Customer Reviews

The Gathering

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Outside the wind was blowing the wrong way and the world was filled with the smell of death ..."

At face value, Cheshunt is a model neighbourhood. But almost as soon as he and his mother move there Nathanial knows there is something wrong--something hideously wrong. And it isn't just the stench from the old abattoir, which doesn't seem to bother most residents.

Nathanial soon learns he is not in Cheshunt by accident. As the dark calls its own, so does the light. Nathanial must confront phantoms from his own past if he and all the others called by the light have any hope of stopping the Gathering and its creator.

The word "dark" in The Gathering should really have a capital letter (as it does in Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising) for the forces of evil could not have been more vividly realised than in this book. A number of people who have read it see the Cheshunt school's headmaster, Mr Karle ("the Kraken") as a representation of Hitler. In a quote on the book's front flyleaf Terry Lane is reported to have called The Gathering "a dark, grim allegory of fascism". Many young readers might not realise just how accurate the analogy is because Hitler actually ran an organisation called The Occult Bureau. (If anything proves how insane Hitler was, this waste of time and resources surely does.)

The evil depicted in The Gathering is truly spine-chilling and I think the main reason for this is that Carmody doesn't rely solely on occultism to create the evil. While Nathanial's schoolmate Buddha (a very strange name for an evil character) is clearly driven by the Kraken's supernatural influence when he burns Nathanial's dog alive, there is nothing supernatural about how he does it. I found this incident so disturbing it kept me awake for hours. The scene in the fourth Harry Potter book that several people described as too frightening for many children pales by comparison. This is partly because monsters like Voldemort exist only in someone's imagination. Any well-adjusted child knows this, but also knows that it would be all too easy to murder a little dog as Buddha does.

I found a page of reviews by teenagers (http://owl.infosys.utas.edu.au/reading_room/books/4.html) where there were quite a few readers who didn't like The Gathering, and I suspect this is because they had to study it at school and write an essay on it, or answer a series of questions calculated to make them really think. (Some of them seem to have entered their views here.) Most young people would probably have enjoyed The Gathering if simply given it as being a "cool" book to read. Although the page of reviews mentioned above is peppered with the sort of review so often found on amazon.com (i.e., the "this is the best book in the world" type of review) several children have posted the material they were required to produce when studying the book at school.

Carmody shows her mastery of plot and theme in "The Gathering" as she writes about the sinister town of Cheshunt, where Nathanial has been drawn. He finds others like himself, called to fight the evil that grew a long time ago in Cheshunt. Just as good- the Circle has been called to fight evil, so has the Darkness been called. Nathanial, must not only face this evil, but the hostility of the "good" members of the circle, and the betrayal within the circle as he searches for the answer to unlock the key of the evil in Cheshunt, and forever purge the evil that has lain there for so long. A thoroughly superb book to be read by any age, and person, it's unputdownable!

It's my kind of genre: creepy, mystical, shut-up-with-the-reality-already kind of stuff I love to read. This book is...a mystical fight between a good group and an evil group. I want to say, "simple as that," but honestly, it's not at all simple. It's complicated. It's maddening, sometimes, how the truth is right in front of you and none of the adults in the book will believe it.


Ultimately, good read, good style, good craft. I'd give this book a B. It didn't BLOW ME AWAY, but it gets high marks in creativity, style, plot and okay marks in character. There were some things I didn't buy. It's also tied up a little too nicely at the end. I'd have liked for it to have been a bit more complicated at the end and a bit faster at the beginning, but it seems many authors have this problem. It's nothing that ruins this book. Just a matter of author choice.


I will, however, also warn that there are a few rather graphic scenes which are appropriate for the story and make complete and total sense in the book, but if you're recommending this to a young person who is easily upset, it may not be the best choice. But then, this magic/fantasy/science fiction genre may not be the best choice for such a reader, anyway.

This is a very unique book because for once it does not Glorify or Romanticize Childhood. If you are honest with yourself you can look back and realize that your life was entirely run by parents, teachers and other persons with authority who could easily make your life miserable. 15 year old Nathaniel arrives at his new home in Cheshunt and discovers to his dismay that everybody in his new school are encouraged to be "Team Players" which I am sad to say is becoming the "Accepted Norm" in Today's Society. I have always thought that if Vincent Van Gogh had been a Team Player he would have painted houses for a living and Thomas Edison would be on a CD Walkman Factory Assembly line instead of inventing the Gramaphone, Electric Light Bulb , the Microphone and a host of oher things. Anyway back to the book. Nathaniel senses that something is very amiss in his new town which is confirmed when he encounters a group of young rebels who hold the secret to the town's Evil Past and Future. This is a very good book by a very talented Australian writer and should appeal to readers of all ages.

Isobelle Carmody's The Gathering is a wonderful book! People of all ages will love it! It is a thriller with enough suspence to keep readers page-turning to the end. But the story is not so unrealistic that you can say, "That would never ever happen". In fact at parts in the book you might find yourself thinking "that could just as easily happen to me!" You definately don't want to miss out on this book!

This book is suitable for ages 9 to 95. I am 27 and it is my favorite book. It explores humans and betrayl. get it- no matter what your age!

I did not have to read this story as a class novel and so I loved the suspense and horror that much more. This is the first story I have read by this author and I can't wait for her next one.

The Gathering is a very thrilling story and contains a fiendish plot. It relates to human behavior and the impossible. Isoble Carmody captures the mood brilliantly and creates much suspense.

Carmody, offered imaginative insight into the heart of the occult. 'The Gathering' created a parallel world whereby one was absorbed into the 'gathering' society, to become part of an evil only comparable to the sins of Cain. Brilliantly written, it was compelling and spectacular to the absolute end. The unpredictable twist of fate and irony that adorns the pages also adds a dimension of uniqueness to this novel

I loved The Gathering! I first read this book when I was 14, and now at 17, everytime I read it, its like I'm reading it for the first time! You really get to know all the characters, and feel for them in some way. The plot was superb and very gripping. I loved it how all the characters stood by each other through thick and thin. This is a must read for anyone, no matter what your age!