Of all the authors I read, no one seems to better understand the ‘no boundaries’ rule of the horror genera better than Clive Barker. Best known for the Hellraiser movies of which his story “The Hellbound Heart” was the inspiration, Clive Barker is a writer that holds nothing back when it comes to writing and doesn’t seem to worry about offending people, which, given the stories he has created, I can see happening on a regular basis. Because of this one never knows what his stories will be like or where they will take us, the only guarantee being that it will probably be unique and at some point will spit in the face of mainstream religious and conservative beliefs. It will also give us a great look into the interesting worlds of homosexuality, bdsm, S&M, fetish, and any other alternative sexual lifestyle or perversion that is out there, something which most people truly are curious about yet afraid to admit for fear of being branded with a giant P for ‘pervert’ (if I were ever branded I would ask them to put two Ps on me for ‘proud pervert’ - ha!). Mister B. Gone is no exception.
The story is about a young demon named Jakabok Botch (Mister B.) who is trapped within the pages of the book. While begging for the reader to burn the book that imprisons him Jakabok tells his tragic life story, one that begins with him living in the garbage heaps in the ninth circle of Hell, and then on Earth after he is caught by a group of medieval men who had lowered a net through a crack in the Earth with slabs of meat as the bait. Having escaped the men, who were disappointed at his size and the fact that he was just a minor demon (they had wanted a giant), he befriends another demon living on the earth named Quitoon. Together the two cause mayhem and destruction all across the medieval landscape (in one particularly grisly scene Jakabok take a bath in a tube filled with the blood of infants, one which took a long time to fill given the size of the infants). Eventually this path of destruction leads Jakabok and Quitoon to the home of Gutenberg (inventor of the printing press) where an epic battle between angel and demon is being waged, one which ends with an interesting look at both sides and who they really are and why they are fighting.
A great read, yet somewhat repetitive when it comes to the narrator Jakabok begging for the book to be burned, Mister B. Gone is a nice story for someone who doesn’t have a lot of time to sit with a novel like Coldheart Canyon or The Great and Secret Show or Imajica, but still needs a Clive Barker fix. That said, I think this story would have been more appropriate inside a collection of similar length tales like The Books of Blood, or Cabal, or The Inhuman Condition, one which offered up a few more tales for those of us that are used to large, five to six hundred page books, ones which have several different characters, all who lead very interesting and bizarre lives.
The story is about a young demon named Jakabok Botch (Mister B.) who is trapped within the pages of the book. While begging for the reader to burn the book that imprisons him Jakabok tells his tragic life story, one that begins with him living in the garbage heaps in the ninth circle of Hell, and then on Earth after he is caught by a group of medieval men who had lowered a net through a crack in the Earth with slabs of meat as the bait. Having escaped the men, who were disappointed at his size and the fact that he was just a minor demon (they had wanted a giant), he befriends another demon living on the earth named Quitoon. Together the two cause mayhem and destruction all across the medieval landscape (in one particularly grisly scene Jakabok take a bath in a tube filled with the blood of infants, one which took a long time to fill given the size of the infants). Eventually this path of destruction leads Jakabok and Quitoon to the home of Gutenberg (inventor of the printing press) where an epic battle between angel and demon is being waged, one which ends with an interesting look at both sides and who they really are and why they are fighting.
A great read, yet somewhat repetitive when it comes to the narrator Jakabok begging for the book to be burned, Mister B. Gone is a nice story for someone who doesn’t have a lot of time to sit with a novel like Coldheart Canyon or The Great and Secret Show or Imajica, but still needs a Clive Barker fix. That said, I think this story would have been more appropriate inside a collection of similar length tales like The Books of Blood, or Cabal, or The Inhuman Condition, one which offered up a few more tales for those of us that are used to large, five to six hundred page books, ones which have several different characters, all who lead very interesting and bizarre lives.
5 comments:
Thanks for reviewing this book. I've been very curious about it since I first heard about it some time back. Unfortunately, I've never actually seen the book when I'm shopping in stores, and never think of ordering it while I'm shopping online. I may just have to put it on my Christmas wishlist. You know, for all those last minute shoppers.
