14
Oct

Wormwood

   Posted by: Fence   in Books

Author: Poppy Z. Brite
ISBN: 04402179890 DDC: 813.54
Read for the RIP Challenge
See Also:

“Can’tcha see the time is here for us to fine … Rivers, mountains, nothin’ can be far behind … Can’tcha see… You gotta find out this one for yourself… Can’tcha see…”
Throaty Carolina voice full of gravel and gold, growling deep, rising to a fluttering crescendo that skimmed over the terrible guitar playing.

Image of WormwoodI’ve said before that in most cases for me to really love a book I have to have well written/developed characters which is possibly why short stories don’t always grab me; they just don’t have the time or space to develop the characters. So is the case with these short stories by Brite. For the most part the writing is excellent. The stories themselves very atmospheric and, in the main, creepy and so perfect for the RIP Challenge, but I just didn’t care about the characters at all. In the first story maybe I could have gotten to like Ghost and Steve, I was pleased when they showed up in a later story, but most of the time I was quite disconnected from the writing.

That may sound too negative. It isn’t really meant to be, because there are stories that really work. Maybe I’m just not that into the stuff she writes, but two in particular I really liked; The Elder and The Sixth Sentinel. Others had parts that I liked, and she certainly has some style in her writing, but they just weren’t my cup of tea.

Tags: 7 Stars, 813.54, atmospheric, creepy, horror, Poppy Z. Brite, RIP Challenge, sff, short stories, Wormwood

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This entry was posted on Sunday, October 14th, 2007 at 5:34 pm and is filed under Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 comments so far

no imageChris (Check me out!)
 1 
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Wow! This one takes me back! I used to be a big fan of Brite’s stuff when I was a teenager. I agree with you, her stuff isn’t necessarily prize winning writing, but it’s very entertaining and she writes a good creepy story. She tends to do a better job with her character development in her novels. I’ve heard her newer stuff is much better, though I haven’t read any of it yet. She’s been doing a bunch with Subterranean Press and Antideluvean Tales is supposed to be quite good!

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2.5
October 14th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
no imageHarlequin (Check me out!)
 2 
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Hey, I think I already told you this but JIC I forgot, sorry! Anyway, can’t get the first John Connolly book for you - Poppa has no idea where the damn thing is! So you will have to proceed with your original plan of reading *gargh* out… of… sequence.

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2.5
October 14th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
no imageFence (Check me out!)
 3 
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Chris I think I might try a novel by her, I think the two characters that I kinda liked, Ghost and Steve, are the main ones in a novel she wrote, Lost Souls. And this is her first collection.

H you didn’t tell me. But I’ll cope.

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2.5
October 14th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
no imageRhinoa (Check me out!)
 4 
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I’m getting quite in to short stories at the moment so may look out for this. I read Lost Souls by her a while ago and enjoyed it although it is pretty graphic. Will have to search through your blog as I have read Fables and hope to read Alias Grace and The Rest Falls Away soon.

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2.5
October 15th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
no imageCarl V. (Check me out!)
 5 
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I remember finding it quite a surprise when I first started blogging and reading book blogs how divided people were on liking or disliking short stories. I for one love them, provided they are well written, of course but can certainly understand why others don’t. I have a friend who loves Brite’s work, haven’t read any myself. Does all sound like perfect R.I.P. reading.

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2.5
October 18th, 2007 at 6:11 am

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