Customer Reviews

A Sight for Sore Eyes

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

A Sight for Sore Eyes is a crime novel that is also literature; it's a grim fairytale about corrupted beauty, a twisted yet beautiful love-story about two damaged people gradually moving together, with catastrophic consequences. I had read several of Rendell's books before I came to this several years ago, but this one was the first one I fell I love with. Normally, whenever anyone says "I couldn't put it down", that's just a stock sentence to convey some sense of the quality of the book, they don't actually MEAN that they physically couldn't put the book down. True cases are very very rare indeed, and they are nothing to do with physicality. Sometimes, though, books like this do come along, which cause you to suddenly realise it's five in the morning and you should have slept long ago. In these cases, yourself and the book have actually melded, briefly, into a whole. The book is an extension of the self, so remarkable as to almost seem forged in the mind, to seem, perhaps, to be only created as you are reading it. This is such a book. A book that is so gripping, whose universe is so totally convincing that you, in a sense, become it, to the ignorance of all other external stimuli.

It is the story of the lives of a group of people, most notably Francine Hill - who was in the house while her mother was shot by a man at the door, and who hid in a cupboard, only coming out to discover the bloodied body - and Teddy Grex - a young man who comes from a squalid, loveless family, who reveres beautiful objects and fine craftsmanship and tends to ignore the fact that other people exist around him. While, after his parent's deaths, Teddy lives in a world of almost unlimited freedom, Francine is virtually imprisoned by her obsessive, over-protective stepmother Julia. From childhood, they grow into young adulthood, and the two damaged souls somehow find each other, with traditionally Rendellian consequences.

This book is remarkable. It's one of those books that words to describe simply don't exist for. If you are a Rendell fan already, I don't know why you haven't already bought this. If you are new, this is probably a great place to start. It is beautifully twisted, complex and resonant piece of work, and she displays all her talents: Her sharp, ironic, Austen-esque wit, her ability to construct plots which mesh in with one another in a way that leaves your jaw dropped in admiration, her ability to draw a cast of wholly human characters, some of whom are dangerously damaged, and her ability to make the skewed logic of those damaged characters seem so perfectly plausible. Her prose style is so tempered, so plain yet beautiful, that she can convince the reader of anything she wants. We would believe, implicitly, anything she tells us.

The story moves at such a suspenseful pace, the characters collide like comets. There are wonderful touches, here; for example, in one of the final scenes the beautiful diamond ring which Teddy's mother found in a pub lavatory in the 70's, and served as their engagement ring, ends up once again lost and forgotten on the basin in a pub lavatory 30 years later. It is simple, but it's beguiling, wondrous touches like this, of bringing the story of the characters full circle, that make the book sparkle so. There's something bizarre and twisted about it all (especially the remarkably creepy ending!) , yes, but there is also something magical and beautiful in the ruins of Rendell's character's psyches.

I've said very little of all that could be about this book, but there is simply not enough space to expound upon the brilliance of this book. Too, there aren't really enough adjectives - excellent, brilliant, etc - to do it justice. It's a book that should be read by all.

A Sight for Sore Eyes is one of Rendell's masterpieces. It is a piece of fiction so beautifully and impeccably crafted that it almost beggars belief to consider Rendell's craftsmanship of it. Certainly, I feel sure that any Rendell fan will treasure its beauty and beguiling intricacy, as, probably, would Teddy.

I read this book because a friend practically forced me to read it. At first I was skeptical, but it took me only about twenty pages to get hooked. It is an artfully constructed narrative, complex yet never making a show of its complexity, full of dramatic irony and deadpan humor. I was surprised to find that one reviewer took this book to task for not having a good plot; on the contrary, it is one of most skillfully executed plots I've read in a long time. Rather than just give us the sketch of a plot - as so many writers do - Rendell seems to lavish infinite care on each turn of the narrative. I doubt there's a wasted word in the book. I swear I didn't know how it would end until the last twenty pages. Be warned, however, this isn't a mystery of the whodunit variety - it's almost a sort of tragedy, a study of the stifled lives of its two main protagonists. Rendell's vision of humanity in this book isn't reassuring: most of her characters aren't terribly sympathetic, and yet I couldn't help feeling a horrified pity for Teddy Brex. In many ways, this book is more horrific than most horror novels I've read. I've heard some people say this isn't her best - well, if that's so, I can't wait to read her other novels.

If your only know Ruth Rendell though TV versions of her twisted tales you have been cheated. The best part of her books is the interior mindscape of her characters - especially the criminal ones. The perfectly delicious A Sight for Sore Eyes gradually threads together three different stories, each with their own domestic horrors. A young girl who probably would have long since recovered from a childhood trauma if it wasn't for the 'help' of a failed child psychologist (unfortunately her stepmother), seeking freedom from her dull life. An emotionally vacant young man with a nasty secret in the boot of his car, seeking beauty for his drab world. A slightly raddled former rock groupie, with an elderly husband and a lovely house, seeking youth in the arms of young men. This author really knows how to twist a plot till it squirms, sqeals and shrieks. I way prefer this kind of Ruth Rendell creation to the slightly over-done Inspector Wexford series.

