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Book of the Art #1
The Great and Secret Show
Clive Barker's bestseller Weaveworld astonished readers with his visionary range, establishing him as a master of fabulist literature. Now, with The Great and Secret Show he rises to new heights. In this unforgettable epic he wields the full power and sweep of his talents. "Succinctly put," says Barker, "it's about Hollywood, sex and Armageddon."
Memory, prophecy and fantasy; the past, the future, and the dreaming moment between are all one country living one immortal day. To know that is Wisdom. To use it is the Art.
Armageddon begins with a murder in the Dead Letter Office in Omaha. A lake that has never existed falls from the clouds over Palomo Grove, CA. Young passion blossoms, as the world withers with war. The Great and Secret Show has begun on the stage of the world. Soon the final curtain must fall.
In this, the First Book of the Art, Barker has created a masterpiece of the imagination that explores the uncharted territory within our secret lives and most private hearts. Sprawling, ambitious, triumphantly magical and satisfying, The Great and Secret Show is what the rest of life is all about.
Memory, prophecy and fantasy; the past, the future, and the dreaming moment between are all one country living one immortal day. To know that is Wisdom. To use it is the Art.
Armageddon begins with a murder in the Dead Letter Office in Omaha. A lake that has never existed falls from the clouds over Palomo Grove, CA. Young passion blossoms, as the world withers with war. The Great and Secret Show has begun on the stage of the world. Soon the final curtain must fall.
In this, the First Book of the Art, Barker has created a masterpiece of the imagination that explores the uncharted territory within our secret lives and most private hearts. Sprawling, ambitious, triumphantly magical and satisfying, The Great and Secret Show is what the rest of life is all about.
658 pages, Paperback
First published August 7, 1989
About the author
Clive Barker
707 books13.9k followersClive Barker was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Joan Rubie (née Revill), a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm. Educated at Dovedale Primary School and Quarry Bank High School, he studied English and Philosophy at Liverpool University and his picture now hangs in the entrance hallway to the Philosophy Department. It was in Liverpool in 1975 that he met his first partner, John Gregson, with whom he lived until 1986. Barker's second long-term relationship, with photographer David Armstrong, ended in 2009.
In 2003, Clive Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards. This award is presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for any of those communities". While Barker is critical of organized religion, he has stated that he is a believer in both God and the afterlife, and that the Bible influences his work.
Fans have noticed of late that Barker's voice has become gravelly and coarse. He says in a December 2008 online interview that this is due to polyps in his throat which were so severe that a doctor told him he was taking in ten percent of the air he was supposed to have been getting. He has had two surgeries to remove them and believes his resultant voice is an improvement over how it was prior to the surgeries. He said he did not have cancer and has given up cigars. On August 27, 2010, Barker underwent surgery yet again to remove new polyp growths from his throat. In early February 2012 Barker fell into a coma after a dentist visit led to blood poisoning. Barker remained in a coma for eleven days but eventually came out of it. Fans were notified on his Twitter page about some of the experience and that Barker was recovering after the ordeal, but left with many strange visions.
Barker is one of the leading authors of contemporary horror/fantasy, writing in the horror genre early in his career, mostly in the form of short stories (collected in Books of Blood 1 – 6), and the Faustian novel The Damnation Game (1985). Later he moved towards modern-day fantasy and urban fantasy with horror elements in Weaveworld (1987), The Great and Secret Show (1989), the world-spanning Imajica (1991) and Sacrament (1996), bringing in the deeper, richer concepts of reality, the nature of the mind and dreams, and the power of words and memories.
Barker has a keen interest in movie production, although his films have received mixed receptions. He wrote the screenplays for Underworld (aka Transmutations – 1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986), both directed by George Pavlou. Displeased by how his material was handled, he moved to directing with Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. His early movies, the shorts The Forbidden and Salome, are experimental art movies with surrealist elements, which have been re-released together to moderate critical acclaim. After his film Nightbreed (Cabal), which was widely considered to be a flop, Barker returned to write and direct Lord of Illusions. Barker was an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which received major critical acclaim.
Barker is a prolific visual artist working in a variety of media, often illustrating his own books. His paintings have been seen first on the covers of his official fan club magazine, Dread, published by Fantaco in the early Nineties, as well on the covers of the collections of his plays, Incarnations (1995) and Forms of Heaven (1996), as well as on the second printing of the original UK publications of his Books of Blood series.
A longtime comics fan, Barker achieved his dream of publishing his own superhero books when Marvel Comics launched the Razorline imprint in 1993. Based on detailed premises, titles and lead characters he created specifically for this, the four interrelated titles — set outside the Marvel universe — were Ectokid,
In 2003, Clive Barker received The Davidson/Valentini Award at the 15th GLAAD Media Awards. This award is presented "to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individual who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for any of those communities". While Barker is critical of organized religion, he has stated that he is a believer in both God and the afterlife, and that the Bible influences his work.
Fans have noticed of late that Barker's voice has become gravelly and coarse. He says in a December 2008 online interview that this is due to polyps in his throat which were so severe that a doctor told him he was taking in ten percent of the air he was supposed to have been getting. He has had two surgeries to remove them and believes his resultant voice is an improvement over how it was prior to the surgeries. He said he did not have cancer and has given up cigars. On August 27, 2010, Barker underwent surgery yet again to remove new polyp growths from his throat. In early February 2012 Barker fell into a coma after a dentist visit led to blood poisoning. Barker remained in a coma for eleven days but eventually came out of it. Fans were notified on his Twitter page about some of the experience and that Barker was recovering after the ordeal, but left with many strange visions.
Barker is one of the leading authors of contemporary horror/fantasy, writing in the horror genre early in his career, mostly in the form of short stories (collected in Books of Blood 1 – 6), and the Faustian novel The Damnation Game (1985). Later he moved towards modern-day fantasy and urban fantasy with horror elements in Weaveworld (1987), The Great and Secret Show (1989), the world-spanning Imajica (1991) and Sacrament (1996), bringing in the deeper, richer concepts of reality, the nature of the mind and dreams, and the power of words and memories.
Barker has a keen interest in movie production, although his films have received mixed receptions. He wrote the screenplays for Underworld (aka Transmutations – 1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986), both directed by George Pavlou. Displeased by how his material was handled, he moved to directing with Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. His early movies, the shorts The Forbidden and Salome, are experimental art movies with surrealist elements, which have been re-released together to moderate critical acclaim. After his film Nightbreed (Cabal), which was widely considered to be a flop, Barker returned to write and direct Lord of Illusions. Barker was an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which received major critical acclaim.
Barker is a prolific visual artist working in a variety of media, often illustrating his own books. His paintings have been seen first on the covers of his official fan club magazine, Dread, published by Fantaco in the early Nineties, as well on the covers of the collections of his plays, Incarnations (1995) and Forms of Heaven (1996), as well as on the second printing of the original UK publications of his Books of Blood series.
A longtime comics fan, Barker achieved his dream of publishing his own superhero books when Marvel Comics launched the Razorline imprint in 1993. Based on detailed premises, titles and lead characters he created specifically for this, the four interrelated titles — set outside the Marvel universe — were Ectokid,
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December 8, 2020
”These letters had been sent from coast to coast looking for someone to open them, and had found no takers. Finally they’d ended with him: with Randolph Erniest Jaffe, a balding nobody with ambitions never spoken and rage not expressed, whose little knife slit them, and little eyes scanned them, and who--sitting at his crossroads--began to see the private face of the nation.
There were love-letters, hate-letters, ransom notes, pleadings, sheets on which men had drawn round their hard-ons, valentines of pubic hair, blackmail from wives, journalists, hustlers, lawyer and senators, junk-mail and suicide notes, lost novels, chain letters, resumes, undelivered gifts, rejected gifts, letters sent out in the wilderness like bottles from an island.”
Randolph Jaffe is given the dead letter office job because it is considered one of the worst jobs available in the postal service. Jaffe is odd, and needless to say, when someone is odd in our society, people just can’t let them be. His co-workers really don’t like him. His boss loves to make fun of him. This is before social media became the best tool of bullies, but it is amazing the lengths that adults will go to still pick at people they find to be inexplicably unusual, as if they are still walking the hallways of the sixth grade. Naturally, Jaffe is a festering, vibrating, mass of unexploded rage. The dead letter office job gives him some relief from people and puts him on the trail of something hidden from the rest of the world in these lost letters, a true source of limitless power that will give him the means to go postal on the biggest scale imaginable.
