{"id":5322,"date":"2016-02-25T07:45:50","date_gmt":"2016-02-25T12:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=5322"},"modified":"2016-02-25T07:45:50","modified_gmt":"2016-02-25T12:45:50","slug":"slade-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=5322","title":{"rendered":"**Slade House"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"haunted

(photo: Joey Gannon, creative commons license)<\/p><\/div>\n

By David Mitchell <\/a>\u2013 I\u2019ve read all of David Mitchell\u2019s books except 2015\u2019s The Bone Clocks<\/em> and enjoyed each of them, so looked forward to reading his latest. It\u2019s the distinctive square book with the yellow die-cut cover through which Slade House\u2019s floorplan shows. While many of these other novels wandered briefly into the supernatural or uncanny, this one is firmly planted there.<\/p>\n

According to Dwight Garner<\/a> in his New York Times<\/em> review, the book grew out of a short story, published in 140-character tweets. It tells the story of five people who, nine years apart, happen into another dimension where the elaborate mansion Slade House exists and where they encounter a pair of twins, brother and sister, who are, as one would-be victim puts it, \u201cparasitic soul-slayers.\u201d They need to suck the souls of humans in order to preserve their immortality. The first victim we read about has many of the charms of the 13-year-old narrator of Black Swan Green<\/em>, but don\u2019t get too attached. He\u2019s soon replaced by a vulnerable police detective, not nearly as perceptive as he thinks he is. And so on.<\/p>\n

Mitchell is a superb writer and conjures images of Slade House and his all-too-human victims and all-too-inhuman protagonists that are hard to dispel. But, what\u2019s the point? Possibly such stories are just not my cuppa. Certainly, this one didn\u2019t appeal to me, even at the level of simple entertainment. There is no one in the book to relate to or learn from. The brother and sister are too weird (not \u201cfleshed out,\u201d I\u2019d say) and their victims on the scene too briefly. Says Garner, \u201cThese characters aren\u2019t alive enough for us to fear for them when they\u2019re in peril.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, readers who enjoy the paranormal may find themselves agreeing with the Washington Post<\/em> reviewer who said the book is \u201cdevilishly fun\u201d or The Daily Beast, <\/em>which called it \u201cdark, thrilling, and fun.\u201d While the novel was an easy-to-complete read on a five-hour plane ride, the recurring, but temporary illusion of Slade House itself was perhaps the most stable touchpoint in the whole enterprise.<\/p>\n

Maybe I should give Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House<\/em> a try and see whether I have the same reaction. Other suggestions?
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