Book Description
As soon as Kerstin Kvist arrives at remote, ivy-covered Lydstep Old Hall in Essex, she feels like a character in a gothic novel. A young nurse fresh out of school, Kerstin has been hired for a position with the Cosway family, residents of the Hall for generations. She is soon introduced to her “charge,” John Cosway, a thirty-nine-year-old man whose strange behavior is vaguely explained by his mother and sisters as part of the madness that runs in the family.
Weeks go by at Lydstep with little to mark the passage of time beyond John’s daily walks and the amusingly provincial happenings that engross the Cosway women, and Kerstin occupies her many free hours at the Hall reading or making entries into her diary. Meanwhile, bitter wrangling among Julia Cosway and her four grown daughters becomes increasingly evident. But this is just the most obvious of the tensions that charge the old remote estate, with its sealed rooms full of mystery. Soon Kerstin will find herself in possession of knowledge she will wish she’d never attained, secrets that will propel the occupants of Lydstep Old Hall headlong into sexual obsession, betrayal, and, finally, murder.
Also available in a Random House Large Print edition and as an eBook
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Barbara Vine is the author of such acclaimed novels as A Dark-Adapted Eye, Anna’s Book, Grasshopper, and The Blood Doctor. She has won many awards for literary accomplishment, including three Edgar Awards and four Gold Daggers.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Another English story that's a good read.......2007-05-10
Having completed degrees in both English and Nursing at the University of Lund in Sweden, the narrator of Barbara Vine's The Minotaur is twenty-four-year-old Kerstin Kvist. Kvist follows her English boyfriend Mark to England to continue their relationship. Through Mark's sister-in-law, she secures a position as private nurse to mentally disturbed John Cosway, and thus begins a novel that is at once classic gothic and unconventional murder mystery.
The wind in the leaves of the Virginia creeper vine covering Lydstep Old Hall when Kerstin's first sees it, gives the illusion of movement, of a constantly shifting perspective. So too is Kerstin's view of the Cosway family constantly shifting, as like Theseus of myth, and she wanders inevitably closer to the monster at the heart of this maze of a story.
From the first, Kerstin is unconvinced that schizophrenia is what afflicts John, and the daily doses of both Phenobarbital and a highly powerful anti-psychotic, make her deeply uncomfortable. Though Julia Cosway, the family matriarch, insists it was John who requested a nurse, Kerstin finds it hard to believe John is capable of doing so while under the influence of these drugs. But why would Mrs. Cosway drug her own son? And what traumatic event did he witness that caused his supposed illness?
In addition to Mrs. Cosway, Lydgate Old Hall is also home to John's four sisters, Ida, the drudge; Winifred, the vicar's fiance; Ella, the schoolteacher; and Zorah, the jetsetter--who complete the portrait of this supremely dysfunctional family, all members of which trade in secrets, lies, and emotional blackmail.
Vine plays on many stereotypes of the English gothic country house novel and even Kerstin compares Lydstep Old Hall to Manderley and Thornfield. But this is no gothic romance and the unavoidable climax of The Minotaur is more disturbing than Rebecca or Jane Eyre ever were.
FYI: Barbara Vine is a pen name for Ruth Rendell, the bestselling crime novelist. She has written many novels, including The Lake of Darkness, The Killing Doll, The Tree of Hands, Live Flesh, Heartstones and The Veiled One.
Armchair Interviews says: A book that will appeal to readers on many levels.
In the House of Murdoch.......2007-03-30
Ruth Rendell's latest novel under her other name, Barbara Vine, is one of her best efforts to date. As with all the books under the Vine name, the question here is not so much whodunnit as how did something awful come to happen: in this case, we know that the heroine, Kerstin Kvist, went to an Essex manor house called Lydstep Old Hall in the Sixties to help care for a disturbed adult man who libes with his arrogant old mother and four slightly unhinger sisters, and that something awful happened while she was there. We spend the rest of the novel waiting to find out what exactly happened.
This is Vine's most Gothic novel in quite some time, and though the gigantic Virginia creeper-entwined Lydstep Old Hall reminds the heroine of Brontë and Du Maurier, the novelist whose work this novel seems really closest to is Iris Murdoch. The Cosways, with their unusual first names, short tempers, love of sex and high-handed behavior, seem to recall the Britons from Murdoch's novels, and the novel's fine sense of place will call to mind some of Murdoch's most striking books from the early 60s like THE TIME OF THE ANGELS and THE UNICORN. The characterization is quite strong, although the character of Ida Cosway never comes as fully to life as those of her sisters, and the intelligent narrator's inertia when faced with the Cosways' rude behavior to her is often hard to believe (although Vine keeps trying to explain it to us). The other characters, however, are quite intriguing, particularly the Minotaur himself, John Cosway.
