Barker remembers so clearly what love feels like as a teenager and depicted it so accurately. I suppose, though, I should be impressed that Mr. Yet another man whose concept of persistence blurs the line between romance and stalking. Yet another man who's certain that he knows what she wants better than she knows herself. Mostly, though, as an adult, what I see in Howie now is yet another man who thinks it's romantic to ignore when a woman says no and to bull through every attempt she makes to set limits.
Indeed, I'm a bit embarrassed to recall how moving their relationship was for me when I was, myself, adolescent. I can't find the same emotional power in it that it wielded when I was younger. On that level it works fine.īut Howie's actions demonstrate a painfully adolescent concept of love. I know it's supposed to reinforce a sense of Fate that's central to the mysteries of the story, and it's necessary to fuel one of the major conflicts between characters. The love-at-first-sight romance between Howie and Jo-Beth is a lot harder for me to accept this time around. Unfortunately, there's one aspect of The Great and Secret Show that doesn't work for me as an adult: It impresses me as much now as it did when I was younger. His imagination works on a grander scale than the rest of us. His vision is so sweeping, so huge, so detailed and encompassing, he needs multiple crises and narrative climaxes in order to hold it all and do it justice. Then he ramps up to another conflict and climax, and another, and another-building tension and emotional investment to a fever pitch. Barker, however, it's just the beginning. The conflict that opens the story would be the climax of an entire novel in the hands of a lesser writer. Barker's novels unique-is a narrative structure built on an escalating series of crises and climaxes. What makes this novel unique-what makes many of Mr. This novel is still staggeringly imaginative, exciting, and moving. It stands the tests of time and experience. I'm happy to report the writing holds up really well. I wasn't sure how I'd react to it as an adult. I last read The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker back when I was a teenager.
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