He discovers a whole ‘nother world.
The clues lead Jaffe to New Mexico where he encounters a shoal, a sort of oracle for this other world. He learns of the ”mystical dream sea Quiddity and the islands within it known as the Ephemeris. Quiddity, as it turns out, is visible exactly three times to an ordinary human: The first time we ever sleep outside our mother's womb, the first time we sleep beside the one we truly love and the last time we ever sleep before we die.”
Jaffe then hires the brilliant, or at least brilliantly stoned, Richard Wesley Fletcher, who believes that what Jaffe knows is true and thinks he can make an elixir that will allow a human to evolve to the point that they can reach Quiddity. In other words, why don’t we change the natural order of things to see what happens.
Things get strange.
Then things really get wiggy.
Fletcher realizes Jaffe’s evil intentions, which sets off an epic battle between the two of them, which is one long standoff of competing energies. They even spawn offspring when four young ladies decide to go skinny dipping above. Little did they know what is rippling in the water beneath them. Yes, ladies, you can get pregnant by some hellish entity just going for a swim. If that isn’t enough to put you off swimming in deep waters see Jaws. Fletcher and Jaffe know the battle will go beyond their life spans, and their hope is that their offspring will continue to wage the war for them.
Whenever you start to feel a bit confused with this convoluted and brilliantly conceived plot, keep the following line in mind: ”Reason could be cruel; logic could be lunacy.”
There are a whole host of characters who get drawn into this battle between Fletcher and Jaffe. Their children are caught up in these events, whether they want to be or not. As the bonds start to break between this other world and what is considered the real world, numerous personalities, from reporters to movie stars to average Joes, are enlisted in this struggle to keep this other world from eating our world. This schism between worlds must be repaired; a finger must be put in the dyke, and above all, Quiddity must be preserved. It reminds me of that great line from Dune...The Spice Must Flow!
Needless to say, this plot is massive, and I could spend trillions of pixels trying to explain the complexities, but if you are planning to read this, you may only be confused by my fumblings to explicate it. Clive Barker said this was the most difficult book he ever wrote, and I believe him. This is definitely his attempt to write a fantasy/horror masterpiece, and he very well may have succeeded. The writing isn’t as difficult to follow as some reviewers will tell you, but I do suggest that you stay with it. A long absence between reading jags could create more frustration for you.
Palomo Grove, California, is ground zero for this Armageddon, and there is no better person to show up to investigate than Harry D’Amour, the occult private investigator. He only appears in the final pages of the book, but believe me, the unlikely heroes of this story could have used his help from the very beginning. I first met Harry in the short story The Last Illusion from Barker’s rather brilliant collection of stories Cabal. See my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Harry D’Amour was played by Scott Bakula in the film version, called The Lord of Illusions (1995), which I recently found streaming on my new favorite source for strange and forgotten movies, tubitv.com. Unfortunately the streaming version available is the theatrical cut which according to my research left plot holes the size of Mac Trucks so I decided to buy a cheap DVD copy, thank you eBay, of the director’s cut. I gotta say I thought the film was great. Famke Janssen was lovely and reminded me of a young Julia Roberts. Kevin J. O’Connor was terrific, most of you might remember him from The Mummy. J. Trevor Edmund nearly stole the show with his androgynous languor. Sheila Tousey was an unexpected surprise. I still have a crush on her from her role in Thunderheart. I decided I better line up my ducks on Harry D’Amour because he will have a major role in Everville, which is the sequel to The Great and Secret Show.
I don’t know how this has happened, but I have now been sucked into the world of Clive Barker. Okay, I know how it happens. When a reader searches the mystical corners of the literary world he can sometimes find himself caught up in some nefarious reading experiences. Barker’s world resembles the sea of Quiddity, and the more time I spend there, the more warped mentally and bodily deformed I become. I do eventually recover, but one must pace oneself.
This is a sprawling, ambitious, imaginative work that will put your mind through some mental gymnastics, but as the pieces fall into place and you start to understand your way around a bit, you will find the reading experience highly rewarding. The more I read of Clive Barker the more I respect what he is trying to accomplish. A reader can’t just dip her toe into the water and decide if his works are too hot or too cold or just right for her. You must immerse yourself and let Barker unsnap the constrictions on your mind and allow your thoughts to roam free as he influences what you believe to be real and what you could believe to be real.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
There were love-letters, hate-letters, ransom notes, pleadings, sheets on which men had drawn round their hard-ons, valentines of pubic hair, blackmail from wives, journalists, hustlers, lawyer and senators, junk-mail and suicide notes, lost novels, chain letters, resumes, undelivered gifts, rejected gifts, letters sent out in the wilderness like bottles from an island.”
Randolph Jaffe is given the dead letter office job because it is considered one of the worst jobs available in the postal service. Jaffe is odd, and needless to say, when someone is odd in our society, people just can’t let them be. His co-workers really don’t like him. His boss loves to make fun of him. This is before social media became the best tool of bullies, but it is amazing the lengths that adults will go to still pick at people they find to be inexplicably unusual, as if they are still walking the hallways of the sixth grade. Naturally, Jaffe is a festering, vibrating, mass of unexploded rage. The dead letter office job gives him some relief from people and puts him on the trail of something hidden from the rest of the world in these lost letters, a true source of limitless power that will give him the means to go postal on the biggest scale imaginable.
He discovers a whole ‘nother world.
The clues lead Jaffe to New Mexico where he encounters a shoal, a sort of oracle for this other world. He learns of the ”mystical dream sea Quiddity and the islands within it known as the Ephemeris. Quiddity, as it turns out, is visible exactly three times to an ordinary human: The first time we ever sleep outside our mother's womb, the first time we sleep beside the one we truly love and the last time we ever sleep before we die.”
Jaffe then hires the brilliant, or at least brilliantly stoned, Richard Wesley Fletcher, who believes that what Jaffe knows is true and thinks he can make an elixir that will allow a human to evolve to the point that they can reach Quiddity. In other words, why don’t we change the natural order of things to see what happens.
Things get strange.
Then things really get wiggy.
Fletcher realizes Jaffe’s evil intentions, which sets off an epic battle between the two of them, which is one long standoff of competing energies. They even spawn offspring when four young ladies decide to go skinny dipping above. Little did they know what is rippling in the water beneath them. Yes, ladies, you can get pregnant by some hellish entity just going for a swim. If that isn’t enough to put you off swimming in deep waters see Jaws. Fletcher and Jaffe know the battle will go beyond their life spans, and their hope is that their offspring will continue to wage the war for them.
Whenever you start to feel a bit confused with this convoluted and brilliantly conceived plot, keep the following line in mind: ”Reason could be cruel; logic could be lunacy.”
There are a whole host of characters who get drawn into this battle between Fletcher and Jaffe. Their children are caught up in these events, whether they want to be or not. As the bonds start to break between this other world and what is considered the real world, numerous personalities, from reporters to movie stars to average Joes, are enlisted in this struggle to keep this other world from eating our world. This schism between worlds must be repaired; a finger must be put in the dyke, and above all, Quiddity must be preserved. It reminds me of that great line from Dune...The Spice Must Flow!
Needless to say, this plot is massive, and I could spend trillions of pixels trying to explain the complexities, but if you are planning to read this, you may only be confused by my fumblings to explicate it. Clive Barker said this was the most difficult book he ever wrote, and I believe him. This is definitely his attempt to write a fantasy/horror masterpiece, and he very well may have succeeded. The writing isn’t as difficult to follow as some reviewers will tell you, but I do suggest that you stay with it. A long absence between reading jags could create more frustration for you.
Palomo Grove, California, is ground zero for this Armageddon, and there is no better person to show up to investigate than Harry D’Amour, the occult private investigator. He only appears in the final pages of the book, but believe me, the unlikely heroes of this story could have used his help from the very beginning. I first met Harry in the short story The Last Illusion from Barker’s rather brilliant collection of stories Cabal. See my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Harry D’Amour was played by Scott Bakula in the film version, called The Lord of Illusions (1995), which I recently found streaming on my new favorite source for strange and forgotten movies, tubitv.com. Unfortunately the streaming version available is the theatrical cut which according to my research left plot holes the size of Mac Trucks so I decided to buy a cheap DVD copy, thank you eBay, of the director’s cut. I gotta say I thought the film was great. Famke Janssen was lovely and reminded me of a young Julia Roberts. Kevin J. O’Connor was terrific, most of you might remember him from The Mummy. J. Trevor Edmund nearly stole the show with his androgynous languor. Sheila Tousey was an unexpected surprise. I still have a crush on her from her role in Thunderheart. I decided I better line up my ducks on Harry D’Amour because he will have a major role in Everville, which is the sequel to The Great and Secret Show.
