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摘要
摘要
Harry Gainesborough wrote a children's story called "Zod Wallop". And then his daughter died. Now Raymond Story, a patient at Harwood Psychiatric Hospital and Harry's biggest fan, has escaped--to find Harry in his remote cabin. Raymond is convinced that the people, creatures, and places of "Zod Wallop" are real. And as events transpire, Harry begins to wonder if Raymond is right.
评论 (4)
出版社周刊评论
Sly humor and eccentric characters raise Spencer's third novel (following Résumé, with Monsters) far above run-of-the-mill fantasy fare. Since his daughter drowned three years ago, children's-book author Harry Gainesborough has settled into a life of quiet desperation. He hasn't written a word, and though his agent is badgering him to spin out another book or at least to sell the film rights to Zod Wallop, the phenomenally successful novel he wrote just before Amy died, Harry is in no mood to do either, or in fact to have any contact with the outside world. But he can't avoid Raymond Story, an inmate of a local asylum who's so enchanted by Zod Wallop that he breaks out, hunts down Harry and tells him that the characters of the novel are coming to life. And the lunatic seems to be right: Fantastic creatures that have hitherto existed only in Harry's books now seem to take great delight in indulging in acts of antic destruction, from ruining the paint job on Harry's car to blowing up a helicopter. The line between reality and imagination blurs further when it's revealed that Harry knows Raymond through his own psychiatric hospitalization. By raising the question of who is crazy and who is sane, Spencer seduces the reader into considering the underlying question: What is craziness and what is sanity? Happily, this very talented author has not only the irreverent humor, but also the insight into the manic rhythms of madness, to pull this query off. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus评论
An amusingly conceived and brightly written fantasy by the author of Résumé, with Monsters (not reviewed) and The Return of Count Electric (1993). Harry Gainesborough wrote the pessimistic, disturbing children's book Zod Wallop--a dark fantasy expressing ``the end of things, the winding down, the world turning into stone''--while trying to recover from his grief as a patient at the Harwood Psychiatric Institute after the drowning death of his beloved young daughter, Amy. Fellow patients and staff members--including schizophrenic Raymond Story, catatonic Emily Engel, the morose young ``giant'' named Allan, and the mysterious Dr. Peake (who's suspected of unethical practices connected with the experimental drug Ecknazine)--are all transposed as characters in Zod Wallop. Or think they are. When the ebullient Raymond leads an escape from Harwood, Harry, long since discharged though still sunk in sorrow, is reluctantly drawn into ``his'' people's pursuit of an alternative ending to the catastrophe forecast by ``their'' novel. With consummate skill, Spencer interweaves elements of his tale: the eccentric actions of Raymond and his mushrooming entourage, along with the unaccountable appearances among them of presences from Zod Wallop; flashbacks from Harry's past; and moving descriptions of Harry's hope against hope that there may rise up before them an ending in which Amy does not die. Spencer has an imagination akin to that of cartoonist Gary Larson, with touches such as Harry's teasingly described earlier books The Bathtub Wars and The Sneeze That Destroyed New Jersey, not to mention ``the planet Decorum, where the gentle inhabitants could be murdered by rudeness.'' And the novel's oddly comforting tone, which describes unusual relationships and outrageous occurrences with bland matter- of-factness, recalls both classic fantasist Saki and stylized midwestern realist James Purdy. A work of great originality and charm from a brilliant writer of fantasy who's also a very considerable serious novelist.
《书目》(Booklist)书评
Children's writer Harry Gainesborough is institutionalized following the drowning death of his daughter, Amy. At the institution, he meets Raymond Story, a young man obsessed with Harry's books. As part of his therapy, Harry writes Zod Wallop, a twisted fairy tale in which the young heroine, Lydia, dies and the world ceases to exist without her. Raymond is so disturbed by the manuscript that Harry writes a version with a "happy ending," which is published. Raymond doesn't forget about Harry or Zod Wallop and becomes obsessed with bringing the book to life--including Lydia, who is based on Harry's daughter. As Harry joins Raymond and other institutionalized patients in trying to make sense of the changing world, the loving father must make a choice: the return of his daughter or the end of all existence? Wonderfully zany with sinister overtones, Zod Wallop could be the story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men on LSD. It is a strange fairy tale for adults and should be purchased wherever Spencer's books are popular or for adventurous fantasy collections. --Melanie Duncan
《图书馆杂志》(Library Journal )书评
The accidental death of his daughter has left children's author Harry Gainsborough bereft of hope. Harry's final book, written while he was institutionalized, begins to intrude upon the real world. Along with a group of mental patients, Harry embarks on a journey toward healing or self-damnation. The author of Resume with Monsters (Permanent Pr., 1994) delivers a comic and bittersweet fable of magical realism. Artfully written, with an eye for the fragile boundaries between the real and the imaginary, this novel should appeal to a broad readership. A good purchase for fantasy or general fiction collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.