Monsters, monsters, everywhere.......2007-03-01
In Greek legend, the minotaur is a bull-like monster who dwells in the midst of a vast labyrinth. In Ms. Rendell's novel, the title appears to be referring to John Cosway, an autistic man who lives with his mother and four sisters in a run-down, ramshackle estate. As the story develops, however, it seems that this is an entire family of monsters, with the son being,in actuality, the most human of them all. The mother and four sisters are almost completely selfish and self-motivated, often at the expense of their children or siblings, although one sister is perhaps a little better than the rest. This is not my favorite work by Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine but I think it is one of the most memorable. Whether writing as Ms. Rendell or Ms. Vine, Ms. Rendell is such an expert at developing character, motivations, and interesting situations, that her books under either name are highly enjoyable and a true pleasure to read.
Excellent! (Audio book review).......2006-11-09
This book is a Victorian English Gothic Crime novel set in modern times. Truly a delicious book that is typical of Rendell/Vine. If you liked the Blood Doctor (Barbara Vine), you should enjoy this novel, too. By the way, I listened to the anabridged audio book that doesn't seem to be available thru Amazon, for some reason.
Nearly as good as the early Barbara Vine's.......2006-07-12
Though not my favorite of Rendell's books written as Barbara Vine (her best are the first three she published as Vine - "A Dark Adapted Eye", "Fatal Inversion" and "House of Stairs") this was still an excellent psychological thriller and much better than her last "The Blood Doctor". I really felt her depiction of John's autism "rang true" and found it interesting that all of the true Cosway sisters had quicks that could be considered "soft" signs of autism or Aspberger's Syndrome. Like most Rendell/Vine stories the characters are far more interesting than the ultimate crime.
Average customer rating:
- Escape to Bahamarama
- Entertaining and fun mystery
- Great Book!
- Bahamarama-ding-dang
- Sun, Beach, Pina Coladas and Kidnapping
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Bahamarama (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries)
Bob Morris
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Paperbacks
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ASIN: 0312997477
Release Date: 2005-10-04 |
Book Description
Two years in a Florida federal prison on bogus charges has made former Miami Dophins linebacker, Zack Chasteen, stir crazy. The first step toward getting his life back together is meeting up with his beautiful magazine mogul girlfriend, Barbara, on Harbor Island in the Bahamas. But making it out of Florida proves to be more trouble than a gator with a toothache--and even deadlier. Zack barely leaves the state alive before he discovers Barbara's been kidnapped and her ex-lover, a photographer, murdered.
Once again trouble has come knocking on Zack's door. But this time he's fighting back, with the help of a Royal Bahamanian police superintendent, his trusted mystical Taino Indian friend Boggy, and a cast of the most colorful characters ever to step into the warm Bahama sun.
As unpredictable as island trade winds, Bahamarama twists and turns its way to a stunning conclusion and announces the arrival of a writer who is sure to surprise and delight mystery fans for years to come.
Customer Reviews:
Escape to Bahamarama.......2007-03-19
Easy reading, colourful exploits and backhanded informative style. Enjoyed the read and purchased more of Bob Morris' books. Currently reading "Jamaica Me Dead" another good read for anyone who has either visited or lived in "the islands." Morris is different in a querky way from Hiassen, White and Dorsey, but as we know every author can only continue to write interesting and attention grabbing material a the rate of one quality book per annum. As I consume books at the rate of at least one per week I need them to keep them coming.
Keith C.G. Kyle
Entertaining and fun mystery.......2007-02-14
I'm thoroughly enjoying this novel as I'm not only a mystery fan but a lifelong fan of the Bahamas. The characters are believable and Mr. Morris really captures the atmosphere of the Caribbean. If you don't have time or money to visit the Bahamas, you can vicariously experience it through Bahamarama and get a great story out of it as well. If you're a fan of Carl Hiaasen you will also enjoy this book.
Great Book!.......2007-01-19
Just wish it was longer. I can't wait for Zach's next adventure to come out. Bermuda Schwartz in February!!
