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Ratman's Notebooks (1968)

by Stephen Gilbert(Favorite Author)

3.79 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0718106156 (ISBN13: 9780718106157)

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Viking Adult

review 1: Book 6 of 2013This book runs very much in the same vein as Felidae (Akif Pirincci), another one of my favorites--it's dark, it tells a tale of murder and suspense, and it tells it with animals. The differences in storytelling that gave this book a four-star rating rather than Felidae's five are subtle. While the novel was written well, it felt dated in parts. I made the mistake of watching the 2003 movie before reading the book, so it was difficult to shake some of the goofy camerawork from my mind while I was imagining scenes. I found the character development to be less climactic than I might have liked it to be. But for what it was--that is, a late-1960's horror novel that banks on the fear of stereotypical terrifying animals such as rats--it was well-... moredone.
review 2: This book was the basis for the 1971 thriller Willard, about a young man who befriends a pack of rats, and eventually uses them as tools for revenge. The movie was enjoyable, not only for the thriller aspect of rats attacking, but also because of the way it explored the character of Willard, and his blossoming relationship with his new friend -- the rat Socrates. The novel moves in the same fashion, however digging deeper into the mind of the young man -- who goes unnamed in the book.The entire book is a series of journal entries from the young man. He began jotting in his notebook as a form of release from the tedium of the day, but then used his notebooks to detail his "experiments" with a family of rats. He was to have killed the rats, at his nagging mother's request, but the young man noticed, very simply, that he could train these animals to do little chores. Being a loner, and quite the push-over, the young man concocted schemes to use the rats to wreck havoc on his boss's life (training them to chew holes in the tires of his car).At work, the young man gets little respect, even though the company was built by his late father. He is constantly harassed by his boss, who is forever asking the young man to sell him the beautiful house his father left him. And in an attempt to force him into hardship, the boss cuts his pay. This sparks an idea, which has the young man using his well trained rat pack to rob store owners of their money.This is where the novel and the movie differ. In Ratman's Notebooks, the robbery schemes are numerous, and thrillingly detailed, while in the movie, Willard seeks to rob his boss more out of revenge than desperation. Also, quite notable, the 1969 novel is based in England, whereas the movie is American. less

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