I don’t know how this has happened, but I have now been sucked into the world of Clive Barker. Okay, I know how it happens. When a reader searches the mystical corners of the literary world he can sometimes find himself caught up in some nefarious reading experiences. Barker’s world resembles the sea of Quiddity, and the more time I spend there, the more warped mentally and bodily deformed I become. I do eventually recover, but one must pace oneself.
This is a sprawling, ambitious, imaginative work that will put your mind through some mental gymnastics, but as the pieces fall into place and you start to understand your way around a bit, you will find the reading experience highly rewarding. The more I read of Clive Barker the more I respect what he is trying to accomplish. A reader can’t just dip her toe into the water and decide if his works are too hot or too cold or just right for her. You must immerse yourself and let Barker unsnap the constrictions on your mind and allow your thoughts to roam free as he influences what you believe to be real and what you could believe to be real.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
January 4, 2016
How can I best describe The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker, well if you imagine the start being at one end of a swimming pool, and the swimming pool is filled with jelly (or jello to some) made from a cocktail of your favourite alcoholic spirits and liqueurs.
And to reach the end you've got to wade through this Olympic sized jelly filled swimming pool, right, so chances are you're going to enjoy a fair portion of it before you get full anyway. There's going to be some enjoyment, mixed in with some fucking hard work, there's going to be intense appreciation of the idea but it's not something you can possibly do in one go, it might take you weeks and you may even decide to eat your way through it, taking even longer. You’ll grow tired, weak even, your arms will ache but you’ll soldier on even though you think it’s just not bloody worth it.
There'll be all kinds of feelings going through your mind, a myriad of emotions, like why the Fuck did I start this massive fucking job now. Jesus fucking wept you will swear several times and hover over diving in again until you desperately need to just get it over with, as if your life depends on it.
So to recap it's going to be hard going, you'll love some of it, you'll get pissed at some of it, you'll feel like taking a break at regular intervals and you might even question your will to finish the job, even your sanity but if you do finish, it will certainly hold some sort of reward and a sense of achievement will prevail.
Anyway apologies for that rubbish but that's how I felt at times, I started this book in November and it’s taken me six weeks to read and I'm fucking glad it's over with. It's unquestionably genius, the writing is imaginative with wonderful prose, it's a great story but it labours horrifically, I loved it while at the same time I hated it and I'll never, ever think to pick it up again, in fact I'm going to cremate this fucker. Now I have a few other Barker tomes awaiting Imajica, Coldheart Canyon and Weaveworld, will I read them anytime soon? Only when I want to wade through jelly again. Nuff said.
A 3.5* rating
Also posted at http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...
And to reach the end you've got to wade through this Olympic sized jelly filled swimming pool, right, so chances are you're going to enjoy a fair portion of it before you get full anyway. There's going to be some enjoyment, mixed in with some fucking hard work, there's going to be intense appreciation of the idea but it's not something you can possibly do in one go, it might take you weeks and you may even decide to eat your way through it, taking even longer. You’ll grow tired, weak even, your arms will ache but you’ll soldier on even though you think it’s just not bloody worth it.
There'll be all kinds of feelings going through your mind, a myriad of emotions, like why the Fuck did I start this massive fucking job now. Jesus fucking wept you will swear several times and hover over diving in again until you desperately need to just get it over with, as if your life depends on it.
So to recap it's going to be hard going, you'll love some of it, you'll get pissed at some of it, you'll feel like taking a break at regular intervals and you might even question your will to finish the job, even your sanity but if you do finish, it will certainly hold some sort of reward and a sense of achievement will prevail.
Anyway apologies for that rubbish but that's how I felt at times, I started this book in November and it’s taken me six weeks to read and I'm fucking glad it's over with. It's unquestionably genius, the writing is imaginative with wonderful prose, it's a great story but it labours horrifically, I loved it while at the same time I hated it and I'll never, ever think to pick it up again, in fact I'm going to cremate this fucker. Now I have a few other Barker tomes awaiting Imajica, Coldheart Canyon and Weaveworld, will I read them anytime soon? Only when I want to wade through jelly again. Nuff said.
A 3.5* rating
Also posted at http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...
December 25, 2015
To label The Great and Secret Show a horror novel would be to do it a disservice. "Arty horror" would be closer to the mark but that sounds silly and would still be inadequate. “Dark fantasy” sounds good to me though it deemphasizes the horror aspect of it a little too much, may be it is more phantasm than fantasy. Not that labels really matter, a good book is a good book regardless of whatever label you slap on it. I am only going on about it just to have some kind of intro!
To tell you what this book is about is a fairly complicated undertaking (best left to undertakers perhaps). It starts with one Randolph Jaffe’s quest for mastery of “The Art”, not just any old art but a craft or power that has the capability to tear a hole in the fabric of reality and create an opening to another dimension called Quiddity. Quiddity is a mystical dream sea, a sea of the mind that most people visit twice in their lives. “Once the first night you slept out of the womb. The second occasion the night you lay beside the person you loved.” That does not make much sense out of the context of the book so just imagine the weirdest goddamn sea you can and then pile on extra weirdness on top. The Quiddity sea changes you and is generally extremely bad for your complexion:
Credit Gabriel Rodríguez Pérez (from graphic novel adaptation)
Jaffe’s pursuit of the Art leads to his eventually becoming something other than human and triggers a possible supernatural apocalypse that threatens all human lives. What starts out as a man’s quest for power becomes a titanic struggle between good and evil where the battles often takes surreal forms.
Randolph Jaffe (AKA The Jaff). Again credit Gabriel Rodríguez Pérez.
That little synopsis barely scratches the surface of the novel’s plot. The Great and Secret Show is a dark fantasy of epic proportions (though “epic fantasy” has an entire different connotation, usually associated with Tolkien’s or George R.R. Martin’s kind of fantasy). With this book is Clive Barker is at the peak of his creativity, here he has created a brand new mythos about the nature of dreams and reality that is mind blowing. The storyline is quite complex but clearly narrated so there is never any problem following it. Fans of bizarre critters should have a field day with this book which is populated by some very bizarre and often disgusting creatures. For example you know how low budget horror movies from the 80s often feature shitty monsters? This book literally has shitty monsters made from actual fecal matter! There are also various other bizarre creatures made from fear and others made from dreams that I can not even begin to describe.
The book is full of horrific moments, surreal dream-like moments and even comical moments and romantic bits. I would not recommend it to anyone who is easily offended though. If you avert your eyes at Game of Thrones’ most outrageous scenes then leave The Great and Secret Show on the shelf. Barker's prose style is hard to pin down, sometime he takes flight into lyricism, other times he dives into the language of the gutter (he certainly seems to use the “C word” a lot). The multiple protagonists are all well drawn. The most memorable one being the evil Randolph Jaffe (AKA The Jaff) and the kickass heroine Tesla. I am quite impressed by how quickly Barker can introduce and develop characters that are vivid and believable, in a few pages within a single chapter mostly through dialog.
At the end of the day I can whole heartedly recommend The Great and Secret Show to anyone looking for a fantastical – or perhaps phantasmagorical – read. You won’t be disappointed (if you are, you shouldn’t be!).
To tell you what this book is about is a fairly complicated undertaking (best left to undertakers perhaps). It starts with one Randolph Jaffe’s quest for mastery of “The Art”, not just any old art but a craft or power that has the capability to tear a hole in the fabric of reality and create an opening to another dimension called Quiddity. Quiddity is a mystical dream sea, a sea of the mind that most people visit twice in their lives. “Once the first night you slept out of the womb. The second occasion the night you lay beside the person you loved.” That does not make much sense out of the context of the book so just imagine the weirdest goddamn sea you can and then pile on extra weirdness on top. The Quiddity sea changes you and is generally extremely bad for your complexion:
Credit Gabriel Rodríguez Pérez (from graphic novel adaptation)
Jaffe’s pursuit of the Art leads to his eventually becoming something other than human and triggers a possible supernatural apocalypse that threatens all human lives. What starts out as a man’s quest for power becomes a titanic struggle between good and evil where the battles often takes surreal forms.