Bahamarama-ding-dang.......2007-01-04
I put Morris up on the shelf with Hiaasen, Dorsey, White and Corcoran. Welcome to the Florida club. I found the hero, ex-pro running back Zack, and his voodoo sidekick very entertaining, and can't wait to read more. The palm tree farm hang-out is just the right amount of pro-eco-Florida to make it poetic. Loved Jamaica Me Dead too. Put me down for advance purchase on next book.
Sun, Beach, Pina Coladas and Kidnapping.......2006-07-18
First off, let me say this is a great fun read and once you begin you better be prepared to read, because you will get hooked. I finished this book in about two days and it made me want to read more by Bob Morris.
The story revolves around Zach Chasteen, an ex Football player for Miami, who found himself in jail after he was framed for a deal gone bad with some Latin drug lords. Zach is pretty hard bolied and down to earth and his only passions in life are his girlfriend and his boat. When his girlfriend winds up missing on a photo shoot in the Bahamas, Zach finds himself entangled in a game of cat and mouse with the kidnappers.
The plot is okay and perhaps like me, you'll be able to figure out the ending before it happens. However, the characters are so good you'll keep reading anyway. Take a vacation and enjoy this book.
Book Description
Victor Pelevin, the iconoclastic and wildly interesting contemporary Russian novelist who The New Yorker named one of the Best European Writers Under 35, upends any conventional notions of what mythology must be with his unique take on the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. By creating a mesmerizing world where the surreal and the hyperreal collide, The Helmet of Horror is a radical retelling of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur set in an Internet chat room. They have never met, they have been assigned strange pseudonyms, they inhabit identical rooms that open out onto very different landscapes, and they have entered a dialogue they cannot escape — a discourse defined and destroyed by the Helmet of Horror. Its wearer is the dominant force they call Asterisk, a force for good and ill in which the Minotaur is forever present and Theseus is the great unknown. The Helmet of Horror is structured according to the way we communicate in the twenty-first century — using the Internet — yet instilled with the figures and narratives of classical mythology. It is a labyrinthine examination of epistemological uncertainty that radically reinvents this myth for an age where information is abundant but knowledge ultimately unattainable.
Customer Reviews:
Mind Expanding, Mind Collapsing.......2007-08-21
I came to Amazon to read other folks' impression of the content of the book, but, alas, found no posts, so I'm starting one, unwinding Ariadne's thread, as it were, so others would follow it with me. I'm basing my views on the Russian original here. I wanted to understand The Helmet very much. It feels vaguely portentous and significant in some way, and I found myself giving different accounts to authorial metaphors upon rereading it.
Is Thesius the programmer while the others are stuck in VR? Are they WWW AI or real human beings? Whose is the independent reality? Is it theirs? Is it Thesius's? Was there a minotaur or are they the minotaur and were all along? Or perhaps they became the minotaur when the previous minotaur was massacred?
It's like the literary version of Donnie Darko, and like Donnie Darko, it is a paradoxical entrapment, a fairly amusing jumble while it lasts that unravels to nothing. After all is said and done, the ultimate purpose of The Helmet is not to enlighten at all. It is to deconstruct. To destroy: your mental comfort in spirituality, social order, psychological adjustment, idealism, optimism, hope. When viewed through the prism of Pelevin's literary corpus, the metafictional aspects of The Helmet become clear: it is to show how existential "discourse" is a form of mental agony or onanism, if you will, created out and by nothing for no one's benefit. All is meaningless is the message here. In fact the very discourse is the helmet of horror as is the brain creating it, and as one tries to substantiate and justify the existence of the other, both fail miserably. The entirety of The Helmet (the book), therefore, with all its airs and profundity, with all implications of significance and allusions to higher planes of being, is an onanism, a pure escapist onion in metaphysical skin. Not unlike Pelevin.
So why the four stars? During the reading process, you expect some sort of a revelation, a mind-expanding experience, while by the end the story world collapses, and you are left with no more with which you'd started. It isn't a failed expectation either. It's clear that the subject of the book and the book itself are intended to be of no existential consequence, which is, in fact, the lesson. It is that solipsistic speculation -- the author's signature and beloved cash cow -- is a barren womb. Once the concept is understood in a remedial philosophy class, it will yield no more meaning than the minimum number of words required to bring it home. All the literary effluvience and writing mastery in the world will not add weight to it, as anything times zero is zero. Solipsism is self-annihilating, however much it may be true. A book, any book, on this subject is too long. Nothing is easier than cynicism and criticism, gospodin Pelevin, stop it already! Grow up and give us some substance.
