SilentMute
03-22-2014, 12:48 PM
Though I love reading, I admit it is difficult for me to find books that I can enjoy anymore. I am not an intellectual, and I have no desire to be--though unfortunately, intellectuals always like me and always strive to improve my mind. I personally find anything intellectuals like tiresome. The intellectuals I know are people who love to incessantly debate but never act, are annoyingly skeptical about everything and pretty much rain on everybody's parade, and I suspect much of their belief system is based on childhood discontent. Anything labeled intellectual is pretty much ignored by me. On the other hand, neither am I particularly fond of intellectualism's counterpart--the overly emotional, reality show type airing of personal laundry. These books tend to stress me out because underneath the story line, you pick up all the author's unresolved issues.
So, I greatly treasure any book I can truly enjoy...and this is one of them. I fully admit that I picked this book up because I liked the cover (contrary to popular belief, I often find nice covers do often clothe a good book), and I also liked the title.
The basic plot: Jacob Portman spent his life admiring his grandfather, who used to tell him adventurous stories about his life. As he grew older, Jacob became more skeptical of how true most of the stories were. He assumes that his grandfather made up whoppers to disguise the real horror of his life--that as a young child, he was sent to an orphanage that housed refugee Jews fleeing the Holocaust. His grandfather was the only one that was able to escape, but the rest of his family perished.
Jacob's life changes when he sees a horrible monster--which was exactly the sort of monster his grandfather claimed he used to hunt--kill his grandfather. Nobody believes Jacob's account of things, not even his best friend who was there--for the friend claims he didn't see anything. Jacob is diagnosed with a stress related mental illness.
When the family goes through his grandfather's things, Jacob desires to visit the orphanage where his grandfather grew up. He wants to learn more about him. His psychiatrist gives the okay, saying it will help him exorcise his mental demons. Jacob's father accompanies him on this trip, eager to see the island's birds to write a book. The father holds some resentment towards his deceased father. Jacob's grandfather had not been there for his children and had been aloof most of his life. They also suspect that he was having an affair after they discovered a letter from a woman.
At first, Jacob's trip seems to promise disappointment. The orphanage has been deserted since it was bombed in WWII. The mistress and children that lived there died in the bombing. It turns out his grandfather was the sole survivor. Yet, further exploration leads Jacob to discover that appearances are deceiving. The headmistress and children are all still alive and unchanged, for they live in a time loop where the day of the bombing repeats itself.
The children all have special abilities. One boy is invisible. One girl can make fire. One can levitate. Peculiars started hiding in time loops as society changed their attitudes against them. At one time, they had been considered gifted--shamans. Later, they became witches and freaks. However, it isn't just ordinary people they hide from. A monstrous experiment resulted in the creation of creatures known as hollowgasts, who prey on peculiars. Hollowgasts cannot be seen by most peculiars. The hollowgasts also have servants, called wights, who can also blend into normal society.
The book has many interesting sub-plots. Mysterious deaths start occurring on the island, and the headmistresses of the time loops are being kidnapped. Jacob learns what makes him and his grandfather peculiar. Meanwhile, he develops a relationship with the girl who his grandfather had left behind.
What I loved best about this book was the use of old fashion photographs as part of the story. The author is a collector of old photographs. It has made me develop an appreciation for photos. It makes me regret how many I've thrown away because I just thought of them as things that got smelly and took up space. I always thought it was funny that people would buy photos of other people--and I always assumed it was people who were trying to remake themselves. They wanted photos of people so they could claim it was a grandma or something.
However, I started discovering the beauty of photographs with this book...even the "mistakes". In fact, it was photographic mistakes and frauds that developed this story. The milky white eyes of department store Santas became wights.
So, I suggest this book as a nice read for when you don't feel like reading an intellectual appraisal of how society is going down the toilet and we are all doomed, or when you don't feel like reading the autobiography of a woman who was abused by society and her family.
So, I greatly treasure any book I can truly enjoy...and this is one of them. I fully admit that I picked this book up because I liked the cover (contrary to popular belief, I often find nice covers do often clothe a good book), and I also liked the title.
The basic plot: Jacob Portman spent his life admiring his grandfather, who used to tell him adventurous stories about his life. As he grew older, Jacob became more skeptical of how true most of the stories were. He assumes that his grandfather made up whoppers to disguise the real horror of his life--that as a young child, he was sent to an orphanage that housed refugee Jews fleeing the Holocaust. His grandfather was the only one that was able to escape, but the rest of his family perished.
Jacob's life changes when he sees a horrible monster--which was exactly the sort of monster his grandfather claimed he used to hunt--kill his grandfather. Nobody believes Jacob's account of things, not even his best friend who was there--for the friend claims he didn't see anything. Jacob is diagnosed with a stress related mental illness.
When the family goes through his grandfather's things, Jacob desires to visit the orphanage where his grandfather grew up. He wants to learn more about him. His psychiatrist gives the okay, saying it will help him exorcise his mental demons. Jacob's father accompanies him on this trip, eager to see the island's birds to write a book. The father holds some resentment towards his deceased father. Jacob's grandfather had not been there for his children and had been aloof most of his life. They also suspect that he was having an affair after they discovered a letter from a woman.
At first, Jacob's trip seems to promise disappointment. The orphanage has been deserted since it was bombed in WWII. The mistress and children that lived there died in the bombing. It turns out his grandfather was the sole survivor. Yet, further exploration leads Jacob to discover that appearances are deceiving. The headmistress and children are all still alive and unchanged, for they live in a time loop where the day of the bombing repeats itself.
The children all have special abilities. One boy is invisible. One girl can make fire. One can levitate. Peculiars started hiding in time loops as society changed their attitudes against them. At one time, they had been considered gifted--shamans. Later, they became witches and freaks. However, it isn't just ordinary people they hide from. A monstrous experiment resulted in the creation of creatures known as hollowgasts, who prey on peculiars. Hollowgasts cannot be seen by most peculiars. The hollowgasts also have servants, called wights, who can also blend into normal society.
The book has many interesting sub-plots. Mysterious deaths start occurring on the island, and the headmistresses of the time loops are being kidnapped. Jacob learns what makes him and his grandfather peculiar. Meanwhile, he develops a relationship with the girl who his grandfather had left behind.
What I loved best about this book was the use of old fashion photographs as part of the story. The author is a collector of old photographs. It has made me develop an appreciation for photos. It makes me regret how many I've thrown away because I just thought of them as things that got smelly and took up space. I always thought it was funny that people would buy photos of other people--and I always assumed it was people who were trying to remake themselves. They wanted photos of people so they could claim it was a grandma or something.
However, I started discovering the beauty of photographs with this book...even the "mistakes". In fact, it was photographic mistakes and frauds that developed this story. The milky white eyes of department store Santas became wights.
So, I suggest this book as a nice read for when you don't feel like reading an intellectual appraisal of how society is going down the toilet and we are all doomed, or when you don't feel like reading the autobiography of a woman who was abused by society and her family.