grespages's review against another edition
2.0
Wait, let me explain the reason behind this low rating. The story is very well written and I can see why the majority of people describe what happens in the book as disturbing. However, I found the narration very slow, which resulted in me getting extremely bored and annoyed by the fact that nothing was actually happening. No plot twists, no big events, no action, at least until the very last pages. I guess this was just not what I was looking for, I was waiting for some southern horror story full of corn fields and bloody acts, but no :/
kiki_carina's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I can't remember the last time, if ever, I read a book that hooked me that hard. I was angry, I was sad, I was upset and felt just as helpless as the characters.
All in all, a clear 5 star read.
All in all, a clear 5 star read.
bombegranate's review
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
gunderchump's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The greatest horror, capitalism.
adamsfall's review against another edition
5.0
What an incredible sense of slow creeping dread. An almost forgotten gem; one whose fire we must never let go out.
pbanditp's review against another edition
4.0
This is real life horror; start with a friendly donation to help the local police raise money to hire more deputies. Things go so well that they ask for more donations, sure, I guess that’ll be all right. Then it comes to subtle threats, accidents around town, and suddenly you don’t dare say no.
Metaphorically, is this the government taking from the constituents? The haves taking from the have nots? Or is this like religion, with threats of hell if you don’t tithe to the church? Possibly it is all three.
Follow John and his family, his community, as this idyllic New Hampshire town spirals out of control. Should you run and leave all you know? Should you stand and fight and risk your family? Or would you become one of the enforcers as a deputy?
Reading this felt like it should be mentioned with the best dystopian classics. Animal Farm, 1984, Brave New World, This Perfect Day, The Auctioneer.
Metaphorically, is this the government taking from the constituents? The haves taking from the have nots? Or is this like religion, with threats of hell if you don’t tithe to the church? Possibly it is all three.
Follow John and his family, his community, as this idyllic New Hampshire town spirals out of control. Should you run and leave all you know? Should you stand and fight and risk your family? Or would you become one of the enforcers as a deputy?
Reading this felt like it should be mentioned with the best dystopian classics. Animal Farm, 1984, Brave New World, This Perfect Day, The Auctioneer.
mcghoull's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Real, deliberate injustices inflicted upon Black and Indigenous people in America become the dystopian present of our white protagonists.
This book is an interesting read in 2023, leaving me with lots of questions about its author and what her worldview was in the 1970s. I wish that Joan Samson could have gotten to enjoy a much longer, healthier life. By this book alone, I personally would have loved to read more of her work and gotten to know her better as an author.
Joan Samson serves up an unapologetically slow burn, and while certain deficiencies in the protagonists' self-awareness regarding their land ownership are questionable, I overall enjoyed the journey of reading this book. Samson beautifully plays with ideas such as "law and order" and "traditional American values" by turning them on their heads and making their historical perpetrators, their victims.
This book is an interesting read in 2023, leaving me with lots of questions about its author and what her worldview was in the 1970s. I wish that Joan Samson could have gotten to enjoy a much longer, healthier life. By this book alone, I personally would have loved to read more of her work and gotten to know her better as an author.
Joan Samson serves up an unapologetically slow burn, and while certain deficiencies in the protagonists' self-awareness regarding their land ownership are questionable, I overall enjoyed the journey of reading this book. Samson beautifully plays with ideas such as "law and order" and "traditional American values" by turning them on their heads and making their historical perpetrators, their victims.
cats22's review against another edition
4.0
This book is- unsettling. It isn't exactly a thriller or horror, though it may be listed in those genres.
It's definitely a slow burn.
Keep in mind the time period when reading it. People didn't have the internet, cell phones, or access to public offices outside their particular jurisdiction. The family this book follows don't even have long distance phone service. They are isolated in every sense of the word.
This sense of isolation, of being hedged in, is very claustrophobic. And that's the atmosphere of this story- claustrophobia.
I grew up in a very rural area. We had a "party line" telephone and there were no other kids in the neighborhood. At least we had running water and indoor plumbing, though not all of my neighbors did. I think that's why I could clearly sense the unease as tensions rise in this small farming town. You have to put yourself in the shoes of someone who can't appeal to a higher authority. Their town is it- that's all there is.
The best way I know how to describe the writing is tense. I actually had to put it down for a day- I was getting a little too stressed out- but of course I had to find out what happened.
