Customer Reviews

Marriages

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

 

 

I read this book about 5 years ago and found it very good for a first attempt at writing a book. By reading this, it is easy to see that Peter Straub has huge command of writing and language.
Although Peter wanted to be a mainstream novelist at the beginning, I am very glad he found writing darker fiction more to his liking. After you read this book, check out Mystery, The Throat and The Hellfire Club.

Peter Straub's first novel was far from the realm of the ghostly horror that made him a household name, in fact it was an attempt at writing the kind of novel Henry James did. The narrator, an American expatriot living in Britan, explores the effects of the extra-marital affairs he has had with a british/american woman as well as with his sister-in-law. While not exactly a success, curious Straub fans will find it of interest. Recommended.

I have all of Straub's horror writings, and so was looking to complete my collection of him with this first novel. Straub calls it a "not so good" novel on his website, and he's right. The characters seem like paperdolls, like symbols of something I wasn't smart enough to figure out. The type of visual imagery used to express emotion just doesn't come off here, like it does in the horror books.

Still, I am glad to have the book, yellowed and old as it is.

Check my review at UNDER VENUS by the same author. This is also a terrible early work by one of the most gifted authors of today. I still think, no, hope, that this book was written by someone only using the name Peter Straub as a pseudonym.