Customer Reviews

Strange Toys

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

 

 

My copy of "strange toys" is in tatters and held together with tape and staples - I will loan it out to noone as I can't imagine not owning this book - that's how prized it is... This book is surreal and truly magical. Geary triumphantly answers the challege of being an adult and writing in a child's voice - the childhood "Pet" isn't cloying, precocious or cute. Neither is she a powerless victim with nothing interesting to say. She is a real flesh and blood girl. Geary brings her characters to life in ways that must be read to be understood - she makes every scene in her books so real they are almost palpable. Her view of the way the world works - the complicated layers of "reality" that play upon and with each other - make more sense than any other "explanation" I have read anywhere... her stuff leaves "house of leaves" and all others of that ilk in the dust.... Geary is the real stuff without all the added flash and silly bells and whistles... she doesn't need them. Patricia Geary is my favorite author and this is my favorite book in the world. I've worked in plenty of bookstores and recommended her work but sadly it's been unavailable... I've done every search you can in the industry and never been able to find out a thing about her or if she's still writing so when I saw her comment on this page I was overjoyed. I can't wait to read anything she writes and, Ms. Geary, if you come back to Amazon anytime soon, please know that you do, indeed, have a great following of us out here - you are a great talent and we are so excited that we'll get to read more of your work!

This is my favourite book of all time. Narrated through a child's eyes initially, it takes you back to the time when magic was real (and if that sounds icky and Disney, it's not.) Later it becomes a little more conventional, charting the development of Pet into a young woman, but it is always haunting. It's sad that there have been no books since from Patricia Geary.

STRANGE TOYS is Patricia Geary's second offering of the poignant, haunting, transcendent "magic realism" that has made her a hit with award judges (this one won the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award), reviewers at the NEW YORK TIMES and a steady following of fans who manage to find her novels even though both are out of print. Don't miss her first novel, LIVING IN ETHER. Geary's characters are so real you can feel their presence long after you've closed the pages.

One of my all-time favorites! It's truly a shame this is out of print - so glad to see she's writing a new book.

One of my all-time favorites! It's truly a shame this is out of print - so glad to see she's writing a new book.

Ok first the good news. I loved Geary's writing style, her characters were very real and her descriptions very poignant.

Now the bad news. I kept turning pages expecting some kind of answers or a conclusion but got absolutely nothing other than some very Budda like statements "If you believe it happened then why does it make a difference if it did or not?". You never find out what happened to Deane, you never find out anything about Sammy. I'm assuming that Alonso and Barnett are angels (can't remember what she called them) but that just makes part 2 and part 3 almost exact copies of each other.

So I would say it was an enjoyable experience up until the end when you realize none of your questions are going to be answered. Some people love endings left open for speculation, others hate them. If you don't hate them, read this book it's good, especially if magical realism is your 'thing'.

This may sound ridiculous,but I wanted to write a review of this book eventhough I can't remember a thing about it!(Time for a reread I guess).Anyway I do have it on a place of honor on my shelf because I never forget the feeling I get when I've read something and my feeling for this book was unadulterated joy!I can't wait for your next work Ms. Geary,it's been too long.