A surprisingly good read, and all the more important as the author's only work. It's too bad. I would have enjoyed reading more from Joan Samson.
It's definitely a slow burn.
Keep in mind the time period when reading it. People didn't have the internet, cell phones, or access to public offices outside their particular jurisdiction. The family this book follows don't even have long distance phone service. They are isolated in every sense of the word.
This sense of isolation, of being hedged in, is very claustrophobic. And that's the atmosphere of this story- claustrophobia.
I grew up in a very rural area. We had a "party line" telephone and there were no other kids in the neighborhood. At least we had running water and indoor plumbing, though not all of my neighbors did. I think that's why I could clearly sense the unease as tensions rise in this small farming town. You have to put yourself in the shoes of someone who can't appeal to a higher authority. Their town is it- that's all there is.
The best way I know how to describe the writing is tense. I actually had to put it down for a day- I was getting a little too stressed out- but of course I had to find out what happened.
A surprisingly good read, and all the more important as the author's only work. It's too bad. I would have enjoyed reading more from Joan Samson.
oddly's review against another edition
5.0
A mix of the thematic hivemind and gothic tones of "The Lottery" with the small town Americana and charismatic villain of Needful Things, this superb book shows that Joan Samson was an amazing talent. We are so lucky to have gotten this book from her before she passed away suddenly from brain cancer soon after its publication in 1976, but I can't help but to wonder what else she might have had in store. Because this book is truly brilliant.
It is hard to just sum this book up as a mix of those two other tales, but it makes for an intriguing tagline. There are definitely traces of both Shirley Jackson and Stephen King in Samson's book. The way she writes about a small farming community and really creates the people who live there reminded me so much of how King is able to craft people (not just characters) within his stories. And the tone of the book, the fairly terse and compact sentences, without much fluff but with intensely clear description and vivid dialogue reminded me fiercely of Jackson and her strange gothic style.
But before you are even five pages in, it is completely clear that Samson created something all her own, completely original, and downright chilling.
I read this book with alternating white-hot rage at Perly, the auctioneer, and intense frustration at the Moores, the main family whose perspective we witness the decay of the town from. The book is engineered to make you feel this way, and also to engender an utter helplessness, because what else are they supposed to do? What other options do they have?
It is timely that this book is coming back into print now, with our social and political situation in its current upheaval. There are plenty of similarities to be seen between Perly's slow and total takeover and our government. The people in charge seem to take and take and take until we have nothing left to give but the unthinkable—to the point that even official channels are either under the spell or simply don't believe that anything like THAT could be happening, not here at least, in the land of the free.
Yes, it is perhaps a little close to home, and the timeless quality of the story definitely resonated with me. But Samson's story is also just powerful on its own literary merit and is a classic in my book.
This edition has a new introduction by Paperbacks from Hell author Grady Hendrix!
It is hard to just sum this book up as a mix of those two other tales, but it makes for an intriguing tagline. There are definitely traces of both Shirley Jackson and Stephen King in Samson's book. The way she writes about a small farming community and really creates the people who live there reminded me so much of how King is able to craft people (not just characters) within his stories. And the tone of the book, the fairly terse and compact sentences, without much fluff but with intensely clear description and vivid dialogue reminded me fiercely of Jackson and her strange gothic style.
But before you are even five pages in, it is completely clear that Samson created something all her own, completely original, and downright chilling.
I read this book with alternating white-hot rage at Perly, the auctioneer, and intense frustration at the Moores, the main family whose perspective we witness the decay of the town from. The book is engineered to make you feel this way, and also to engender an utter helplessness, because what else are they supposed to do? What other options do they have?
It is timely that this book is coming back into print now, with our social and political situation in its current upheaval. There are plenty of similarities to be seen between Perly's slow and total takeover and our government. The people in charge seem to take and take and take until we have nothing left to give but the unthinkable—to the point that even official channels are either under the spell or simply don't believe that anything like THAT could be happening, not here at least, in the land of the free.
Yes, it is perhaps a little close to home, and the timeless quality of the story definitely resonated with me. But Samson's story is also just powerful on its own literary merit and is a classic in my book.
This edition has a new introduction by Paperbacks from Hell author Grady Hendrix!
bookishjess02's review
dark
3.0
The book started off at a fast pace, and it kept my attention until about 2/3 of the book. I found it difficult to read that particular part I think because I just couldn’t understand some of the choices the main characters made which affected the suspense level for me. Ending was kind of cool.