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vancye's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
csosapilheu's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
saragalisteo's review against another edition
4.0
A la altura de los otros libros que he leído del autor. Es muy entretenido y engancha.
atalia's review against another edition
3.0
Como en todos los libros de JK, la historia que se desarrolla ha sido muy interesante y entretenida, te envuelve en una atmósfera de incertidumbre que no te permite soltar la lectura, sin embargo, no me encantó. Los personajes y la historia son sólidos, pero el final descompuso dicha solidez, me dejó mucho que desear; en otras ocasiones hay más sorpresa pero aquí hizo falta.
Personajes:
Tenemos a Jeffrey, a Susan, a Diana, al agente Martin y al padre. Todos y cada uno de ellos es interesante y tienen una historia que te da a entender porqué son así en la actualidad, por ejemplo, en el caso del agente, se sabe que es un hombre despiadado, que actúa a su conveniencia y a quien no le importan los daños colaterales, siempre y cuando sus asuntos estén seguros.
Diana es una mujer fuerte y decidida, pero no me gustó demasiado, desde mi punto de vista, por sí misma se menosprecia, además su final me pareció muy simple en comparación con el resto de la historia. En este sentido, la muerte del padre, de manera tan sencilla me dejó mucho que desear, ya que a lo largo de la historia vemos que es un hombre inteligente, calculador, paciente, cuidadoso... Y de repente es asesinado tan fácilmente, creo que su final debió ser elaborado , ad hoc a todo el desarrollo de la historia.
Quienes me encantaron fueron Jeffrey y Susan, debido a que vemos el desarrollo de ambos hermanos, su madurez ante el problema al que se enfrentan y la frialdad con la que tratan de luchar a pesar de todos los sentimientos encontrados. Creo que fueron los personajes mejor consolidados.
Como mencioné, el final fue lo que no me convenció. No sentí la misma inquietud que en sus demás libros. Independientemente de esto, lo recomiendo porque no deja de ser entretenido.
Personajes:
Tenemos a Jeffrey, a Susan, a Diana, al agente Martin y al padre. Todos y cada uno de ellos es interesante y tienen una historia que te da a entender porqué son así en la actualidad, por ejemplo, en el caso del agente, se sabe que es un hombre despiadado, que actúa a su conveniencia y a quien no le importan los daños colaterales, siempre y cuando sus asuntos estén seguros.
Diana es una mujer fuerte y decidida, pero no me gustó demasiado, desde mi punto de vista, por sí misma se menosprecia, además su final me pareció muy simple en comparación con el resto de la historia. En este sentido, la muerte del padre, de manera tan sencilla me dejó mucho que desear, ya que a lo largo de la historia vemos que es un hombre inteligente, calculador, paciente, cuidadoso... Y de repente es asesinado tan fácilmente, creo que su final debió ser elaborado , ad hoc a todo el desarrollo de la historia.
Quienes me encantaron fueron Jeffrey y Susan, debido a que vemos el desarrollo de ambos hermanos, su madurez ante el problema al que se enfrentan y la frialdad con la que tratan de luchar a pesar de todos los sentimientos encontrados. Creo que fueron los personajes mejor consolidados.
Como mencioné, el final fue lo que no me convenció. No sentí la misma inquietud que en sus demás libros. Independientemente de esto, lo recomiendo porque no deja de ser entretenido.
ericwelch's review against another edition
4.0
Read both State of Mind and [b:The Analyst|67931|The Analyst|John Katzenbach|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170683807s/67931.jpg|1663237] together so I guess this is kidn of a joint review. Both of these page-turning thrillers have an element of the Kafkaesque to them.
State of Mind takes place sometime in the near future at a rurally located university of some 25,000 students. Jeffrey Clayton teaches Abnormal Psychology, keeps a loaded pistol under his desk in the lecture hall, and like most other teachers has a metal detector at the entrance to his classroom. Classrooms have bulletproof windows, students set fire to classrooms to avoid having to take exams, and campus police, a branch of the state police, never travel alone and wear riot gear.. A recent experiment with guard dogs being let loose in vacant classrooms seemed to have helped the vandalism problem, but their howling can be distracting. About half the student population was thought to carry guns, but fortunately they were located in a mainly rural town where the Student Health Service might expect only a dozen rapes and stabbings on a weekend. Urban areas were much worse.