One of Pelevin's lesser work .......2007-04-16
The computer screen as stage and instant messaging as action in this lesser work by Victor Pelevin. Certainly no match to his "Buddha's little finger" or "Omon Ra"
ALL STAR CAST OF NARRATORS FOR THIS SPIN ON AN ANCIENT MYTH.......2006-07-11
Audiobook aficionados will think they've stumbled upon nirvana when listening to this update on the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur as read by eight of the best and brightest narrators to be found. Not only are they all first rate voice performers with wide ranges of experience but they're also award winners - far too many to mention here.
Russian novelist Victor Pelevin who was named among the Best European Writers under 35 is anything but conventional. Here, he takes an ancient myth and puts a today spin on it by creating eight characters, all assigned pseudonyms, who sign on to a chat room to discuss philosophy. We may remember that the Minotaur lived in a labyrinth and these characters find themselves in a virtual one.
The story opens with Ariadne writing, "I shall construct a labyrinth in which I can lose myself together with anyone who tries to find me - who said this and about what?" This thread is responded to by the other characters who are all in separate spaces, places of which they are not sure - where are they?
This is a sci-fi story which some may find puzzling and others enthralling as two of the characters struggle to find each other and others labor to explore their shared predicament.
- Gail Cooke
Very interesting.......2006-04-24
I found this book very intriguing. I can't say I "enjoyed" it -- Pelevin is one of those genius authors, like S. Lem, that I feel I should like, but actually find very difficult. It is like there is a joke and I don't understand the punchline. And maybe I get all the facts of the joke wrong, too. At any rate, this is a retelling of the Theseus/Minataur myth, and is a part of the incredibly wonderful series retelling the old myths by contemporary top authors. I have loved each book in the series, so far (I especially liked Weight, the retelling of Atlas). Pelevin's book sets the labyrinthe as a computer chat room, with the "thread" followed by various people who find themselves each trapped alone in an identical room. Well, we are all in traps, and we all have illusions, etc. So I recommend this interesting book as a part of the series. I'm going to have to work on my understanding of Pelevin, however.
Book Description
Five thousand years out of the Labyrinth, the Minotaur finds himself in the American South, living in a trailer park and working as a line cook at a steakhouse. No longer a devourer of human flesh, the Minotaur is a socially inept, lonely creature with very human needs. But over a two-week period, as his life dissolves into chaos, this broken and alienated immortal awakens to the possibility for happiness and to the capacity for love.
Customer Reviews:
Surreal; There's a bit of Freak in all of us.......2007-06-12
This was a most intriguing book - I would go so far as to say it could easily become a classic of modern surreal literature. The Minotaur survives to this day, where he is a cook in a restaurant somewhere in North Carolina. Other immortals live and work among the mortals, such as Laurel, who is met during a trip to Florida taken by M and his landlord Sweeney. Interestingly, it seems that while people are occasionally taken aback by the Minotaur's appearance, no one seems terribly surprised by his presence.
I felt that, to me, this work spoke to the fact that there is within all of us a little bit of the freak that causes us to feel outcast and alone; this allows us to empathize with M. He lives very much in the "now" and has tended to forget much of his past and this is shown - among other ways - by the use of present tense in the narrative. M's search for love and acceptance is heart-breaking and heart-warming at the same time.
Definitely an interesting bit of literature for anyone who is looking to broaden their horizons a bit.
Very briefly, a bit of a disappointment.......2005-07-19
I was fascinated by the premise of this novel but felt that it wasted many opportunities, passing over what struck me as fascinating narrative sidelines (the other survivors of the mythological world who cross the Minotaur's path) with an odd incuriosity. Sherrill does a fine job of building a vivid picture of the world in which the Minotaur lives - it's just a pity that what happens in it isn't terribly interesting. In a similar vein (mythological beings living in the modern world) I preferred Neil Gaiman's American Gods, which is less of a literary novel but considerably more sympathetic and entertaining.
