Customer Reviews

STRANGE ANGELS

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

 

 

Koja is one of the very few authors that "impresses" me. Her language is far beyond any of her contemperaries, especially the mainstream authors (stephen king couldn't write as beautifully as her even if he sold his soul--which I'm pretty sure he did) Anyway, this novel was good, but I didn't appreciate it as much as her earlier works. If you want koja at her best pick up her third novel, SKIN. It is a work of art. Another good one was THE CIPHER. I randomly grabbed THE CIPHER in a bookstore, back when I was in high school. I read the first paragraph and became an instant fan. I highly recommend it.

Kathe Koja is for readers who love poetic language. You can open up any of her books and read random paragraphs, totally unaware of what is going on, and LOVE doing it. I read SKIN for two years, only reading random excerpts. Just recently, I read it from begining to end for the very first time. And I loved every minute of it.

Koja has a command of language not generally found except by poets. If you love action/adventure stay away from this book. However, if you love to feel words on a visceral level and experience a new world from inside the head of new characters, try this book. Although dark, it touches on a primal level.

"Strange Angels" is one of those books I clearly remember reading, for no other apparent reason than I was on vacation. It's also one of those books I had to read a second time to like, basically because my first impression was one of disappointment. I had thought "Strange Angels" was about--what else?--angels or some other type of supernatural entity, going by the synopsis on the back cover. However, I must have misinterpreted it, because the book isn't supernatural at all. It's about a photographer named Grant who becomes obsessed with his girlfriend's client, a mental patient named Robin, after he sees some of his drawings. Grant's interest in him has its repercussions, though, especially when he isolates Robin from his doctors and family in attempt to understand him better.

Koja's schizophrenic writing style perfectly suits the chaotic madness in both Grant and Robin's minds, making the story come more alive. Unfortunately, the ending is rather predictable and somewhat misleading. Mental disorders aren't as contagious as catching something like the flu, which makes me guess Grant wasn't all there to begin with. So, if you're into low-key, psychological horror, then you might like "Strange Angels."

While the language is at first irksome, it begins to grow on you, flowing in and out of episodes. All in all, this was an interesting search into the nature of madness, which is a place we are locked out of along the way. It certainly recalls the quote from Diane Arbus: "What I'm trying to get at is that you can never get inside someone else's head." Like an Arbus photograph, we feel ourselves abnormally close, yet the subject remains strangely ambiguous. Perhaps this book could have searched deeper into the inner workings of madness, but it works for what it is.

As someone with manic depression, I related so much to both Grant and Robin. Grant needs to be surrounded by creative people and Robin needs his illness to keep his creativity flowing. This is a story that delves into mental illness and the lifestyles that a lot ill people live that we are not aware of. Koja's writing style is incredibly choppy...and I love it. It's dramatic and keeps you almost in Robin's mindframe, where the thought process is not the same as most. If you want something out of the ordinary that will pull you in, try this.

This novel intrigued me with its premise but I was disappointed by its pessimistic conclusion. Shamans are said to gain spiritual gifts after a period of psychosis but the author does not appear to have done any research into shamanism because there were no references to that in the story. An obvious source of inspiration would be the visionary poet William Blake who saw angels but the only artist mentioned in the book is Francis Bacon.

I'm puzzled as to what the author was driving at. The main character yearns to see the world through the eyes of a visionary artist but he would need to have some experience himself to motivate that mad ambition. Instead he seems mysteriously insightful in seeking something transcendent from schizophrenics. The novel also appears to be written from the wrong perspective and does not venture to fully imagine the transformation that is being sought even though there are plenty of books written about the change that a "spiritual emergency" is meant to bring about. I would guess that the author was working through a spiritual crisis herself and unconsciously wrote something that curiously mirrors the shamanic initiation without using the usual references or symbolism.

after reading Skin by Kathe Koja i found Strange Angels. Skin hit home on a level i had not previously known. so many outside people exploring the limits of the flesh.

Strange Angels explores the limits of sanity and the pursuit of the holy. not a benign and loving holy divinity, but some sort of holy that has existed since before the written word. what is it that people labeled with various disorders really see? what do they really experience? are they really seeing a version of reality that is completely invisible to the rest of us? this book explores the boundaries of sanity. the characters are complelling and disturbing. you can see the end coming as clearly as a train read to end you life...and it doesn't chnge course.

i've heard many compare her to Barker, Burroughs, Poe and Lovecraft. but all of those previously mentioned have no idea of the depths of human limits when compared to Kathe.

another one to look for in hardback as you'll want it's diminutive size on your shelf like the seed of the tree of life waiting to take root and take over the entire bookcase.

THIS BOOK BLEW ME AWAY THE FIRST TIME I READ IT, SO I READ IT AGAIN. AND AGAIN. FOUR TIMES IN ALL!!! I FOUND IT AS GOOD OR BETTER AS "THE CIPHER," "BAD BRAINS" AND "SKIN."

THE ATMOSPHERE IS EXTREMELY SURREAL, MAGICAL, NOT AT ALL REALITY. (I LOST MYSELF IN KOJA'S WORLD COMPLETELY.) THAT'S PROBABLY THE PART I LIKE BEST ABOUT THE BOOK, IT CAPTURE'S ONE'S IMAGINATION/ATTENTION THROUGHOUT AND COMPLETELY). IT MAKES ME, A WRITER MYSELF, WANT TO WRITE SOMETHING A STRANGE AS THIS!

FURTHERMORE, THE READER FEELS SO INTIMATE WITH EVERY CHARACTER IN "STARNGE ANGELS." THE CHARACTERS ARE SO VERY WELL-DEVELOPED, AS WITH ALL OF KOJA'S CHARACTERS IN ALL OF HER BOOKS. THE DOWNFALL OF THE NARRATOR AND HIS (SCHIZOPHRENIC? MANIC-DEPRESSIVE? OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE? SPIRITUALLY "HIGHER"?) "ANGEL" ROOMATE, AND THEIR GIRLFRIEND IS STUNNINGLY TERRIFYING, TERRIFYINGLY "PERMENANT."

A MUST READ BOOK FOR ALL HORROR/THRILLER FANS AND THOSE OTHER READERS WHO JUST LIKE AN INTRGUING PSYCHOLOGICAL CONUNDRUM !

Excellent writing. It's the first book I've read by Kathe Koja, but she's made a new fan.

Dark and strange, I would recommend this to everyone.

Perhaps Kathe Koja is misplaced in the genre horror and therefore is misunderstood by the reviewers and some readers. This book is contemporary fiction. It is one of those rare books wherein the characters stayed with me not only all day, but for many years past reading. In my first reading I was concerned about them and could not wait to get home to the book to be with them. Now almost ten years past reading the images of these Strange Angels are with me as clear as the first time I encountered them. Ultimately this book is a true tragic novel, in line with the best contempory fiction and classics. Had Dostoevsky knew modern psycharity he may have written this book.