I highly recommend "A Sight For Sore Eyes" for literate, non-mystery readers in search of an absorbing novel that provides plenty of chills.

Over the last six months I have developed a minor obsession for the dark, obsessive books of Barbara Vine, not "mysteries" but disturbing and suspensful novels, for those like me who don't often read standard whodunits.
I thought I'd try one of the more standard mysteries of Vine's doppelganger, Ruth Rendell, and I was very satisfied with "A Sight For Sore Eyes". In fact, my highest praise for this book is that it reads like, well, a great Barbara Vine novel!

I will say that this book is creepier and more violent than the Vine books. Actually, it's REALLY CREEPY. As usual, the backstories of the characters are detailed and fascinating, opening up onto the present where their actions lead inexorably toward their doom. Rendell's prose is of the highest calibre, and she is devilish in the way she calibrates the expectations that her plotting develops in her reader, in order for her stunning surprises to be effective.
This is a rich reading experience.

I'm shuddering a bit as I write this.

I've just finished reading this novel for the first time, and, although I've read many Rendell/Vine novels over the years, this is the first that has disturbed me enough to prompt me to write a review.

GENRE. This book was written by one of the acknowledged all-time greats of the Mystery genre: Ruth Rendell (aka Barbara Vine). Rendell takes her rightful place amongst giants like Agatha Christie and P.D. James. Like James, Rendell--and especially her nom de plume, Vine--is an unusually skillful and artful "profiler" of humankind and our species' various psychological states.

Yet, despite the Mystery pedigree, A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES is not a mystery, at least not in the sense of the literary genre. There is no mystery to solve (save for an incidental sub-plot murder that happened in the past), no clues, no (significant) police presence whatsoever. Well, let me amend that: there ARE clues, but all of them lead us toward an excavation of the human psyche, and the ways in which past events and life experiences contribute to behavioral/mental pathology. This book exemplifies the label "psychological thriller." However, if you read on, you'll see why I believe it could almost function as a Horror novel, in some respects.

STRUCTURE. If you have ever seen an episode of LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT, but were to extract any mention of police or the criminal justice system, leaving us only with the criminal him/herself, you might have an idea of the structure of this novel. It is, simply put and without revealing any of the plot, the story of a sociopath: his early life, his thoughts, his behavior, his crimes, his pathology. We are pulled along by the momentum of the sociopath and his choices, breathlessly wondering about the who/what/WHY of any future repugnant acts we know are sure to come.

POV. Rendell is one of the few popular authors who can skillfully and elegantly "head-hop"--i.e. take us into the third person Point of View of a number of characters, both major and minor, showing us their inner thoughts and impressions and then rotating amongst them. Yet, she manages to hew closely to the sociopath's perspective throughout the novel. The brilliance of Rendell's technique is such that she never actually has any other character comment on or notice or explain the sociopath's pathological behavior. Rather, she gives us a tidal wave of details---his upbringing, yes, but more importantly, his impressions, mannerisms, ideals, obsessions, and pet peeves----that very gradually telegraph to the reader the nature of this man's pathology. By the time you are 3/4 through the book, you will understand sociopathology in a way that your Pysch 101 textbook could never, on its own, get you to do. You will actually be IN the disturbed person's head, and that makes for a very disturbing experience of its own.

VIOLENT MATERIAL. As thrillers go, this one is bone-chilling...not so much for the methods of the murders (they are mundane and far less flashy/clever than a frequent reader of this genre might even hope) but for the WHY of the murders and for the ways in which they are carried out. The first murder especially is deeply shocking; the reader has been uneasily expecting that the character will snap and do murder, but when it happens, his reasons for murdering and his internal thought processes and pragmatic actions afterward are all dreadful. That's really the best word I can find to describe the whole nasty affair of the murders/sociopath's motivations and actions: dreadful. At the end of the novel, I felt rather as though I had finished a book in the Horror genre, so gruesome were the images and impressions the book planted in my mind. I also felt somewhat as though, as in a Horror novel, the horrors of both the sociopath's acts and his mind itself were presented to the reader almost for the sake of themselves, for the sake of thrilling and us and chilling us with just how vile some acts and thoughts can be...indeed, are.

OTHER NEGATIVE MATERIAL. In my opinion, this book gives rather unforgiving and unpleasant depictions of both lower-income communities/families and mentally ill people (there are other characters besides the sociopath who suffer mental illness). Because there are no positive depictions of members of either of these two groups, the harsh portrait is relentless and a bit difficult (sometimes even painful) to take. But of course, this adds to the novel's memorable-ness and capacity to thrill the reader with suspenseful twists and turns.

ENDING. There is closure of a sort to be had here, but I think you will be happier with the ending if you don't take the police-procedural perspective of a standard Mystery novel. My advice is to go into this novel expecting simply a psychological profile of a killer, and an A to B to C record of how and why he kills. Then, the ending will likely sitwith you just fine.