Randolph Jaffe (AKA The Jaff). Again credit Gabriel Rodríguez Pérez.
That little synopsis barely scratches the surface of the novel’s plot. The Great and Secret Show is a dark fantasy of epic proportions (though “epic fantasy” has an entire different connotation, usually associated with Tolkien’s or George R.R. Martin’s kind of fantasy). With this book is Clive Barker is at the peak of his creativity, here he has created a brand new mythos about the nature of dreams and reality that is mind blowing. The storyline is quite complex but clearly narrated so there is never any problem following it. Fans of bizarre critters should have a field day with this book which is populated by some very bizarre and often disgusting creatures. For example you know how low budget horror movies from the 80s often feature shitty monsters? This book literally has shitty monsters made from actual fecal matter! There are also various other bizarre creatures made from fear and others made from dreams that I can not even begin to describe.
The book is full of horrific moments, surreal dream-like moments and even comical moments and romantic bits. I would not recommend it to anyone who is easily offended though. If you avert your eyes at Game of Thrones’ most outrageous scenes then leave The Great and Secret Show on the shelf. Barker's prose style is hard to pin down, sometime he takes flight into lyricism, other times he dives into the language of the gutter (he certainly seems to use the “C word” a lot). The multiple protagonists are all well drawn. The most memorable one being the evil Randolph Jaffe (AKA The Jaff) and the kickass heroine Tesla. I am quite impressed by how quickly Barker can introduce and develop characters that are vivid and believable, in a few pages within a single chapter mostly through dialog.
At the end of the day I can whole heartedly recommend The Great and Secret Show to anyone looking for a fantastical – or perhaps phantasmagorical – read. You won’t be disappointed (if you are, you shouldn’t be!).
December 2, 2021
“Is there any good news?'' Tesla said.
Who ever promised that? Who ever said there'd be good news?”
•
Well I've news for you, I didn't particularly like this book; this is the kind of book that throws me into a slump.
The start of it was full of promise, but after that it got too dense, the characters became forgetful and it just didn't make a lick of sense to me.
I've never gotten so lost in my life, like it got to the point where I literally didn't have a clue what was going on.
I've been a Barker fan for half my life and this is my least favourite of his by far.
Barker has said in interviews that this novel was the hardest to write of all his books, I can appreciate this, he never gave up and I suppose there's loads of people out there who see this as a masterpiece; i can appreciate that too - but this one just isn't for me.
I thought it was hard enough getting my head around Imajica but this one is just too much.
I'll try again someday, maybe with the help of an audiobook but right now I'm looking forward to my next Barker read, always!! ♡
Who ever promised that? Who ever said there'd be good news?”
•
Well I've news for you, I didn't particularly like this book; this is the kind of book that throws me into a slump.
The start of it was full of promise, but after that it got too dense, the characters became forgetful and it just didn't make a lick of sense to me.
I've never gotten so lost in my life, like it got to the point where I literally didn't have a clue what was going on.
I've been a Barker fan for half my life and this is my least favourite of his by far.
Barker has said in interviews that this novel was the hardest to write of all his books, I can appreciate this, he never gave up and I suppose there's loads of people out there who see this as a masterpiece; i can appreciate that too - but this one just isn't for me.
I thought it was hard enough getting my head around Imajica but this one is just too much.
I'll try again someday, maybe with the help of an audiobook but right now I'm looking forward to my next Barker read, always!! ♡
February 8, 2008
This book bordered on a religious revelation to me. I absolutely adore the style it is written in and the subject matter tears at the fabric of your understanding of reality. I questioned what I know in a way that harkens back to Plato's 'The Cave'. Is reality real or is it just shadows on the wall inside something bigger than I can understand?
Clive Barker has a way of making dark and sinister characters intriguing and not nightmare inducing.
Clive Barker has a way of making dark and sinister characters intriguing and not nightmare inducing.
September 14, 2020
It's easy to measure the reader's enthusiasm with novels such as this one. Eager, excited, the pages go by fast; on the other hand, when it lags it is extremely... languid. The switching of character's allegiances is a cool trick which Barker has undoubtedly mastered (for no one is entirely good nor entirely evil...as always, its just a matter of selfishness)--also his mythology-making abilities are outstanding. This however, is overdone. I mean, several key characters are spirited away for the last (and overly long) act and they are soon replaced by less-interesting doppelgangers. But I keep thinking Barker got pretty tired with his original cast--indicative of messy story planning. This one grows steadily into tediousness. Also, & perhaps the gravest crime of all: the nifty nightmare creatures are ill used in a sorry way.
My advice: Put this one and "Sacrament" in a "Never Read" pile, but still, please, keep Barker in pop culture consciousness by sticking with "Books of Blood, Vol. 1-3" & "The Thief of Always."
My advice: Put this one and "Sacrament" in a "Never Read" pile, but still, please, keep Barker in pop culture consciousness by sticking with "Books of Blood, Vol. 1-3" & "The Thief of Always."
January 27, 2015
Even better the second time around. If I could rate it higher, I would. Of course, I believe this is essential reading for horror/dark fantasy fans. I will be revisiting the sequel, Everville, next.
June 18, 2019
Stories had a way of doing that, in Grillo’s experience. It was his belief that nothing, but nothing, could stay secret, however powerful the forces with interests vested in silence. Conspirators might conspire and thugs attempt to gag but the truth, or an approximation of same, would show itself sooner or later, very often in the unlikeliest form. It was seldom hard facts that revealed the life behind the life. It was rumour, graffiti, strip cartoons and love songs.
Jaffe has a tedious job in a work office: its main task is to sort through all the unopened letters that for different reasons haven't been delivered. Every day, he has to go though hundreds of envelopes: love letters, postcards, the occasional dollar bill... until one day, in one of them, he catches a glimpse of something; a fragment of information which becomes to connect with other fragments, until, after a few months, Jaffe starts to realize that someone, out there, knows a truth which could change every idea we have about ourselves and out reality, and he's ready to do everything in his power to gain full access to it.
I've never read any Clive Barker before, so I decided to go for this one because of all the positive reviews and because of my interest in the occult. The idea behind it it's absolutely captivating: a common man accidentally discovers something he was never supposed to know, a Truth so big and terrible that no one can know it and remain unchanged. For the first 100 pages or so I couldn't lift my eyes from this book. Unfortunately, for me at least, not all the promises made in those 100 pages were met in the rest of the book: this has been one of those cases in which the idea behind a novel is great, the execution it very good, but still leaves an idea on "unfinished business". I guess this is the problem with tales of the occult and with horror in general: sometimes the idea of something, the picture we have in our head, is ten times more horrible than any concrete realization of the same concept could be. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy this book, on the contrary: I think I found a new horror author to explore and I'm very exited about that. On the other hand, my interest throughout the book varied greatly. I'm not sure I want to go on with the series, but I'm glad I read this one!
Jaffe has a tedious job in a work office: its main task is to sort through all the unopened letters that for different reasons haven't been delivered. Every day, he has to go though hundreds of envelopes: love letters, postcards, the occasional dollar bill... until one day, in one of them, he catches a glimpse of something; a fragment of information which becomes to connect with other fragments, until, after a few months, Jaffe starts to realize that someone, out there, knows a truth which could change every idea we have about ourselves and out reality, and he's ready to do everything in his power to gain full access to it.
I've never read any Clive Barker before, so I decided to go for this one because of all the positive reviews and because of my interest in the occult. The idea behind it it's absolutely captivating: a common man accidentally discovers something he was never supposed to know, a Truth so big and terrible that no one can know it and remain unchanged. For the first 100 pages or so I couldn't lift my eyes from this book. Unfortunately, for me at least, not all the promises made in those 100 pages were met in the rest of the book: this has been one of those cases in which the idea behind a novel is great, the execution it very good, but still leaves an idea on "unfinished business". I guess this is the problem with tales of the occult and with horror in general: sometimes the idea of something, the picture we have in our head, is ten times more horrible than any concrete realization of the same concept could be. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy this book, on the contrary: I think I found a new horror author to explore and I'm very exited about that. On the other hand, my interest throughout the book varied greatly. I'm not sure I want to go on with the series, but I'm glad I read this one!
