| Author | Message | ||
     Thomasb (Thomasb) Username: Thomasb Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 69.236.169.250 |
Coughing nervously, the writer inserts the link--http://www.redroom.com/articlestory/fear-minds-thief --then promptly dives under the nearest bed for six weeks . . . . | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
That's a very good, and thoughtful, review, Thomas. I enjoyed reading it. I'd disagree with this, though: "Like most horror novels I’ve read, the buildup in Thieving Fear is terrific, but the payoff is a bit of a letdown." For me, the ending of Thieving Fear is one of Ramsey's finest and most disturbing. It terrified me. A few people I've spoken to found this novel difficult - not one of their favourite Campbells; one Campbell fan I know actually hates it - but I absolutely treasured it. I'm not sure why, but the novel really pressed my buttons. The cover also boasts one of my favourite Vincent Chong images (I have it framed on the wall outside my study, on my "Wall of Chong.") | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.31.8.83 |
Ending a let down? You're kidding me! The last-but-one chapter was incredible. I think Thieving Fear, read textually and subtextually, is as powerful a description of modern corporate-driven life as any I've read. | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 86.142.147.219 |
I loved the whole climactic scene - a fantastic set-piece! And that's a perfectly good review, Thomas. No need to hide!  | ||
| Giancarlo (Giancarlo) Username: Giancarlo Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 85.116.228.5 |
To my taste, one of the best endings in horror/fantasy literature. I even experienced depersonalisation symptoms while reading it. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Your review is fine, Thomas. It makes 'Thieving Fear' sound like a retread of 'Obsession', to my mind, but without the ambiguity regarding the supernatural elements. 'Obsession' was the book where I really noticed Ramsey's writing step up a notch in literary terms and it remains one of my very favourites. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.68 |
Hey, thank you, Thomas! I would just gently quarrel with one point - whether the ending is happy depends on how you read it. I'm fond of it myself. | ||
| Thomasb (Thomasb) Username: Thomasb Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 69.236.169.250 |
Thanks, everyone! Ramsey, I read the last section twice and it mystifies me a little in that respect. So, I read it again and see your point. The first time, I thought Rory was still only haunted by the memory, not the demon itself, who I can see may still be fogging their world. Cheers! | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.158.238.131 |
I sometimes felt I was reading two stories joined together in Thieving Fear....The final part of the book jarred a bit with the first I felt. Like all Ramseys's books there is much to enjoy, and the 'twist' on one of the female characters is very cleverly done. gcw | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.158.238.131 |
"visited by some of the most literate sophisticated folks you'll find anywhere on the InterWires." Cheers Mate! (burp!) gcw....  | ||
| John Forth (John) Username: John Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 82.24.1.217 |
There were elements of 'Thieving Fear' which I wasn't so keen on, but the final descent into the house was an excellent passage. And the revelation Gcw refers to a couple of posts above was very cleverly executed. | ||
| Thomasb (Thomasb) Username: Thomasb Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 69.236.169.250 |
Me, I was stunned when I found out the truth of Ellen's self-deception. That was the part that threw me the most. Also, Hugh's encounter with the demon on the beach and Ellen's meeting it on the bluff. Charlotte's descent into the house, though, didn't do as much for me. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
I now have the urge to read this novel again - I really, really loved it. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.31.8.83 |
Man, the descent into the house was fantastic. The real stuff of horror fiction. Never read anything so dark and sustained. That primal figure which rushes down the cellar steps . . . shudder. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
Agreed. It genuinely gave me nightmares - which is no mean feat these days. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.31.8.83 |
I wrote a similar scene in a novel called God's Eye View, and after reading Ramsey's I just shook my head in shame and stuck pins in a little Scouse doll with its shirt tucked into its pants. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
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| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.158.238.131 |
I can't quite place why Thieving Fear didn't quite work for me....I liked the start & the end...But something didn't quite gel. But again, it can be down to my mood or situation at the time, I need to be able to concentrate to read, and if I have a lot on my mind it just doesn't work, particularly with RC's books which require my total attention to enjoy. A contender for a re-read I suspect...But it's too soon at the moment. gcw | ||
| Thomasb (Thomasb) Username: Thomasb Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 69.236.169.250 |
For Ramsey Novel Re-Reads, I think along the lines of "Incarnate," "Obsessions" and "Ancient Images." | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.158.238.131 |
I re-read Incarnate a couple of months ago in Jamaica - It's still absolutely brilliant! gcw | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.253.77 |
I also re-read Incarnate recently - well, last year. Amazing novel, isn't it? | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.252.126 |
'Incarnate' was the culmination of Ramsey's early pulpish phase and still contains the single most terrifying and haunting chapter he ever wrote - I'm sure you all know the one I mean... | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.237.21 |
There are quite a few of those in Incarnate. When the women emerge on the street and one of them says: "Where are we?" comes readily to mind. At different points in the novel I had the distinct feeling that whatever was happening to the protagonists, was happening to me as well. I still wonder how that is possible. A far-reaching sense of communication betwixt author and reader? | ||
| Gcw (Gcw) Username: Gcw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.158.238.131 |
Danny Swain. Arms. 'Nuff said. gcw | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Hubert, it was the paranoid intensity of the writing in those early books that really got under my skin - at times it felt like Ramsey was barely in control of his material and it was just spilling off the page, and into my mind, in a frenzy of nightmare imagery and impressions. Extremely potent stuff that seemed to reach an apogee with 'Incarnate'. I believe his writing had to calm down, become subtler and more classically structured (as in 'The Influence', 'Ancient Images', 'Midnight Sun', etc) or something would have had to give lol. The chapter I was thinking of concerned the fate of that poor little girl when she walked into the darkness... the thought of what became of her still gives me shivers. | ||
| Hubert (Hubert) Username: Hubert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 78.22.237.21 |
Another chapter that stuck with me was Geoffrey's suicide. Incredible writing. I read Incarnate at a time when I was becoming more and more dissatisfied with the way my life was going in the farcical country where I live. I recall I took a walk and actually felt the rows of houses to be nothing more than stage props with nothing substantial behind them. A terrifying feeling. |