Clayton is approached by a well-armed man who identifies himself as an agent of state security from the new Western Territory, a semi-fascist area that wants to become the fifty-first state. This man, who calls himself Martin, knows a great deal of Clayton's work with the FBI as a man able to track down serial killers. He also knows a great deal about Clayton's past.
It turns out that Jeffrey's father, whom he thought had died in a car crash years before, is alive, living in the new state, and murdering young women. What could be better cover than "white, educated, artioulate, professional academic, married with a lovely family. They, of course, were the critical piece, you know. The ultimate in camouflage." Years before, Jeffrey, his sister, Susan, and mother, Diana, had fled and hidden from the father because of his predelictions. This removed his camouflage requiring his creation of a new identity and fmily. Now he has begun to stalk Susan, a puzzle expert, and Diana in Florida, also. What better place for him now to hide out than a new state where fear has been eliminated. Martin and the territory officials are desperate to locate and kill the unknown man who they fear will destroy the psychological rational for their new state and the basis for their supression of basic civil liberties in the name of safety and freedom from fear. Jeffrey realizes he has become the bait to trap his father. Soon begins a cat and mouse game between Peter Curtin, Jeffrey's father, as he is now known, and his old family.
What makes the book particularly interesting is the tension between the old, free, violence-ridden world, and the new, safe, unfree territory that may be actually more susceptible to violence than the old.
Both State of Mind and The Analyst have a Kafkaesque quality to them, more so the latter, especially in the beginning. They also involve families allied in a nefarious plot.
State of Mind takes place sometime in the near future at a rurally located university of some 25,000 students. Jeffrey Clayton teaches Abnormal Psychology, keeps a loaded pistol under his desk in the lecture hall, and like most other teachers has a metal detector at the entrance to his classroom. Classrooms have bulletproof windows, students set fire to classrooms to avoid having to take exams, and campus police, a branch of the state police, never travel alone and wear riot gear.. A recent experiment with guard dogs being let loose in vacant classrooms seemed to have helped the vandalism problem, but their howling can be distracting. About half the student population was thought to carry guns, but fortunately they were located in a mainly rural town where the Student Health Service might expect only a dozen rapes and stabbings on a weekend. Urban areas were much worse.
Clayton is approached by a well-armed man who identifies himself as an agent of state security from the new Western Territory, a semi-fascist area that wants to become the fifty-first state. This man, who calls himself Martin, knows a great deal of Clayton's work with the FBI as a man able to track down serial killers. He also knows a great deal about Clayton's past.
It turns out that Jeffrey's father, whom he thought had died in a car crash years before, is alive, living in the new state, and murdering young women. What could be better cover than "white, educated, artioulate, professional academic, married with a lovely family. They, of course, were the critical piece, you know. The ultimate in camouflage." Years before, Jeffrey, his sister, Susan, and mother, Diana, had fled and hidden from the father because of his predelictions. This removed his camouflage requiring his creation of a new identity and fmily. Now he has begun to stalk Susan, a puzzle expert, and Diana in Florida, also. What better place for him now to hide out than a new state where fear has been eliminated. Martin and the territory officials are desperate to locate and kill the unknown man who they fear will destroy the psychological rational for their new state and the basis for their supression of basic civil liberties in the name of safety and freedom from fear. Jeffrey realizes he has become the bait to trap his father. Soon begins a cat and mouse game between Peter Curtin, Jeffrey's father, as he is now known, and his old family.
What makes the book particularly interesting is the tension between the old, free, violence-ridden world, and the new, safe, unfree territory that may be actually more susceptible to violence than the old.
Both State of Mind and The Analyst have a Kafkaesque quality to them, more so the latter, especially in the beginning. They also involve families allied in a nefarious plot.
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