Ghost Story by Peter StraubMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I thought the book was spectacularly spooky. The novel seems to be an homage to Edgar Allen Poe, Hawthorne, and James. He succeeds in writing a twentieth century version of a nineteenth century tale. The elements in the story keep you focused in a tight constriction.
Stephen King said, "Straub wants to play around with reality by having characters (1)acting out roles in books (2) watching a film (3)hallucinating (4)dreaming or (5) transported into a private fantasy. Straub shows in Ghost Story that he is master story teller.
The novel is constructed so well; it is a symbol of an artist writing from his experience; based on a fine perception of relationships between characters, in which a town is arrayed against heroes. He builds suspense upon suspense; heightening our awareness of past lives. Ghost story attests the power and precision and the structural unity of a great novel, no matter what genre.
I utilized a sentence from Thomas Craven on John Marin to form the last paragraph. I could not keep the sentence whole, so I broke it up into parts. But the paragraph was inspired by Thomas Craven.
John Marin Water Color.*
View all my reviews
