Albert Delp, an older herpetologist, shapes Karel Roeder's fascination with snakes and lizards; Leda, his enigmatic girlfriend, leads him ever deeper into proscribed areas of thought and speech.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
By the author of Flights and Paper Doll , this is a grim, frightening coming-of-age novel set in a contemporary police state reminiscent of both South Africa and Nazi Germany. Amateur herpetologist Karel Roeder divides his time between working at the zoo, housekeeping for his melancholic unemployed father, and dreaming of Leda, the beautiful and strong-willed girl next door. Against a backdrop of steadily increasing propaganda and violence, Karel works hard to remain unnoticed. But his father disappears, the zoo is taken over by government forces, and Leda grows increasingly intolerant of the murderously repressive regime. When Kehr, a seductively capable and strong-willed Civil Guardsman, is billeted in Karel's house and tries to induct him into service, Karel must decide between personal safety and political ideals, between filial loyalty and erotic love. Gruesome scenes of physical torture add credibility to this nightmarish, politically charged novel in the tradition of George Orwell's 1984.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Taking a fresh, horrifying look at man's inhumanity to man, the author of Flights (LJ 8/83) and Paper Doll ( LJ 11/15/86) has produced a winner. His new coming-of-age novel features Karel Roeder, a 15-year-old who is growing up in a totalitarian state in an unidentified time and place. Big Brother is truly watching Karel and his inscrutable girlfriend Leda, as they are influenced by the mounting terror of their dictatorial government, a terror that overwhelms their lives and brings about their ultimate loss of innocence. The reptile house is in the zoo where Karel works, an Eden-like haven which is destroyed in an unrelenting barrage of Sturm und Drang . Recommended for adult and young adult collections.
- Dean Willms, Fort Collins P.L., Col.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Dean Willms, Fort Collins P.L., Col.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Believable Nightmare...,
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This review is from: Lights Out in the Reptile House (Paperback)
Jim Shepard creates a believable state recently taken over by a violent totalitarian regime. The state could be just about anywhere, and sounds Mediterranean...Carribean...Eastern European...Central African...South American...East Asian... or perhaps Middle Eastern. Well, I suppose it could just about happen anywhere. It contains elements of all of the worst paranoid dictatorships of recent history: Communist purges, Fascist tortures, Nazi destructiveness, fundamentalist repeals of freedom and I-know-what-is best-4-U censorship. Add to this mix 15-year old Karel Roeder who lives with his unemployed and distant father.
Karel could be a lot of 15-year old boys-to-men in any culture, still a child, coming to manhood slowly with no guidance. Seeking comfort and stability he's not frequently known, trying to be a man, trying to figure out his place in the world and his society. His interests are mainly the reptiles in the zoo where he is apprenticed to herpatologist Albert, and his childhood family friend and budding anti-regime activist Leda, on whom he is developing a serious crush. This tale follows Karel through the losses and destruction of the few things important to him. Very descriptive, a well told story, frightening in its starkness. Hints of the film "Brazil". Be afraid.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well written and entertaining,
This review is from: Lights Out in the Reptile House (Paperback)
This novel is set in a fictional police state- a sort of Austro-Hungary in the tropics. It follows a lead character's brush with the authorities, and a deepening entanglement with the opposition. There isn't a "Hollywood" ending, which is also refreshing.
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