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Original Title:	Ghost Story
ISBN:	0671685635 (ISBN13: 9780671685638)
Edition Language:	English
Characters:	Edward Wanderley, Sears James, Ricky Hawthorne, Don Wanderley, Alma Mobley, Angie Maule, Stella Hawthorne, John Jaffrey, Lewis Benedikt, Eva Galli, Anna Mostyn, Ann-Veronica Moore, Milly Sheehan, Peter Barnes, Jim Hardie, Christina Barnes, Otto Gruebe, Freddy Robinson, Florence de Peyser

Ghost Story

Peter Straub

Paperback | Pages: 567 pages

Rating: 3.95 | 65190 Users | 1950 Reviews

Be Specific About About Books Ghost Story

Title	:	Ghost Story
Author	:	Peter Straub
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	First Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 567 pages
Published	:	September 1st 1989 by Pocket Books / Simon & Schuster, Inc. (first published 1979)
Categories	:	Horror. Fiction. Fantasy. Paranormal. Ghosts. Mystery. Thriller

Relation Conducive To Books Ghost Story

I don't think one can truly rate Ghost Story as a novel without acknowledging the fact that it's a literary homage to the classics of the genre. Indeed, two characters bear the surnames of Hawthorne and James. This is my introduction to the work of Peter Straub. Having read The Talisman and Black House which he co-authored with Stephen King I was anxious to know how he writes on his own, and Ghost Story came recommended by virtually everyone who has read it. As mentioned in the first paragraph, Ghost Story is a homage to the old masters who paved the road of fright for future generations. Peter Straub himself says that "[Ghost Story] started as a result of my having just read all the American supernatural fiction I could find". It is noticeable; the first part is largely a reworking of The Turn of The Screw. The theme of a story within a story is everpresent, as the work deals with a group of old men who tell themselves ghost stories on regular meetings. Shades of Lovecraft, Poe and Hawthorne brood in the corners of the rooms they sit in. The men find themselves terrorized by terrible, realistic nightmares. Terrible things start happening in the small, sleepy town of Millburn. They remember the crime they had committed years before...and wonder if the time of retribution has finally arrived. What's not to like? Several things. first of all, the pace: the book is monstrous slog. A chore to get through. Straub switches between several narrative viewpoints (much like Stoker in Dracula) and the plot plods frequently and slows down so much that reading soon becomes a challenge. There's no doubt that Straub is a great writer - some of his passages I've read several times, because I simply enjoyed them so much - but he becomes lost in what he tries to do, the references he includes so subtly vanish in the detail he describes so voraciously. The protagonists discuss ghost stories they tell to each other, but for some reason refuse to talk about the one they all share even when darkness has fallen upon their city. Instead of trying to scheme how to fight or at least delay the danger, they remain passive. No one fights back. No one things of moving away and running from the deadly force. The passivity, the stupidness of their actions drastically slows down the plot and kills any tension that might have emerged. It would be understandable if the novel featured only one protagonist who witnessed these events and who would be afraid to entrust his story to others (in fear of being considered insane) - but Ghost Story features a group of men who believe each other, and do nothing. The theme of a town besieged by malevolent forces or beings has been done previously, most notably by Peter Straub's fellow writer and friend Stephen King in Salem's Lot. Straub acknowledges the influcence: "I wanted to work on a large canvas. 'Salem's Lot showed me how to do this without getting lost among a lot of minor characters. Besides the large canvas, I also wanted a certain largeness of effect." However, while Salem's Lot was swift, fast-paced and competent in dealing with the theme, Ghost Story doesn't quite deliver. The town of Millburn is described as a small town, but it completely lacks any awareness and interaction. The characters seem to be detached from reality - everyone walks everywhere, and there's little mention of pop culture - music, television and such. The novel is supposed to take time in the 1970s, but for all we are shown it might just as well be the 1870s. Last, the Evil with a capital E. While the concept of the Evil is really interesting, the Evil is really inconsistent and incompetent. There's no sense of looming presence of Evil, ready to fall upon the heads of innocent people and end their lives at any moment, like in Salem's Lot or Phantoms. Evil seems to be employed when it is needed by the narrative, and then pushed back, only to be called again later. I don't want to spoil anything, but the nature of the Evil and it's actions don't follow any pattern of logic and reason. Evil is at times omniscient and capable of incredible power, only to have its abilities reduced to humanlike status, and then go back to the supernatural and all-powerful again. Evil capable of everything is boring - why, it'd take a snap of fingers to eliminate a human being, much like a child breaking a twig in two - but one might wonder why the author chose to grant his menace that priviledge, only to take it back...and then allow it to be all poweful again, several times. Overall, I'm sad to say that Ghost Story doesn't live up to the hype that surrrounds it. While it is a complex, multilayered work, a homage to the creators of the genre, It's not very compelling and in fact is pretty easy to put down and leave unfinished. The concept, the idea of the novel - the premise, the prose, the situations - everything works, but not as a whole. I think I like the idea of the book better than the book itself - Peter Straub tends to be meandering and repetitive. There are sections of Ghost Story that are narrated brilliantly, but there are sections that are stale and uninteresting. For each flash of suspense and atmosphere, there's a whole lot of mundane and ordinary. The idea of the novel deserves five stars, but I can't give the novel itself more than three - I liked it, but I liked analysing the text more than reading it. Nevertheless, Peter Straub is an ambitious writer who's much more "literary" than most horror authors - his prose and style easily rivals the so-called "serious" writers - and I most certainly will read his other novels.

