Kiernan, Caitlyn R.: Threshold
Threshold
Writer: Caitlin R. Kiernan
Genre: Horror
Pages: 86/307
My Rating
Couldn't Finish It: when this book first came out, the cover nabbed my interest. But I stuck the title on my Amazon.com wishlist and promptly forgot about it. Anytime I browsed through my wishlist for something to read, I always ignored this book for whatever reason.
But I finally got it after there was a call via the internets to support Kiernan's work, I believe due to the fact she was suffering from health issues, and we all know hospital bills pile up, so those making the pleas were encouraging their readers to pick up one of Kiernan's work. Because obviously, the more books Kiernan sells, the more money she makes.
Since I'd had my eye on this title for a while, I didn't mind forking over the cash. And for the most part, I was looking forward to the book.
So why couldn't I finish it? If you turn to the copyright page of the book, you'll find the direction below:
This book is best read aloud. --CRK
Which made me crack up. I appreciate this, I really do. I for one always encourage writers to read their fiction aloud so that they can catch mistakes, and plus, you really learn to hear your own work and understand its rhythms. Plus, I got my bachelors from Hollins University, a school known for its creative writing program, and in those circles, reading your work aloud is A BIG THING.
Prose poetry is cool. Make no mistake. And trust me, as soon as I started reading the first page, I understood Kiernan's direction for the book. This book is best read aloud.
No kidding. I don't know HOW many times I kept having to re-read sentences because of their poetic structure, and while poetic structure in and of itself is not a bad thing by any means (I love Valente's and Winterson's work, for example), I have trouble when the poetry is repeating the same description in different ways, or when the dialogue for multiple characters is in the same paragraph, or when for whatever reason, sentences and dialogues are strung together with the word "and" when a period would have worked just as good, if not better.
But who am I to criticize poetry? Clearly, Kiernan made some very deliberate choices in her punctuation and grammar, and while in the end, I found it unreadable, I'm sure that read aloud, or to certain "ears," this reads as smooth as silk. Only, I don't have those kinds of ears, nor am I willing to read a 308 page book aloud. And let's face it, I didn't have the patience to keep reading (and re-reading, in several cases) just to get through the book. The premise didn't grab me enough, and while the characters seem to be very well drawn, their situations strikingly human, I just couldn't justify the effort of turning these pages. Oh well. I'll pass this sucker along to someone who can appreciate it.
Next up: The Watchmen by Alan Moore
and
The Man on the Ceiling by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem