The Holy [Paperback]

Daniel Quinn (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Context Books; Reprint edition (April 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893956423
• ISBN-13: 978-1893956421
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,805,667 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Quinn's Best, September 23, 2002

By 

"ubixxy7" (Sacramento CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Holy (Hardcover)

Anyone familiar with this author's work knows that there's no one quite like him writing today. It's as if he starts every book saying to his readers, "You think you've got me pegged, don't you. Well, take a look at THIS!" Then he proceeds to write something unlike anything you've ever read (and unlike anything he's ever written).

I've read all his books, most of them several times, and I can tell you that in THE HOLY he outdoes himself--and everyone else around. It's in a class of its own. The only book that comes close is John Fowles' THE MAGUS, and I personally think THE HOLY is a better, deeper, and more enthralling novel.

In my opinion, the thematic heart of Quinn's novels is not Saving the World (as many might say) but rather The Quest. Quinn's heroes aren't looking for love, happiness, or wealth. They want THE ANSWER--to the profound questions that trouble us all in a world that seems to be going mad. But not all his heroes are asking the same questions (or getting the same answers). Two seemingly unrelated quests drive THE HOLY--both strange, both even a little mad--but they ultimately converge in a maelstrom of passion, violence, death, and transfiguration that is unmatched in any book I've ever read.

This isn't just Quinn's best. I honestly can't name a novel that I'd rank above it.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mind-Blowing Metaphysical Thriller/Horror Novel, September 23, 2002

By 

"howierowan" (Detroit MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Holy (Hardcover)

When you read Stephen King or Anne Rice or Clive Barker, you know they're only kidding. They don't really believe in demon-possessed cars, immortal vampires, or faerie worlds hidden in large carpets. When you read The Holy--a novel as fantastic, as gripping, and as terrifying as any produced by King, Rice, or Barker--you'll know that Daniel Quinn isn't kidding.

In this regard (and this only), The Holy is similar to The Exorcist, another book by an author who wasn't kidding (it was based on the true story of a child's demonic possession in the 1940s). People reacted powerfully to The Exorcist, both as a book and as a film, because they perceived clearly that William Peter Blatty wasn't just giving them a fright they would later laugh about. (I've always believed The Exorcist probably brought more people to the Roman Catholic Church than The Song of Bernadette did.) Even if you aren't a believer, reading or seeing The Exorcist can make you teeter in your disbelief.

Quinn's book will have the same effect on you. It will have the same effect, because you'll recognize that the supernatural realm he's exploring is not one he just made up to give you a scare. It's a realm that humans have acknowledged and taken seriously for as long as there have been humans, a realm familiar to shamans in every land, a realm discussed in the scriptures of every religion (including the Bible), a realm that was alive and thriving before the first humans walked the earth and will be alive and thriving when we're gone. The jacket notes describe the inhabitants of the realm this way: "They knew us before we began to walk upright. Shamans called them guardians, myth-makers called them tricksters, pagans called them gods, churchmen called them demons, folklorists called them shape-shifters. They've obligingly taken any role we've assigned them, and, while needing nothing from us, have accepted whatever we thought was their due--love, hate, fear, worship, condemnation, neglect, oblivion."

The publisher describes this as a metaphysical thriller, and it is. But it's also much more. Like any really great book, it's one you'll definitely want to read more than once.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Deep End, April 7, 2003

By 

S. C Sochet "samerator" (syosset, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Holy (Hardcover)

Well, here we go again. Daniel Quinn is not an instant access author. The first time I read Ishmael, I got so impatient with the book that I tried to throw it into an active fireplace. Luckily I missed and decided to put it back on my shelf. That was 7 or 8 years ago. About two years after that I decided to pick it up again, because I was trying to make my then fiance' happy. I didn't like it all that much more, but stayed with it anyway. And that patience made all the difference. The Holy is a different type of book, but the mechanism is the same. I know that almost doesn't make sense. You see, in order to appreciate Quinn, you really have to "listen" while you read, which is a strange necessity for reading a book. His characters can infuriate you because of their godawful myopia, and then all of a sudden, you realize it's you that's the nearsighted one. At least I think that's his point. He is an acquired taste that is worth pursuing. Don't give up on him. Hear him out. You'll be glad you invested the time.