Rating About Books Ghost Story

Ratings: 3.95 From 65190 Users | 1950 Reviews

Criticism About Books Ghost Story

A Heartbreak Hipster ReviewI hate it when this happens. You have a great writer. You have what is allegedly his magnum opus. You have a decent movie adaptation, which, though flawed, boasts a storyline original and creepy. Having read his later thriller Koko, I'd had very high hopes with Ghost Story. But it all became apparent fairly quickly this supposed masterpiece - Stephen King calls it one of the greatest horror novels of the century or some nonsense - was really nothing more than an

EXCERPT: Still in South Carolina, he thought that a highway patrolman was following him: the police car was twenty yards behind, keeping the same distance whatever the man did. He thought he could see the state cop speaking into his radio; immediately he cut his speed by five miles an hour and changed lanes, but the police car would not pass. He felt a deep trembling in his chest and abdomen: he visualised the police car gaining on him, turning on its siren, forcing him to the side of the road.

This is a reread of a book I did read well before my time on GR, I seem to have lost this book from my library somehow, sometime and somewhere, can only hope it enriched somebody else life. I git a ebook copy for free so after having read "the Black House" by Stephen king and Peter Straub I figured to return to this book.The book starts with its almost end before returning to somewhere past the middle of the story where the beginning gets explained to the main character who is a writer. This is

An intelligent and ambitious novel, Ghost Story has received some well deserved acclaim. That is, however, not enough. Not even close. This is a book that should be re-introduced to a whole new generation of readers. It really is that good. Stephen King himself lists it as one of the best horror novels of the 20th century (refer Danse Macabre).I will not go into plot details at this stage, since these can be had by reading the book synopsis. Instead, in general terms, I'll try and explain just

One of those rare books that will always stay with you. Superb storytelling, wish every story was as memorable.

When I was a kid, I had a long list of fears. A short summary would include: tornadoes; big dogs; bullies; the basement; fire; music class; swimming lessons; spiders; cat burglars; and girls. As I got a bit older, say around middle school and high school, that list changed. Some items remained (girls, the possibility of being forced to sing in public), some fell away (tornadoes, big dogs, swimming), and some new fears were added (school dances, acne, various other complex social interactions).

I originally read this book back in my early 20s, back before I obsessively reviewed everything I read, and the only thing I could remember about it was an intense feeling of boredom. I later tried to read Mystery and Julia thinking it was me and not the writing. But I couldnt get through either of those without wishing theyd end with every page I struggled through. At that point, I put Peter Straub down for good. Or so I thought. Back in December, I decided to use my Audible credit on Ghost