January 21, 2018
”Mind was in matter, always. That was the revelation of Quiddity. The sea was the crossroads, and from it all possibilities sprang. Before everything, Quiddity. Before life, the dream of life. Before the thing solid, the solid thing dreamt. And mind, dreaming or awake, knew justice, which was therefore as natural as matter, its absence in any exchange deserving of more than a fatalistic shrug.”
Behind everything — all of life and non-life — is Quiddity: a metaphysical dream-sea, a sort of collective consciousness that is accessible only thrice in life. Those moments are just after birth, while lying after sex for the first time with one’s true love, and, finally, after death. To access it is nearly impossible, divine; it is the Art. If that sounds heady and über philosophical, especially a dark fantasy/horror novel, it is. And in a lesser author’s hands it would fall apart; this is Clive Barker, however, so 1989’s The Great and Secret Show is a masterwork.
At the heart of this novel is a war between two former acquaintances-turned-enemies: one wants to access the Quiddity, to swim that water and know its secrets; the other wants to protect it at all costs. From there spins out a tale of demonic possession and romance; incest and the apocalypse; the shallow face of West Hollywood cracking while a hole is ripped in the universe, exposing what lies beyond the only thing the human mind can comprehend: the carefully balanced façade of modern living.
This is a weird novel, and I loved every moment. I picked it up last night and couldn’t put it down. That’s almost seven-hundred pages read in forty-eight hours. Barker is an author whose prose I love to nibble on, suckle at, mull over. But I couldn’t put this book down. By combining the grotesque and fantastical, this novel is a titillating mashup of genres and ideas, all tied together with the confidence of a legendary myth maker.
Behind everything — all of life and non-life — is Quiddity: a metaphysical dream-sea, a sort of collective consciousness that is accessible only thrice in life. Those moments are just after birth, while lying after sex for the first time with one’s true love, and, finally, after death. To access it is nearly impossible, divine; it is the Art. If that sounds heady and über philosophical, especially a dark fantasy/horror novel, it is. And in a lesser author’s hands it would fall apart; this is Clive Barker, however, so 1989’s The Great and Secret Show is a masterwork.
At the heart of this novel is a war between two former acquaintances-turned-enemies: one wants to access the Quiddity, to swim that water and know its secrets; the other wants to protect it at all costs. From there spins out a tale of demonic possession and romance; incest and the apocalypse; the shallow face of West Hollywood cracking while a hole is ripped in the universe, exposing what lies beyond the only thing the human mind can comprehend: the carefully balanced façade of modern living.
This is a weird novel, and I loved every moment. I picked it up last night and couldn’t put it down. That’s almost seven-hundred pages read in forty-eight hours. Barker is an author whose prose I love to nibble on, suckle at, mull over. But I couldn’t put this book down. By combining the grotesque and fantastical, this novel is a titillating mashup of genres and ideas, all tied together with the confidence of a legendary myth maker.
March 21, 2008
This book is a trip and a half. It is weird and visceral yet I couldn't put it down. The imagery in it is sometimes graphic and downright nasty (there is a scene where one of the main characters is fascinated with a back room sex show in a bar in Mexico where a woman is having sex with a dog... and it describes it in intimate detail) but it keeps your curiosity peaked and keeps you wondering what is going to happen...
Well I finished it last night and I gotta say... wow! This Clive Barker guy has a hell of an imagination. The whole last 30 pages simply led you into a follow on book implying that this one only scratched the surface of this idea of Quiddity and the iad. It isn't very often that I get all the way through a book this fat but I did this one and I am going to get the follow up, Everville, this weekend. It is equally fat but I am looking forward to delving deeper into the world of the Shoal, Iad, Quiddity and the dream world that exists between this plane and the next...
Well I finished it last night and I gotta say... wow! This Clive Barker guy has a hell of an imagination. The whole last 30 pages simply led you into a follow on book implying that this one only scratched the surface of this idea of Quiddity and the iad. It isn't very often that I get all the way through a book this fat but I did this one and I am going to get the follow up, Everville, this weekend. It is equally fat but I am looking forward to delving deeper into the world of the Shoal, Iad, Quiddity and the dream world that exists between this plane and the next...
November 19, 2023
This is one of my favorites. It’s a book that I can re-read, time and time again without ever getting bored of it. Every time I revisit it there is a scene that I had forgotten that will surprise me. Typically I don’t like books where you spend the first few chapters with the character only to find out they’re not the protagonist. This book is the exception to that. I enjoyed the first character as much as I did the rest and the departure from one character to the next at the proper time. When characters you thought were gone return, they do so with added depth that made this book all that it could be.
February 15, 2017
Ο Μπάρκερ δημοσιεύοντας αυτό το βιβλίο έριξε (ακόμη μία φορά) τους αναγνώστες τους σε έναν ψυχεδελικό κόσμο. Η πλοκή του είναι σχετικά γρήγορη, ενώ μπαίνει κατευθείαν στο ψητό από την πρώτη σελίδα.
Μέχρι την μέση, η πλοκή είναι σταθερή, το θέμα του συγκεκριμένο και ακολουθούμε συγκεκριμένους ήρωες.
Από την μέση και μετά όμως γίνεται ένας μικρός χαμός, μπαίνουν πολλοί ήρωες στο παιχνίδι, οι περιπέτειες που ακολουθούμε πολλές (βέβαια όλες συνδέονται μεταξύ τους) και η αφήγηση γίνεται λίγο «κατάπια έκσταση και πάω σε ρέιβ πάρτυ».
Ναι, μου άρεσε όλο αυτό το σκηνικό, αν και τα ψιλοέχασα σε αρκετά σημεία. Ίσως μετά απο ένα μπουκάλι βόλτα να το κατανοούσα λίγο πιο εύκολα.
Το χάρηκα και το απόλαυσα, αν και ο Μπάρκερ δεν είναι για όλες τις ώρες, είναι πολύ ιδιαίτερος, ψιλοπαραμυθένιος, ψιλοτρελαμένος αλλά πολύ πολύ αγαπημένος!
Μέχρι την μέση, η πλοκή είναι σταθερή, το θέμα του συγκεκριμένο και ακολουθούμε συγκεκριμένους ήρωες.
Από την μέση και μετά όμως γίνεται ένας μικρός χαμός, μπαίνουν πολλοί ήρωες στο παιχνίδι, οι περιπέτειες που ακολουθούμε πολλές (βέβαια όλες συνδέονται μεταξύ τους) και η αφήγηση γίνεται λίγο «κατάπια έκσταση και πάω σε ρέιβ πάρτυ».
Ναι, μου άρεσε όλο αυτό το σκηνικό, αν και τα ψιλοέχασα σε αρκετά σημεία. Ίσως μετά απο ένα μπουκάλι βόλτα να το κατανοούσα λίγο πιο εύκολα.
Το χάρηκα και το απόλαυσα, αν και ο Μπάρκερ δεν είναι για όλες τις ώρες, είναι πολύ ιδιαίτερος, ψιλοπαραμυθένιος, ψιλοτρελαμένος αλλά πολύ πολύ αγαπημένος!
April 30, 2023
If you ever want to do drugs but without the drugs,
read this book.
The Great And Secret Show plays on beyond Quiddity - the sea of life - the vast dream-sea where one can only cross thrice in their life. Come along for the wild ride and see for yourself why it is that Quiddity must be preserved, at all cost.
I am honestly hungover from finishing this book. I'm still trying to get back to the reality where I was, before I started the journey. And perhaps I'll never truly get all the way back, for some pieces of me are still adrift within the Quiddity, lost in the grandeur of the stories that Clive Barker had woven here.
5/5 - knocked me off my socks!
The Great And Secret Show plays on beyond Quiddity - the sea of life - the vast dream-sea where one can only cross thrice in their life. Come along for the wild ride and see for yourself why it is that Quiddity must be preserved, at all cost.
I am honestly hungover from finishing this book. I'm still trying to get back to the reality where I was, before I started the journey. And perhaps I'll never truly get all the way back, for some pieces of me are still adrift within the Quiddity, lost in the grandeur of the stories that Clive Barker had woven here.
5/5 - knocked me off my socks!
May 29, 2018
Flashes of brilliance followed with periods of mild boredom coming around with a few more flashes topped with moments of "wtf?" and ending with a "Damn, I'm exhausted."
Barker sure likes his epic tales, however his shorts seem to resonate a bit more for me.
Good, but inconsistent.
And about 150 to 200 pages too long...
