I am so done with vampires. They are on TV, in half the books that come out, and the movies, enough already! So when I heard that the must read summer blockbuster book was The Passage by Justin Cronin, I decided to give it a miss. The story line describes a virus sweeping the world, almost destroying civilization by turning people into super human vampire-like beings called Virals. A six year old girl holds the key to defeating them. Then I saw the interview with the author on Good Morning America. Stephen King interrupted the interview by telephone. His voice came from above a very shocked Justin Cronin, like a god with post nasal drip, praising the book, saying Cronin has put the scare back in vampires and he couldn't think of a better book to read in summer. Its worth watching the video just to see the stunned look on Cronin's face.Monday, June 14, 2010
When Stephen King Talks, People Listen
I am so done with vampires. They are on TV, in half the books that come out, and the movies, enough already! So when I heard that the must read summer blockbuster book was The Passage by Justin Cronin, I decided to give it a miss. The story line describes a virus sweeping the world, almost destroying civilization by turning people into super human vampire-like beings called Virals. A six year old girl holds the key to defeating them. Then I saw the interview with the author on Good Morning America. Stephen King interrupted the interview by telephone. His voice came from above a very shocked Justin Cronin, like a god with post nasal drip, praising the book, saying Cronin has put the scare back in vampires and he couldn't think of a better book to read in summer. Its worth watching the video just to see the stunned look on Cronin's face.
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I finished it late last night and, yes, I slept with the light on! It's not perfect but it's the kind of book you want to live in, luxuriating in the language and growing close to the characters. You also want to rush rush rush to find our what's going to happen next.
ReplyDeleteIt's not on par with The Stand or The Andromeda Strain. Anyone who thinks this is a brand new take on vampires didn't see I Am Legend. It's defnitely a mashup of many genres and themes. It has a definite feel of juvenile fiction, not unlike The Hugner Games, and several minor characters get a lot of ink then disappear and some are so interchangeable that I gave up trying to distiguish them. But there are plenty of other characters to love.
Just one more thing, my copy had several glaring printing errors and much has been made of this by Amazon reviewers. It didn't detract from my understanding or enjoyment of the book but, with a slick, fancy cover and such a buildup of expectation, you'd think the editors and proofreaders could have done a bettr job.