--J/Metro
I read this one a while back when it came out, and I really, really liked it. Much like the Thief of Always, I enjoyed the story for its simplicity and imaginative narrative. Barker's recent weighty tomes have left me feeling a little bored, but when he tightens it down I really like what he does. Great book, and a great review.
Good review. Sounds kinda cool, but my impression just glancing at it in bookstores was that a shorter version would've fit better in a short story collection. I really am just waiting for Barker to get back to the sagas he started with Great & Secret Show and Galilee.
I love Barker. I probably love his horror/fantasy more than his horror, mainly because this guy has a formidable imagination, and within chapters I love and adore the fantasy worlds he creates. I do enjoy his horror, partially because he has one of these amazing minds that spew ideas, that just sweep you along. I consider Bradbury in this category. I mean, they might, in a 1 to a 100000 chance write something you hate or simply cannot like, but they have such... life and passion in their work. You could never hate them, ever. Their work has this vital, life-blood energy. I've been writing on and off for a grand total of two years now, and I wish I had that... literary OOMPH! This is why I cannot hate this book. It's Barker. He's amazing.
And it shines through, in some parts. I have to admit I was dissapointed. Only a little. I read heady, nowhere-headed literature books, and fantasy/horror/sci-fi are my escape. I like heady, intellectual books which go nowhere of any genre. This was neither a fast paper-back nor a heady journey. It didn't hit the Barker cord either. Oh, I enjoyed it in a vague sense, and it's good enough to read twice or thrice, and short enough to read in one short sitting. It just didn't hit my book buttons. It felt like Barker could have gone in so many directions and ended it there. I know some authors like to do that, and perhaps the first time it wasn't the book I was looking for... but I felt so unfulfilled. I enjoyed, but did not love it, and the end I felt a little cheated. I felt, for some reason, a little cheated. Barker rarely makes me feel like this. There's no aspect of the book that creates this mood, but a general lack of direction...eugh...what? I like it, but it lacks so much.
I think it's testimony to the fact that my family owns about 4500+ books, and more than a quater of those are mine, which line my room. I threw out about twenty one with much agony to a charity sale, and this survived the cut. In a succinct sentence, how can I describe it? Well, okay, you're a student. You've been living off of salad for a week to afford your night out. You have a choice of a nice veggy, fibre-heavy filling, nutritious stirfry, which is a required taste and so much work, with a big wait and an awesome looking outcome, or a big, greasy, who-knows-what thing, and it's bad and good and so tempting. Its greasy, unhealthy, and at the first drunken bite, so, so good, but it's a bit...hmmm... and not filling. It hits the craving but not the button that makes you slather over the idea of takeaway chips, and you're left slightly disappointed and drunkenly wanting another two hours later. It's a literature takeaway with all the fun and grease and novelty, and not quite the hit you expected. That's how I'd describe it. A good old romp with some very annoying [spoiler]"Please kill me![/spoiler] bits that add tension and atmosphere but never progress, but nothing you could sink your teeth into. I can't say I'm let down by Barker... but you get my vibe. I expected and I did not receive. I expected steak, did not get rancid meat, but got a burger. To use a meaty analogy. That said, since I ADORE Barker, think he's a class A guy in himself, love the Hellraiser franchise, and was scared senseless by his cannibal pig, I'll call this a weak shot - not a total miss, but FARRR from his perceived aim in a demon novel - but not even needing forgiving. It's Barker for god's sake! He probably churns out universes in his spare time. I will always aspire to his kind, admire and adore them for their skills and talents. On the grand scale of things, between 0 and 10, 0 making me cry in a foetal position, I'd put this at a 5.9. Good stuff from a formidable mind, but not the stuff that the Books of Blood and Imajica were made of (I need to say here that I love the Cenobite mythos, Barker's cracked up horror and sooooo love Imajica it's insane. My version ACTUALLY nearly got eaten by our doggy.
I'm sorry, Imajica freaked me out, it made me love it SO, SO MUCH . Book of Blood, the same. Barker magic... is somehow lacking here. That is the tragedy.
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