Barker sure likes his epic tales, however his shorts seem to resonate a bit more for me.
Good, but inconsistent.
And about 150 to 200 pages too long...
July 11, 2023
Sexo. Amor prohibido. Horror.
Todos los elementos que me gustan de Clive Barker aquí me resultaron aburridos. Sí, me encanta este autor, pero sus novelas son algo con lo que no logro conectar. A mi parecer mete mucho relleno, como perspectivas (largas, muy largas) de personajes transitorios y otras cosas.
Todos los elementos que me gustan de Clive Barker aquí me resultaron aburridos. Sí, me encanta este autor, pero sus novelas son algo con lo que no logro conectar. A mi parecer mete mucho relleno, como perspectivas (largas, muy largas) de personajes transitorios y otras cosas.
May 23, 2013
Second read, 20 years later, still 5 stars.
July 17, 2021
This book has just left me feeling so conflicted. I adore Clive Barker’s writing and will read anything he writes. The beginning of this book had me really hyped up. The characters were intriguing, the story was interesting, the pace was just right and I was preparing myself for a new favourite Barker. And then we just hit a wall about halfway through. It felt like everything just ground to a halt and it became excruciating to read because it was just so long winded and unnecessary. So many characters were introduced and I just couldn’t keep them straight, it became wildly confusing to follow. Then right towards the end it flipped back, had me hooked and I was excited about what I was reading again. If it hadn’t been for the long ass middle this book would have been perfection. It’s a shame they didn’t cut at least 200 pages or so. That being said, I am still looking forward to Everville and keeping my fingers crossed that it’s a bit more snappy.
December 17, 2015
One of the worst books I've ever read.
Especially when you consider:
1. I've been a huge fan of Clive Barker since the earliest part of his career.
2. I have met and and talked with him briefly on 4 different occasions over the years, thought he was as special a guy as he is a writer, and admit I'd probably give him a slightly more favorable rating because of that.
3. I would easily give everything I've previously read of his a 4 or 5 rating and consider most of his books classics in the genres of Horror and Dark Fantasy.
SUPER disappointing. And I'm definitely NOT continuing on with the next book in this "series", Everville .
I'll stick with re-reading all the books I grew up with and love by him: Books of Blood 1 , Books of Blood 2 , Books of Blood 3 , The Inhuman Condition , In the Flesh , The Hellbound Heart , The Damnation Game , Cabal , and though I'm not quite as bewitched by it, Weaveworld .
I even liked his children's book, The Thief of Always --*True story: I once attended a Greek synagogue in San Francisco where Clive talked about everything under the sun, answering questions of all types, most by audience members. My two questions: 1. Are you a fan of Dario Argento ? He said something to the affect of, "I like several of his films, but, not all." 2. Would you ever consider writing a children's book?" Clive looked surprised, and answered a bit bright-eyed, "Yes...in fact I'm working on one now", ending that answer with a kind of wistful, puzzled grin. --Maybe I was the first person to ever ask him that, I wonder? :D
His earlier books are superior in all respects; better written, better ideas, better plot lines, better names of people & places. And addictive as HELL.
I always thought Clive Barker was a better short story writer and can attest that's still true after reading his Twilight at the Towers in The Mammoth Book of Wolf Men werewolf anthology from 2009.
Sad to think he may have lost something along the way, but I'm not certain of that.
I got a craving to read something by him I hadn't read before. Because I don't own The Scarlet Gospels - the book by him I most wanted to read - I decided on The Great and Secret Show , the book I'd left off at, after reading Weaveworld many years ago.
I didn't like the story, the characters, the plot, the sub-plots, and was dumbfounded by the terribly inferior names he used in this book.
Clive always had the coolest names of people, places and things in his books (too numerous to name!).
In this one?:
A. The evil guy is Randolph Jaffe, later calling himself THE Jaff. Why he dropped the E I have no idea why. And what kind of guy...or villain for that matter, calls himself The Jaff?
An event near the beginning in which I won't go into any detail on, for fear of it becoming a spoiler, was called The League of Virgins. The League of Virgins!? Really, Clive ? That's the best you got?
The dream place 'everybody' in this story is connected to is called Quiditty.
I apologize to the megazillion adoring fans of this novel for my unfavorable review, but how/why anyone is fascinated with this book will be the 9th Wonder of the World to me the many times I'm sure my mind will stray towards this when thinking of Clive Barker's stories & novels.
There are characters he goes on & on about their 'secret' desires. Like this one guy who collects, and is fascinated with, pornography. THIS is the sort of thing Clive wants to spend time thinking about? and develop into a memorable supporting character of his book? WOW.
A woman character uses the C word when referencing to her private area, not once, but, SEVERAL times throughout the book, and more than a handful on one page alone(!). From my understanding & experience, I have almost never heard a woman, or girl, use that word in their vocabulary. And if so, NEVER in regards to 'down there'. Maybe in reference to a girl they hate. MAYBE , I say.
Well. That about sums it up for me.
Sorry, Clive.
June 14, 2015
A gorgeous, sensuous dream of a novel that is, not surprisingly, about the stuff of dreams. Barker's signature wild mix of fantasy, sex and horror is on full display in this apocalyptic story as is his richly evocative prose. I lost myself in this story for hours on end and even ignored my dog's feeding time twice (sorry, Jake!). This is the kind of virtuoso performance I have come to expect from Barker (and what I expected, and didn't get, from The Scarlet Gospels).
I do have to say that I found this book slightly misogynistic in that Barker spends his verbal acuity differently when describing a character's sex organs. In dialog, he will have his characters use the words "cock" and "dick" to describe the male genatalia, but in his narrative voice he will describe it as a "member" or simply as "hard"; but for females, he simply uses the term "cunt" (though twice he did use the word "slit" for the same character) in dialog and narration. Such an ugly term. But it didn't hamper my enjoyment of the book at all. It just amused me greatly.
I'm looking forward to read the sequel next.
I do have to say that I found this book slightly misogynistic in that Barker spends his verbal acuity differently when describing a character's sex organs. In dialog, he will have his characters use the words "cock" and "dick" to describe the male genatalia, but in his narrative voice he will describe it as a "member" or simply as "hard"; but for females, he simply uses the term "cunt" (though twice he did use the word "slit" for the same character) in dialog and narration. Such an ugly term. But it didn't hamper my enjoyment of the book at all. It just amused me greatly.
I'm looking forward to read the sequel next.
February 7, 2010
In an exercise to get in touch with my deceased teenage self, I decided to read one of the books that really got me into reading and, incidentally, writing. Having noted already that as the palate of age matures, the enjoyment of things past lessens, I wanted the familiar nostalgia of a book from my shelf that had my old, perhaps slightly smaller, fingerprints.
The first of an incomplete trilogy, The Great and Secret Show is a novel of fantasy, horror, and sex. I must say that part of me was pleasantly surprised when rereading this book, to the extent that Barker does have a great command of language, imagination, and descriptive prowess. Following in the vein of much of his work, Barker creates new worlds, new creatures, and a mythology that is as confusing as it is intriguing. Unlike a lot of modern day mystery genres (LOST immediately comes to mind) where writers and producers have a certain grasp of the overall story, it seems here that Barker allows his imagination to run in a sort of stream of consciousness way, not really knowing where the stream's flowing. I know I know, Barker fans don't jump down my throat; I know he meticulously outlines his novels and has infinite folders of notes for such, but this book really doesn't seem to know the answers to it's own questions. I don't find this to be a particularly deal-breaking problem, but I hastily suggest to anyone who doesn't want to be frustrated with covert plots, be warned.
What works is the interesting plot, the beginning, and the end.
What doesn't work is about 400 pages in the middle. Barker is a great example of what modern day editors invest in red pens for. There are so many unnecessary characters and scenes in the book that would work well to be omitted. Moreover, the characters all seem redundant, each speaking with the same dialogue inflections and are generally indistinct.
Still, I'm nothing if not nostalgic, so Barker's world, adopted the second time, was just as thrilling as the first.
