The Keep by F. Paul Wilson

( 54 )

My book club made me do it.

It wasn’t hideous, since I read vampire fiction like it’s going outta style anyway, even the bad stuff (except Douglas Clegg, I will never subject my brain to that level of moronic ick ever again!), but neither was it particularly good. Truth be told, I was kinda pissed when the bad guy turned out NOT to be a vampire.  And the predictable, “good guy gets girl,” ending was trite.

I read it, and I wonder how the hell we’re gonna talk about it at the meeting since, based on the fact that audio versions are only available on cassette, I’m betting there aren’t any discussion questions.

S chose this book to get us out of our comfort zones; she doesn’t like “book-clubby” books.  Honestly, neither do I.  I read them precisely because they are outside my comfort zone. And the reason we read “book-clubby” books is because they frequently delve into issues that we can discuss.  We’ve had frank discussions of issues that would not normally come up, like the morality of abortion for the married-with-children set, that are fantastic.  These grotesque books (2 Clive Barkers and this book) she chooses do not open up the possibility for that kind of discussion, which is what I like least about them.

PS – Do ~all~ of Barker’s books have rape scenes?  I read “Weaveworld” (that’s the sound of me spitting out the bad taste it left in my mouth) last year and, obviously, found it utterly repugnant and wished I could scrub my brain free of the detritus and images it left there.  I skimmed through “Great and Secret Show” the ‘bonus’ book for my book club for July, and ran into the rape scene in the pond and I was done.  I decided life is too short for extra-credit books I am not gonna like, and waaaay too short for anymore damn Clive Barker in my head!