOOD IN DESCRIBING THE WAY THE WORLD LOOKS THROUGH A DOG'S EYES. IT WAS VERY WELL PUT TOGETHER. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.

Being a huge James Herbert fan, relishing in his tales of brutal horror, drawn into his colourful (albeit sometimes over-indulging) absorptions of scenery, this was definitely a "fluke" of a find.

Discovering this hidden gem in an old bookstore while looking for a copy of "Once...", I thought "James Herbert, hmm. A horror/thriller written in a dog's (or possibly a man's?) perspective? I must get this." And so I did.

Within the first 2 pages I was instantly drawn into this beautiful story. Everything is here - death, life, lost love... and the insatiable desire to "right the wrongs" (or wrong the rights).

This is an intensely moving story. If a dog wrote a book, this is it, and many times throughout one would have to wonder WHO wrote it! Sharing my household with animals and dogs my entire life, there have been many times in which I thought "what would you like to say, to express in human terms?" Oh how this book does it...

This is a quick read (just over 200 pages), even though I wish it could have lasted 700+. The instances and situations Fluke gets caught up in are just too engrossing and hilarious for me to quickly sum up on an online review. So, I've decided to re-publish this review by Damien Kane (care of damienkane.com)... he did what I wanted to do.

Monday, 7 April 2008

Book Review: Fluke by James Herbert (1977)

Horror is as varied as it is interesting. James Herbert was one of my favourite writers over a decade ago (Rats, The Dark, Shrine, The Fog) but Fluke isn't one of them. It's written by a master of horror, and that's what I expected when I first picked the book up, but it wasn't what I got.

Instead, what I did get, was an eloquently plotted book about a man who dies and is re-incarnated as a dog. The first three or four chapters contains no verbal interaction which was interesting, because I was so engrossed in the story, I never realised until the second time I read it!

It's difficult to write this review without spoilers. I want to tell you everything. It's one of my favourite reads, and for good reason. It was later turned into a movie in 1995 (see IMDB here). I haven't had the opportunity to watch it but I still trawl the video shops looking for it.

The basic storyline is that the reincarnated dog (Fluke by name, fluke by nature) gradually starts to remember his previous life as a man, fragmentary memories trying to push themselves to the surface from being repressed. There's an instinct deep inside that he can't get; a diamond of knowledge that Fluke, no matter how hard he tries, can't reach. His instincts tells him that it is important to know what it is.

It sounds like a simple storyline, but the feelings that Fluke has of his milieu is insightful. There are scenes where Fluke, instead of trying to dig up antiquated feelings of his past, stop and thinks about what's happening a that moment: about the things he sees and smells, and feels, and the relationships he has encountered, both animal and people. I felt these to be breakthroughs in the novel as the man-turned-dog starts to come to terms with who he is, and the end of the novel indeed gives us that impression.

Some of the characters are very memorable, my favourite being Rumbo, the junkyard dog who takes Fluke under his paw, so to speak, showing him the ropes of the doggy-dog world. I found a number of underlying themes and feelings in this novel, from friendship to self-acceptance to name just two. The maturity of storytelling makes Fluke one of my favourite novels. It is rich in content and character, has a unique resonance, and of course, the bold perspective of being a dog.

Overall, Fluke was a surprising read by a horror writer, read by a horror reader. It injects a scope and gravity that despite not being in control, we should strive for what we want to achieve, regardless of what God did or did not give us. You'll be hard pressed to find similar novels with as much character development, and if like me you enjoy good prose and solid reads, this is a book you'll be keeping for a very long time.

RATING: 5 OUT OF 5

However, I HAVE seen the movie - but only after reading the book. I urge one not to watch it first and only if you really, REALLY want to see an adaptation - I wasn't impressed.

Why'd I mention "Once..."? Because Rumbo makes a comeback.

Finally, this book is such a classic that I buy every copy I can find and give it to friends. If you're considering buying it for yourself, by all means buy the hardcover!

Totally, forever enduring. SIX stars!

This is a surprise. With Herbert, you usually got a gore-fest, and when I started reading this book about a man who finds himself in a dog's body, I imagined there would be lurid descriptions of dogs ripping apart other living things, probably humans. Far from it. This book is as cleverly written and as skilfully told as anything by Richard Matheson or Jonathan Aycliffe, and I do not make such comparisons lightly. `Fluke' describes the dog's (told in the first person-or should that be in the first dog?) quest to discover his previous humanness. It is a journey both of discovery and self-awareness. Herbert vividly describes what it (probably) feels like to be a dog, capturing the world of smells and canine desires; and the lingering sense of his previous humanity that propels him to discover who he was before he became a dog. The ending is moving without being sentimental. An unusual and satisfying book and one that I can fully recommend.

A while back someone attempted to make a movie of this book and screwed up completely, turning a beautiful, moving novel rich with spirituality into a cleaned-up pseudo-heartwarming Disneyfied kiddie pic. What a shame. This is one of the most beautiful novels I have ever read and it's spiritual message about acceptance and moving on, as well as the wages of karma, cannot be ignored. If you can find it, read it (ignore the classification on the spine, although "Fluke" is written by a horror writer, it is NOT horror).