The first of an incomplete trilogy, The Great and Secret Show is a novel of fantasy, horror, and sex. I must say that part of me was pleasantly surprised when rereading this book, to the extent that Barker does have a great command of language, imagination, and descriptive prowess. Following in the vein of much of his work, Barker creates new worlds, new creatures, and a mythology that is as confusing as it is intriguing. Unlike a lot of modern day mystery genres (LOST immediately comes to mind) where writers and producers have a certain grasp of the overall story, it seems here that Barker allows his imagination to run in a sort of stream of consciousness way, not really knowing where the stream's flowing. I know I know, Barker fans don't jump down my throat; I know he meticulously outlines his novels and has infinite folders of notes for such, but this book really doesn't seem to know the answers to it's own questions. I don't find this to be a particularly deal-breaking problem, but I hastily suggest to anyone who doesn't want to be frustrated with covert plots, be warned.
What works is the interesting plot, the beginning, and the end.
What doesn't work is about 400 pages in the middle. Barker is a great example of what modern day editors invest in red pens for. There are so many unnecessary characters and scenes in the book that would work well to be omitted. Moreover, the characters all seem redundant, each speaking with the same dialogue inflections and are generally indistinct.
Still, I'm nothing if not nostalgic, so Barker's world, adopted the second time, was just as thrilling as the first.
December 9, 2017
-Un ejemplo más del conflicto entre los conceptos y la ejecución.-
Género. Narrativa fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. En el libro El gran espectáculo secreto (publicación original: The Great and Secret Show, 1989) conocemos a Randolph Jaffe, un don nadie que no encaja en ningún sitio ni consigue mantener ningún trabajo. Cuando encuentra uno en la Oficina Central de Correos de Omaha, en concreto en el departamento de cartas devueltas o perdidas, empieza a leer las misivas y comienza a ser consciente de muchas cosas, entre ellas que el mundo no es lo que parece, que existen cosas más allá como el Enjambre, la Esencia o el Arte, y decide embarcarse en una búsqueda que le traerá poder, una transformación y una némesis, Richard Wesley Fletcher. La lucha interminable de ambos afectará a un pequeño pueblo del oeste norteamericano, Palomo Grove, y a sus habitantes. Novela también conocida como El gran show secreto.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Narrativa fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. En el libro El gran espectáculo secreto (publicación original: The Great and Secret Show, 1989) conocemos a Randolph Jaffe, un don nadie que no encaja en ningún sitio ni consigue mantener ningún trabajo. Cuando encuentra uno en la Oficina Central de Correos de Omaha, en concreto en el departamento de cartas devueltas o perdidas, empieza a leer las misivas y comienza a ser consciente de muchas cosas, entre ellas que el mundo no es lo que parece, que existen cosas más allá como el Enjambre, la Esencia o el Arte, y decide embarcarse en una búsqueda que le traerá poder, una transformación y una némesis, Richard Wesley Fletcher. La lucha interminable de ambos afectará a un pequeño pueblo del oeste norteamericano, Palomo Grove, y a sus habitantes. Novela también conocida como El gran show secreto.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
October 17, 2012
An epic journey full of beautifully dark events and the characters who shape those events. Barker is such an original. Looking forward to reading the sequel to this before the year is out.
September 27, 2013
This was one of the worst books I've ever read - very possibly THE worst. I am just amazed by all of the positive feedback on Goodreads. This was my first Clive Barker novel, and it will be my last. I almost stopped reading it too many times to count, but I just hate stopping novels. I want to get through to the end and be able to rate it as a whole (which was absolute torture in this case).
Where to begin? It felt like I was reading a screenplay for some cheesy horror film with a budget of $500. I didn't give a damn about any of the characters. The dialogue was the worst I've ever read; it made the characters seem like complete idiots and it was not plausible in any way, shape, or form.
The number of taboo subjects he covers is astounding. I am not easily offended and generally welcome a taboo topic in a story here or there - if I care about the characters it can add a little excitement or drama, sure! In this book it is completely without purpose so it comes across as crude and seems he is trying to offend as many people as possible.
*Spoilers below*
The synopsis makes it seem like this is a book of good versus evil. I knew I was in a bit of trouble when Part 1 proved that the "good" character, Fletcher, was a suicidal drug addict who really doesn't give a shit about anyone, let alone saving the world. It is only out of guilt that he goes after the evil character, Jaffe. What a pal! There really ARE no good guys in this story. The woman Tesla comes in about halfway and out of nowhere she's supposed to be the main good character, after having a 2 minute conversation with Fletcher before he dies. Sorry, not buying it!
Let's talk about the sexual taboos. A twin brother lusts after his twin sister. There's a scene with a woman and a dog (no reason!). Dudes getting random hardons all over the place. An elderly man (this one takes the cake for me) gets jerked off by insects and comes onto his own feces from which little monsters are born and go after people to kill them. WHAT?!?! The word cun* is frequently used as well. It's used in the context of a woman thinking about her own body! "I like my cun* and tight ass." Excuse me??? I guess there COULD be women who think of themselves that way, but I'm sure not one of them, and I find it impossible to relate to a character (the "good" woman character!) who does.
That pretty much sums up why I hated this book.
Where to begin? It felt like I was reading a screenplay for some cheesy horror film with a budget of $500. I didn't give a damn about any of the characters. The dialogue was the worst I've ever read; it made the characters seem like complete idiots and it was not plausible in any way, shape, or form.
The number of taboo subjects he covers is astounding. I am not easily offended and generally welcome a taboo topic in a story here or there - if I care about the characters it can add a little excitement or drama, sure! In this book it is completely without purpose so it comes across as crude and seems he is trying to offend as many people as possible.
*Spoilers below*
The synopsis makes it seem like this is a book of good versus evil. I knew I was in a bit of trouble when Part 1 proved that the "good" character, Fletcher, was a suicidal drug addict who really doesn't give a shit about anyone, let alone saving the world. It is only out of guilt that he goes after the evil character, Jaffe. What a pal! There really ARE no good guys in this story. The woman Tesla comes in about halfway and out of nowhere she's supposed to be the main good character, after having a 2 minute conversation with Fletcher before he dies. Sorry, not buying it!
Let's talk about the sexual taboos. A twin brother lusts after his twin sister. There's a scene with a woman and a dog (no reason!). Dudes getting random hardons all over the place. An elderly man (this one takes the cake for me) gets jerked off by insects and comes onto his own feces from which little monsters are born and go after people to kill them. WHAT?!?! The word cun* is frequently used as well. It's used in the context of a woman thinking about her own body! "I like my cun* and tight ass." Excuse me??? I guess there COULD be women who think of themselves that way, but I'm sure not one of them, and I find it impossible to relate to a character (the "good" woman character!) who does.
That pretty much sums up why I hated this book.
April 13, 2009
First published in 1989, 'The Great And Secret Show' formed the first book of 'The Art' proposed trilogy. The novel is a complex weave of storylines, woven together to form this impressive and compelling tale of fantasy that sends you into a world with seemingly no limits. The novel not only opens up the reader's own imagination but brings forward suggestive images and ideas that remain with you for years to come. Barker manages to capture your attention from the start and keep you gripped throughout the 688 pages that form this beautifully crafted novel. The whole story is absolute genius that I would recommended to absolutely anyone who wishes to be taken into a world of the fantastic.
The mysterious sea of Quiddity is intriguing and inspiring, bringing a majestic and surreal element to this hugely creative novel. The story has a fair sprinkling of the bizarre that hints towards Barker’s earlier horror work. As a series, I would definitely say that these first two books of the art have proven to be my favorite of all Barker’s work.
‘The Great And Secret Show’ was followed by the 1994 sequel 'Everville', which carries on perfectly from the first novel. A third and final volume is planned, but as Clive Barker announced in a past interview, the third installment has proved to be a real struggle and is finding itself to be longer than the first two volumes put together! Hopefully one day the novel will find itself finally being released.
To quote Barker himself on the matter:
“The third Book of the Art takes place in Quiddity, the Dream Sea. I have been planning that for five years, and have 500, maybe 600 pages of notes towards that novel. A week doesn’t go by without my contributing something to that”.
If you haven’t already taken yourself on the voyage into these books, I urge you to take it up now. Enjoy!
The mysterious sea of Quiddity is intriguing and inspiring, bringing a majestic and surreal element to this hugely creative novel. The story has a fair sprinkling of the bizarre that hints towards Barker’s earlier horror work. As a series, I would definitely say that these first two books of the art have proven to be my favorite of all Barker’s work.
‘The Great And Secret Show’ was followed by the 1994 sequel 'Everville', which carries on perfectly from the first novel. A third and final volume is planned, but as Clive Barker announced in a past interview, the third installment has proved to be a real struggle and is finding itself to be longer than the first two volumes put together! Hopefully one day the novel will find itself finally being released.
