Wednesday, August 6, 2008

The End of Alice by A.M. Homes



The End Of Alice by A.M. Homes
Pages: 270
ISBN: 978-0-684-82710-0
Back of Book Description:

Only a work of such searing, meticulously controlled brilliance could provoke such a wide range of visceral responses. Here is the incredible story of an imprisoned pedophile who is drawn into an erotically charged correspondence with a nineteen-year-old suburban coed. As the two reveal--and revel in--their obsessive desires, Homes creates in The End of Alice a novel that is part romance, part horror story, at once unnerving and seductive.

My Rating: C

My Review
Let me first say that the back of the cover description was misleading, or at least I felt it to be so. Also, at no point in time did I feel seduced by the novel nor did I feel it was meticulously controlled or brilliant. Well written. That's the only good thing I have to say about the novel. The author knows how to write beautifully and bring a world to life around you.

Beyond the fact that it was grotesque at the best of times and wildly inappropriate at all times, there were many many instances while reading that I felt the change of point of view was done in a way that made it to where you didn't realize what was happening until pages down the road. I felt that when I was through with the book I'd sat through all the nastiness the pure evil and confusion for an unsatisfying end. For me, a lot of questions were left unanswered. I would still be telling you that the book was horrible when it came to the subject matter, but if only the author would have answered some of my questions I would maybe be able to understand why she chose to write about such an awful subject, and from the points of view she did. There's no good guy in this book. Not even the children really because as seen through the predators eyes, they have it coming. They don't of course, but you have to read the book to understand.

I'll never read this book again. It will stick with me forever but I'll never read it again. I'll actually try my best not to think on it again after this point.

As far as recommendations, all I have to say is; Enter at Your Own Risk.

3 comments:

  1. Interesting review. I'll pass on this one then.
    This kind of reminds me of when I read 'Love In the Time of Cholera'. 'It will stick with me forever but I'll never read it again.'- that's how I felt about that one. It was disturbing to read at parts.
    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

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  2. Hmmm
    I have Love in the time of Cholera on my TBR pile. Now I'll go into it with a different perspective. Thanks for that!

    Most people are telling me that they'll pass on this book, I'm glad in a way, but I wish just one other person I know would read it, so that I could say "Did I miss something? Was there some grand point that I just didn't get?" You know?

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  3. My friend and I swap books all the time, and when one of us dislikes a read, the other usually agrees.
    I know what you mean, its good to have another person read it and discuss the details too.
    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

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