RECOMMENDED FOR. I recommend this to people who are looking for a very well-written, page-turning thriller that completely engrosses a reader without demanding an intellectual investment (trust me, all you need to do is sit back and go along for the ride). I recommend it also to people who are looking for an "in-between" genre type of novel; this one is a combination of Thriller/Suspense, Mystery, and even Horror. I recommend you have the mental equivalent of a "strong stomach;" the images and ideas in this novel are deeply disturbing and will not leave your mind readily upon your turning the last page and shutting the back cover.

I do *Not* recommend this book to readers who are easily discomfited, to readers looking for positive/encouraging depictions of people living with mental illness, or to people who strongly prefer the conventional police procedural/Mystery format (to the exclusion of other genres).

Usually, to lovers of the psychological thriller a new Ruth Rendell novel is, to borrow from the title of her latest novel, "A Sight for Sore Eyes." This novel contained the air of menace and moral apathy that is characteristic of Rendell's more successful and earlier works. Yet the narrative of the lives of a group of dismal self-obsessed and, ultimately, self-destructive characters does not grip my attention. Her characters don't care about each other and, as a reader, I didn't care what happened to any of them. This novel strikes a false hollow note, just as did her latest Barbara Vine novel, "The Chimney Sweeper's Boy". Read this novel if you're a fan of Rendell's earlier and more "twisted" fiction, but read a library copy. Nothing within its covers is worth the the price.

A Sight for Sore Eyes is supposedly one of Ms. Rendell's most admired works. I can see why to a large extent. The characters are very vividly drawn and, unlike a reviewer or two, I regard the history of the principal characters, Teddy Brex and Francine Hill, as well as the secondary characters, not just page-fillers but essential links to their behavior in the latter third of the book. These people, some of whom are teetering on madness, if not already, could not have been believable without the history. It is how we are able to understand their pathology (mainly psychopathic, misanthropic, obsessive) as well as the narrative. The plot is imaginative and while we're supposed to suspend disbelief in some portions, it doesn't become absurd. In less skillful hands, the characters could have easily deteriorated into caricatures and the plot degenerated into farce.

As solid as the chapters are, it is the ending I will remember most. Being what we are, we want to see the wrongdoer get his comeuppance. But this comeuppance is very subtly and touchingly presented that whatever victory we initially rooted for is overshadowed by pity.

Being new to Ms. Rendell's books, I do not yet know which of her many works would be considered a masterpiece. Whichever that may be, A Sight for Sore Eyes is pretty darn close to being one.

I finished A Sight For Sore Eyes during my summer vacation this weekend with excitement and an overall positive feeling over the pleasure this author gives me. Ruth Rendell does not only creates an original, smart and unpredictable thriller that makes you full of excitement and your heart beating, she also creates colourful characters that you either sympathize with or want to see defeated in such way that you almost bite your tounge(in this book some of them makes you wanna do both).

I don't want to get in to much to the story (many reviewers probably already have done it, and personally I don't like to know all the story before I read a book or see a movie) but it evolves around three main characters; 19 year old Teddy and his personality which as a result of his dysfuncional family who doesn't give him any attention and caring during his growth, 19 year old Francine who has seen her mother being killed in her own house when she was a kid and now is being imprisoned in her own home by her overprotectng stepmother. Their lives are being brought together by destiny and creates a marvelous story that can't be anything other than worldclass reading.

Rendell takes on the difficult task of trying to let the reader understand the workings of a cold, twisted, and almost inhuman mind--and she does it brilliantly. Teddy Brex is not a likeable character, but he's a bit like Patricia Highsmith's Talented Mr. Ripley--I found myself empathizing, if not exactly sympathizing with him. It's an extraordinary portrait of a character, and an unexpected bonus is that for suspense, it has some mordantly funny parts--when Teddy, trying to be inconspicuous, finds himself burdened with a corpse in a yellow Edsel, it's a uniquely Rendell situation. All the characters are intriguing, but it's Teddy who's haunting.

A Sight For Sore Eyes is a tense psychological thriller which is both sensitive and shocking. It is one of my absolute favourite books and when I reread it I am always astounded again by just how good it is. The plot is fantastic and it is amazing how seemingly different parts of the plot converge so all the characters are linked and meet up. The language Rendell uses is simply beautiful and very descriptive.

The characters are believable and masterfully created. Teddy has been neglected by his parents and he grows into a cold, vicious young man who has no conscience. He could have turned into another freakish serial killer straight out of Hollywood but instead Rendell convinces us to do the impossible: actually feel sorry for him and step into his shoes. Francine is smothered by her obsessive step-mother who barely wants her to step outside their house alone. When the two meet and Teddy falls in love with Francine we know that the slide into disaster has begun. The result is, inevitably, murder.

I would recommend A Sight For Sore Eyes to anyone that has a love for psychological thrillers that delve deep into the minds of their flawed characters. I thought that the dénouement was fitting and satisfying and there is even a neat little twist about a subplot in the final pages. Overall this book is highly, highly recommended!

JoAnne