Read this as soon as you can; it's SO fine.......2005-02-24
I say often that I'm not big on magic realism but if it all could be as Sherrill's fabulous novel, I'd happily snuggle up with the category until kingdom come. In any case, this novel consumed me entirely on more levels than I can count. There really aren't any cardboard characters here, even the minor players are drawn well (maybe two exceptions). Required reading for those who enjoy mythology, have a restaurant fiction fetish or a southern novel fixation and just anyone at all loves a really good book. Finest kind of reading; miss this one and be so sorry.
Chill out.......2005-01-29
I'm not a big English-writing-jargon-blahblahblah kind of guy, so statements like, "the over characterization of the mid-plot, doesn't even fit in with his standard style of the Victorian age." Whatever. I'm here to say that if you are looking for a fun book that is quick to read, buy this book. I liked it a lot. It made me smile. And I hate smiling.
Best 1st novel since "Ghostwritten".......2005-01-06
I didn't pick up this book the first time I saw it because I assumed it would have a one-joke plot; my wife read it first and persuaded me to give it a try. It turned out to be one of the finest contemporary novels I've read in years.
Sherrill never loses compassion for his protagonist despite his gleeful mastery of the Southern grotesque style--rather like Flannery O'Connor, come to think of it. The minotaur, known simply as "M" to his friends (shades of Kafka?), is more humane than some of the humans, good-natured, fallible, groping toward connection with the strange and numerous race of homo sapiens around him. His efforts, missteps, failures and yearnings echo those of every Outsider in literature and life.
Are we not all half-human, half-beast, struggling to make our thick tongues give voice to our deepest beliefs and longings?
I laughed, I cried, I passed it on to a friend.
Customer Reviews:
GOLCONDA, HERE I COME!.......2000-01-26
Anais has done it again. A book which captures the reader's need for sensual, lyrical description as well as having the ability to allow common emotional themes to transcend the two covers, Nin paints for us the city of Golconda, Mexico, with its poor but happy natives and sweltering tropical escapism. The main character, Lillian, is a jazz musician who travels to Golconda for a 3 month stint and along the way rediscovers the beauty of Mexico she knew as a child, of the wise and natural existance known to those she meets, and the demons she must exercise from her own past. A beautiful exploration into human existance. If you liked Anais' diaries, try this story...you will see links into her own past. And perhaps, even yours.
Average customer rating:
- It's a young adult/teen graphic novel...not for littl'uns!
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10th Muse Volume One: Maze Of The Minotaur Novel (10th Muse)
Darren G Davis , and
Thomas J Misuraca
Manufacturer: Angel Gate
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0966473744 |
Book Description
New young adult novel series based on the best-selling comic book, 10th Muse. In Greek mythology there were 9 Muses, the daughters of Zeus, but history forgot one - The 10th Muse - MUSE OF JUSTICE Emma Sonnet's Birthright!
Emma Sonnet is a typical, popular high school teen with an unbelievable secret - she's a superhero. When students are mysteriously missing the 10th Muse must solve the puzzle of the minotaur in time to save them.
Customer Reviews:
It's a young adult/teen graphic novel...not for littl'uns!.......2003-09-24
This is the first volume of the new young adult novel series based on the best-selling comic book, 10th Muse.
In Greek mythology there were 9 Muses, the daughters of Zeus, but history forgot one - The 10th Muse - MUSE OF JUSTICE. Emma Sonnet's birthright!
Emma Sonnet is on the debate team, cheerleader and popular. Everyone in high school has secrets, hers is being a superhero. This is a tale of one girl that will make a difference. When students on the swim team are missing the 10th Muse must solve the puzzle of the Minotaur in time to save them.
Includes COLOR FOLD OUT POSTER
Recommended Age: 8 and above.
- J. Dolce
Library Assistant II, In charge of teen section, Canttelyouware Oar Aisle B-Fired, Central FL.
Average customer rating:
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Minotaur country: A novel of suspense
Helen McCloy
Manufacturer: Dodd, Mead
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: 0396070043 |
Books:
- The Perfect Summer: England 1911, Just Before the Storm
- The Red Gloves Collection
- The Sorrow of War
- The Sunset Limited
- The Torment of Others: A Novel
- The Twelve-Note Music of Anton Webern: Old Forms in a New Language (Music in the Twentieth Century)
- The Verbally Abusive Relationship: How to Recognize it and How to Respond
- The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West
- The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill: A Love Story . . . with Wings
- The Wonder Weeks: How to Turn Your Baby's 8 Great Fussy Phases into Magical Leaps Forward
Books Index
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