Customer Reviews

Toplin

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
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...you may want to check out this obscure little gem, if you can find it. Toplin is told from the perspective of a rather peculiar and unnamed gentleman who lives in a Kafka-esque city. This gentleman, let's just say, has a few odd personality traits. He has several identical suits in his closet that are numbered. He only reads cookbooks (nothing wrong with that really). When he cleans house, it is an exercise of intricacy and thoroughness that borders on obsessive-compulsiveness. Even his sex life is structured and monotonous with no wasted movements or wasted time. And adding to all that, he was rendered colorblind at a young age from an attack by seagulls while he worked one summer at a beach. But the story's just beginning.

The real story starts when he visits a particular diner for the first time ever and sees a waitress so hideously deformed, he believes with every fiber in his being that he has to end her life somehow. Along the way, he runs into people like an insane delivery boy who resents the fact the Army won't let him enlist and the "Tempus Fugit" street gang.

Toplin is the first of two books I've read by Michael Mcdowell, the other being the incredible historical revenge thriller Gilded Needles. Even though two may not seem like much, it was enough to convince me that McDowell is every bit as good as Stephen King or Clive Barker (two writers I greatly respect) and far better than so called horror masters like Little, Laymon, or Koontz. Toplin is not a book for all tastes with its extremely dark tone and uncovential plot, but I highly recommend it for horror fans seeking something original.

First off, this book comes with pictures. Looking at them first will give you an idea of the highly disturbed world you are about to enter. The book is told in first person and you will quickly find that you are inside a truly damaged mind. But not in the way you might think. Not a sociopath or psychopath but someone whose mind is--askew--a bit off. This is probably THE creepiest book I have ever read. Kathe Koja is the only other person I know of that can write in this vein. This, by the way, is the author of the Blackwater series which Stephen King so backhandedly mentions in the intro to The Green Mile. I highly recommend the Blackwater series also but unfortunately it is as difficult to find as this title.

This is a very misunderstood work.

Michael McDowell was a brilliant author: "Guilded Needles" and "Elementals" are both outstanding novels in their respective genres. TOPLIN, however, is something quite different -- and most readers just don't get it, and walk away disappointed.

From reading the reviews, I'd assumed that TOPLIN was the story of a delusional psychotic who murders a waitress based solely upon a halucinatory vision only he can see . . . this is untrue.

TOPLIN may qualify as "psychological horror" -- if you need to pidgeonhole it into a set genre -- but it's really more of an experimental novel than anything remotely mainstream. The text is heavy on symbolism, allegory, and metaphor -- not all of which is immediately obvious (hence the confusion of others). Toplin is not necessarilly psychotic -- although he'd certainly be classified as such under the DSM-IV -- but he perceives trhe world with startling clarity. By definition, a delusion is something false, which is not at all the case in this deeply disturbing tale.

It is best to think of TOPLIN as a modernized retelling of the "Fool's quest," as the characterizatrions borderline on mythological, and the tone is downright Lovecraftian.

Highly recommended for fans of Thomas Ligotti, H.P. Lovecraft, or the Chtulhu mythos.

A very well written story of a definitely demented man. The story goes deep into the mind (deeper than anyone should like to go) of a man living in his own twisted world. An excellent book.

I read only two of McDowell's books: "Toplin" and "Katie". "Katie" is much better. After finishing "Toplin", I felt like I had wasted my time.

I actually read "Toplin" first. Although I disliked it, I saw potential and decided to read more of his books.

I liked the movie "Tales from the Darkside" which McDowell co-wrote. That was also a factor in my decision to give the author another shot. (McDowell also co-wrote "Beetlejuice" and wrote a screenplay based on Stephen King's book "Thinner".)