To quote Barker himself on the matter:
“The third Book of the Art takes place in Quiddity, the Dream Sea. I have been planning that for five years, and have 500, maybe 600 pages of notes towards that novel. A week doesn’t go by without my contributing something to that”.
If you haven’t already taken yourself on the voyage into these books, I urge you to take it up now. Enjoy!
December 30, 2016
Πρώτη επαφή με το συγγραφέα και -σίγουρα- όχι η τελευταία. Μια θάλασσα αισθήσεων και παραισθήσεων από μια χαρισματικότατη πένα, το Μεγάλο Μυστικό Θέαμα σταδιακά σου αποκαλύπτει το σκοτεινό μεγαλείο του και σε παγιδεύει μέσα του. Θα μπορούσα να αναλωθώ λέγοντας πολλά, αλλά ο καλύτερος τρόπος για να περιγράψω την όλη εμπειρία ανάγνωσης του βιβλίου είναι το ακόλουθο gif:
Το πιο εύκολο πεντάστερο μετά από καιρό. Ανακαλύψτε τον.
★★★★★
Το πιο εύκολο πεντάστερο μετά από καιρό. Ανακαλύψτε τον.
★★★★★
March 30, 2014
The Great and Secret Show reminds me of the only Tim Powers novel I’ve read,
Last Call
. And that, for anyone wanting a one-sentence review (contingent upon understanding the nature of my opinion of Last Call), is that.
In many ways, coming across a book that doesn’t interest one even though it’s a good book makes writing a review far more difficult than coming across a bad book. But if one truly reads widely—and it’s something I take pride in doing—then it will happen. So what then?
I could try to praise The Great and Secret Show for its merits, for the characteristics that endear it to other readers. Clive Barker brings an impressive imagination to the table. His credentials portray him as someone more in the “horror” camp of speculative fiction, and that’s borne out by the book—not horror in the nu-school sense of gore and death, but horror in the old-fashioned sense of dread, evil, and doom.
There are times when Barker’s baddies are positively Lovecraftian. Behind the shadows, lying in wait, pulling the strings, exist the Iad Uroboros on another plane of existence. They are the stuff of nightmares’ nightmares and want only to slip into our dimension, drive us mad, and subjugate the empty shells of human beings who are left. If that doesn’t describe an Old One, I don’t know what does. Thankfully, there is a magical "ocean" called Quiddity lying between us and them.
Central to the story is the attempt by one character to upset this balance. Randolph Jaffe is a sociopath who stumbles upon the secrets of Quiddity and the Art, gradually morphing into a less-than-human being known as the Jaff. He recruits an unconventional scientist, Fletcher, to help him with a final apotheosis. It goes wrong, but Fletcher turns against him. The two transcend human existence and wage war, embodying aspects of what a more limited mind might call “good” and “evil”. Their battles bring them to a temporary rest in Palomo Grove, California.
And then it gets to the weird, horror part of the story, what with the impregnation and the children and the creepy love-at-first-sight. But even this is good, in a sense. Even this I can understand. Barker needs to provide the reader with more human characters—the story of the endless battle between the Jaff and Fletcher has grown thin. But as various humans become drawn into the conflict, the stakes increase. The bad guys become more real, and suddenly this becomes a battle for reality itself.
For the right audience, I can see how this book would be the pitch-perfect blend of creepy horror and high-stakes urban fantasy. Alas, at times it drags, feeling far longer than it needs to be. Plus, this just isn’t my favourite corner of the fantasy realm. I enjoy a bit of darkness with my fantasy, particularly when that darkness has its origins in our own, flawed human nature, as Barker portrays through Jaffe and, to some extent, Kissoon. Yet I’m very picky when it comes to the ways in which urban fantasy deals with the interface between the magical and the mundane. The Great and Secret Show approaches the supernatural as a very spiritual, personal experience, whereas I tend to prefer magic that is showier, flashier, more style than substance. Is that crass of me? Probably. But I just like its stark contrast against the backdrop of an otherwise ordinary, regular world.
So, there is much working in favour of this book. And I’m having a hard time understanding why I didn’t enjoy it much more than I did—but this problem itself indicates to me that, for whatever reason, the book and I just didn’t click. Is this what dating feels like? I’m sorry, The Great and Secret Show: it’s not you; it’s me.
In many ways, coming across a book that doesn’t interest one even though it’s a good book makes writing a review far more difficult than coming across a bad book. But if one truly reads widely—and it’s something I take pride in doing—then it will happen. So what then?
I could try to praise The Great and Secret Show for its merits, for the characteristics that endear it to other readers. Clive Barker brings an impressive imagination to the table. His credentials portray him as someone more in the “horror” camp of speculative fiction, and that’s borne out by the book—not horror in the nu-school sense of gore and death, but horror in the old-fashioned sense of dread, evil, and doom.
There are times when Barker’s baddies are positively Lovecraftian. Behind the shadows, lying in wait, pulling the strings, exist the Iad Uroboros on another plane of existence. They are the stuff of nightmares’ nightmares and want only to slip into our dimension, drive us mad, and subjugate the empty shells of human beings who are left. If that doesn’t describe an Old One, I don’t know what does. Thankfully, there is a magical "ocean" called Quiddity lying between us and them.
Central to the story is the attempt by one character to upset this balance. Randolph Jaffe is a sociopath who stumbles upon the secrets of Quiddity and the Art, gradually morphing into a less-than-human being known as the Jaff. He recruits an unconventional scientist, Fletcher, to help him with a final apotheosis. It goes wrong, but Fletcher turns against him. The two transcend human existence and wage war, embodying aspects of what a more limited mind might call “good” and “evil”. Their battles bring them to a temporary rest in Palomo Grove, California.
And then it gets to the weird, horror part of the story, what with the impregnation and the children and the creepy love-at-first-sight. But even this is good, in a sense. Even this I can understand. Barker needs to provide the reader with more human characters—the story of the endless battle between the Jaff and Fletcher has grown thin. But as various humans become drawn into the conflict, the stakes increase. The bad guys become more real, and suddenly this becomes a battle for reality itself.
For the right audience, I can see how this book would be the pitch-perfect blend of creepy horror and high-stakes urban fantasy. Alas, at times it drags, feeling far longer than it needs to be. Plus, this just isn’t my favourite corner of the fantasy realm. I enjoy a bit of darkness with my fantasy, particularly when that darkness has its origins in our own, flawed human nature, as Barker portrays through Jaffe and, to some extent, Kissoon. Yet I’m very picky when it comes to the ways in which urban fantasy deals with the interface between the magical and the mundane. The Great and Secret Show approaches the supernatural as a very spiritual, personal experience, whereas I tend to prefer magic that is showier, flashier, more style than substance. Is that crass of me? Probably. But I just like its stark contrast against the backdrop of an otherwise ordinary, regular world.
So, there is much working in favour of this book. And I’m having a hard time understanding why I didn’t enjoy it much more than I did—but this problem itself indicates to me that, for whatever reason, the book and I just didn’t click. Is this what dating feels like? I’m sorry, The Great and Secret Show: it’s not you; it’s me.
June 22, 2023
Μια φανταστική, ονειρική περιπέτεια γεμάτη, χωρίς κενά και περιττές φλυαρίες. Μια γενναία δόση από την πένα του Barker που πραγματικά την απόλαυσα μέχρι τελευταίας σταγόνας. Οσονούπω θα συνεχίσω και με το δεύτερο βιβλίο.
Προτείνεται.
Προτείνεται.
December 8, 2020
DNF.
I wasn't a fan of Weaveworld but i wanted to give him another chance. This is worse.
I wasn't a fan of Weaveworld but i wanted to give him another chance. This is worse.
October 13, 2014
I couldn't do. I freaking tried, I really did. It got so many rave reviews so my hopes were high. The beginning was great. The concept really worked, but at part three it was like the book was taken over by another author, a bad one at that. The characters became empty, there was nothing to them. And the supposed scary parts, to me, were B-movie laughable. Not scary or even creepy at all. The dialogue became flat as well as the characters. I had to stop. The thought that after 600 something pages, there were two other books to continue, helped me to quickly realize it was not a story even worth making myself finish.
September 13, 2014
Clive Barker is my favourite author, because he's been taking my mind to places I didn't think possible, since I was 10 years old!!! I'd love to re-read many of his books. This is one of my favourite books by him.
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