Customer Reviews

The House of Forgetting: A Novel

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

 

 

While the "psychological thriller" is not really my cup of tea, I found this poetic work to be inventive and at times provocative. Saenz, a passionate writer and reader of poetry, infuses this novel with his poetic verve. The plot, a modernized, ramped-up version of Hawthorne, is well-paced and for the most part carefully laid out. The weakness would have to be in the characterizations: the rugged independent-minded good cop, dog-kicked for his honesty, and the equally independent, honest and hardworking female public defender, who just happens to be attractive and southern. Unfortunately, we know these folks from tv. The reclusive (and of course famous) academic and his goddess kidnap victim are more realistic.

For intriguing, escapist reading, this book is recommended, not for overall literary accomplishment.

Saenz has a remarkable imagination, and a true poet's sensitivity to the complexity of human emotion. He weaves a mesmerizing and compelling story, not least because it is unusual. It is almost gothic, with Thomas Blacker's house and garden as it's center and it's beautifully evocative descriptive passages. The atmosphere is perfect and the characterizations (for the most part)are psychologically incisive. The character of Gloria is a remarkably human and "real" character, and it is worth commending Saenz for that alone.

However, I cannot help but wish Saenz had spent more time on the character of Thomas and his relationship with Gloria. I felt he could have done better on that end. He tries to pass Thomas off as a monster at the end, yet that is not how he was portrayed--when you write realistic fiction, you have to create real people and Thomas, in this world, was real. He wasn't a monster any more than Karl Marx was a monster. His ideas were overly idealistic and too simplistic, like Marx's ideas of communism. And his childlike puzzlement that his plans didn't work out as he thought they would emphasize his humanity as well as the mental illness that he labored under. Mental illness does not equal a monster--only a lost and curiously naive human being. To be a monster is to be intentionally cruel. Thomas was not intentionally cruel and didn't realize his cruelty, therefore, Thomas is not a monster.

Most of those reading this review will remember English classes in high school. Drowsed through most of the books, didn't you? But there was one you liked, one that actually deserved the hype it got. In many ways, "The House of Forgetting" is the modern version of that book, at once curiously lyrical and utterly devastating. I would like to add that this is not a "thrilling" book, as a certain 3-star review commented--but that's not the point. This isn't a thriller, it's art, in a way many writers can only dream of and many more don't even try for.

I FOUND THIS BOOK BY ACCIDENT AT A BOOK SALE. I LOVED IT FROM THE FIRST PAGE. IT IS ABOUT A WOMAN WHO WAS KIDNAPPED AT AGE 7 AND LIVED HER LIFE AS A CAPTIVE IN A MAN'S HOUSE. HER VIEW OF HER WORLD IS PERCEPTIVE, POETIC AND SENSITIVE. SHE STABS HER CAPTOR, IS IMPRISONED AND THEN RELEASED. THIS BOOK GRABBED A HOLD OF ME AND WOULD NOT LET GO UNTIL I FINISHED IT. THE CHARACTERS ARE REAL AND I WAS LEAD ALONG UNTIL THE SURPRISE ENDING. I WASN'T SURE WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN AND THAT KEPT ME HOOKED.

Couldn't put down this mesmerizing story of a woman who has lived with her kidnapper since she was seven, and how she finally breaks free. Unuusal story. Wonderful writing.

There was not enough dose of thrills to categorize this book as Psychological Thriller. Yes, it must be horrifying to be kidnapped and be cut off from the outside world especially when one was young. However, the kidnapper raised Gloria Santos and moulded her to be a fine lady and was never violent or abusive to her - apart from being stern and having a shameful motive of working Gloria to be his woman. Even after Santos left the kidnapper, she appeared to me that she felt confused more than terrified or frightened by her captured years. Besides the lack of thrills, Saenz did not build enough hate and fear to make me understand Gloria had to stab Thomas Blacker. Also, the characters of Gloria were so complex that it was difficult to win readers over swiftly. However, Jeny Richard came out to be such a real person that she outstaged Gloria who supposedly was the main character in the book. I enjoyed Jeny's words and acts. I hope Saenz will consider building a story with Jeny Richard's characters and humor. I believe it would be a pleasant read.

Anyhow, I appreciated the poectic elegance that Saenz built in the book, but it is far far away from being a psychological thriller. At this stage, I believe readers enjoy Saenz's poets more. He is not a thriller yet!