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The Red Tree (2009)

by Caitlín R. Kiernan(Favorite Author)

3.69 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0451462769 (ISBN13: 9780451462763)

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Roc Trade

review 1: My first impression of The Red Tree: Kerinan was certainly committed to creating story authenticity, although perhaps mildly cliche is her use of the 'I found this unpublished manuscript thing.' The narration, while pushing the limits of story, within story within story (I think within this novel there is THE unpublished manuscript, an older manuscript that the main character finds, which collects together several old tales of the red tree, a random short story AND final a small piece of the protagonist's earlier publication)If you're worried about getting your head around that, don't be, the narrative is not-challenging to follow and the depth of the blended stories works well. What also works well is the slow build to creepiness and the skillfully spread unease throughou... moret the novel which beats cheesy horror scares every-time.So what made this 3 stars? Firstly the character's voice suffered (albeit at their own admission) from overwhelming digression. While this made sense initially to help flesh out the story and bring a sense of humanity to the narrator, by the end the novel, one felt she ought to just get to the point.The second lost star, was simply the ultimate let-down. The build-up of the novel was pretty intense,and things had started to become very creepy and scary. I wasn't looking for a boogey man to leap out of any closets, but I was expecting something a bit more adrenaline raising than what passed for a climax in this book. I will say no more to avoid spoilers, I was happy to have read this book, I just won't be singing its praises in years to come.
review 2: I've never pretended to be a staunch lover of horror. Ghost stories scare me. This story is, I suspect, behind the fact that last night I woke up from a nightmare I don't remember, screaming loud enough to wake someone downstairs. (Thank God I actually did scream, though, because she woke me up from that nightmare.)So with that introduction... I was definitely sucked into this story, even though I generally dislike the "I found this manuscript after the author's tragic demise" shtick. I sort of despised the main character and didn't think much of the secondary character. I got tired of the self-important literary references that seem designed to make us think the main character (or the author? ) is brilliant and well-read.And yet... This book had atmosphere. Man, did it have atmosphere. Did I enjoy it? No. But did the book do what it set out to? Hell, yeah.I still don't know if I'm disappointed with the ending or think it's bloody brilliant. I do know I'll be thinking of this book for some time to come. Again, I am not a connoisseur of the horror genre. I'm proud of myself for having read Misery twice. I avoid anything that looks remotely designed to give me nightmares. But I was in just the right mood when I picked this book up, and decided to edge out of my comfort zone. Also, I don't get why people are ripping on the cover. I picked the book up because of the cover, and I got pretty much what I expected. The cover creates a brooding, creepy feel, and the woman on the cover looks sullen or haunted or even somewhat unhinged. less

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