Customer Reviews

Gallowglass

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

 

 

Ruth Rendell has been widely praised for her mystery novels and their depictions of psychological turmoil. When Rendell wrote under the pseudonym of Barbara Vine, she created a fascinating line of suspense novels which is best exemplified by "Gallowglass". Gallowglass is a loyal Scottish servant who is willing to die and protect his lord. In the open pages, we meet Joe who has been recently released from the mental hospital. He wanders in the subway and on an impulse attempts to jump into the tracks of the incoming train. He was saved by Sandor who turns Joe into his gallowglass and accomplice to kidnap the rich and beautiful Nina Abbot. It seems that Sandor has already kidnapped Nina before when she was the wife of an Italian prince and has fallen in love with her during her captivity. Nina meanwhile has fallen in love with Paul, her bodyguard and gallowglass. The tension builds as the kidnappers come closer to their goals and with the addition of Joe's sister who is infatuated with Sandor. The climax is unpredictable as well as the brilliant anti-climax which leaves the readers in a dazed and feverish state of agitation. For mystery lovers, this is a must read and for those who yearn for good fiction, this is for you

This book is a thriller that covers a large number of different kinds of love, and each kind is wonderfully described by Ms, Rendall's magic pen. There is the love between a man and a woman, the love between a man and his daughter, the love between a mother and her son, the love between two men, and last the obsessive love between a man and his ideal of a woman. Each of these types of love is shown to be almost pathological except the love between a man and his daughter. That is the love that endures, and the love that we are left with at the end of the novel. All the other kinds burn very hot and then fizzle out. Again, Ms. Rendall, writing as Ms Barbara Vine effortlessly enters into the criminal and patholobgical mind, and she brings us along for the ride. This is a very deep book, and on first read, it doesn't appear that way, but as you think about it afterwards you realize that there are many nuances hidden within the story. Take the time to read the story and you won't be disappointed.

The hallmark of truly great fiction --- as opposed to merely good fiction --- is that you find yourself thinking about the characters as if they were real people. I've just finished reading GALLOWGLASS for the second time, and I feel as if I know the characters.

As in A FATAL INVERSION, many of the major characters are not particularly sympathetic people. GALLOWGLASS, however, presents Vine's typically obsessed and morally compromised people in a that allows you to identify with them --- up to a point.

Little Joe is an orphan, clinically depressed, who is rescued from suicide by a young man who calls himself Sandor. Little Joe, who has known almost no affection in his life, becomes Sandor's devoted servant, his Gallowglass.

Sandor has a love of his own, a former fashion model, whom he calls the Princess, now married to her third wealthy husband, and he enlists Little Joe in a mad scheme to kidnap her.

This is a brilliant study of obsession --- both the doglike, unconditional devotion of Little Joe for the mad Sandor, and the childish, possessive, utterly self-centered fixation of Sandor for the Princess.

GALLOWGLASS also tells the story of Paul Garnet, the Princess's bodyguard, whose relationship with her becomes more complex. These characters are more clearly sympathetic and balance the brutish self-centeredness of Sandor and his quest to possess the Princess.

As is usually the case with Barbara Vine, the novel is almost impossible to put down. The characters are utterly lifelike and the narrative moves like a bullet train.

Highly recommended for fans of Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine. Also recommended is the TV adaptation, although this is available on DVD only in Region 2 (Europe) format. It's not hard to find a used copy of the VHS tape, however.

Vine's strength lies precisely in the fact that she often does deal with unsavoury and unlikeable characters and yet through her handling of them, get the reader to identify with and almost like them, certainly to care deeply what happens to them. It's amazing how she gets inside the heads of her characters. Does she really know people like this or is she simply intuitive to the nth degree? Sandor is obsessed with Nina, Joe is obsessed with Sandor and neither has their love returned. Unlike a previous reviewer, I found the ending very satisfying as really, how else could it end? The character of Sandor's mother, Diana, and the character of Paul, the bodyguard, are made extremely believable. In the case of Diana, who is a very minor character, it is truly amazing what the author is able to achieve with such a small part given over to her. The only slightly unbelievable part was that Apsoland, such a very thorough, security expert, gets fooled by 2 of the characters whom I won't name as it would give the game away if someone has not yet read the book. I think that Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine is truly the best mystery writer alive today. She surpasses all the competition.

The promising plot is ruined by the device of having the book narrated by a simpleton and thoroughly unsympathetic and unbelievable characters. The dialog is artificial and the pace is tedious. The reviewers seemed to like it though.

I am reading the novel Gallowglass for a school project and constantly find myself falling asleep while trying to read it. I read the other reviews and people seem to enjoy this novel, but if I ever finish it, I know I did not enjoy it. The only interesting device Barbara Vine uses is the tecnique of switching narrators. It reminds me of the novel, "The Collector" by John Fowles. If you come to enjoy Gallowglass, I would recommend The Collector, as it is a novel which keeps a steady pace.

Usually Barbara Vine novels feature richly drawn, believable characters, but I found the people in this book uninteresting, unlikeable and (especially in the case of the dimwitted central character) unintelligent. Plus the novel just drags on and on and on--I wanted it to end long before it did. I'm surprised I finished it at all, that's how bad it was. But Vine/Rendell is one of my favorite novelists ever, that's why I stayed with it. Those new to her work will be much better served by reading fascinating and gripping Vine novels such as "Anna's Book," "No Night Is Too Long," "The Chimney Sweeper's Boy" and "A Dark-Adapted Eye." She's a master at creating vivid, suspenseful psychological novels, and she's at the peak of her powers in those books.

absorbing reading, as always from Rendell. The peopel are believeable and the story is fascinating. i quibble with the plot line though, i wonder that the ending is possible with a security freak for a husband as Nina had, and i wonder at the character of Sandor to be so obsessivly in love with a woman he kidnapped? Other than that, it agian shows Rendells abbility to read minds and her charchaters inner souls. very interesting story.