Carrion Comfort in Bookworms Unite!

Nov 20, 2012 Adam Light rated it it was amazing

Shelves: my-personal-favorites, dan-simmons, horror, paperback, own-it

I like long books, and Carrion Comfort is very long. Clocking in at 886 pages, it isn't the longest I have read, either. The tiny typeface may have shortened the page count, though. I would love to find out the word count of this book.
I say all this not to criticize the book (as you can see, I rated it 5 stars) but to explain why it took forever to read it.
I almost dropped a star because there is some extraneous material here that could have been excised and the mind-blowing story would not hav I like long books, and Carrion Comfort is very long. Clocking in at 886 pages, it isn't the longest I have read, either. The tiny typeface may have shortened the page count, though. I would love to find out the word count of this book.
I say all this not to criticize the book (as you can see, I rated it 5 stars) but to explain why it took forever to read it.
I almost dropped a star because there is some extraneous material here that could have been excised and the mind-blowing story would not have suffered, but I savored every one of the words, so I feel that would be wrong.
This was my first Dan Simmons book and I had no real idea what to expect. I did know from friends warning me, to ignore the cover blurb comparing this to King's The Stand, so I was not disappointed to find the two are worlds apart, but both are epic in scope and flawlessly executed.
I don't remember who first recommended this book to me, but thanks a lot whoever you are.
I was lost in this story as soon as I opened it. The horror is not in your face here, but takes a backseat to more action and suspense than I expected. You get monsters, but they are not what you expect at all, at least that is how I feel.
The antagonists, and there are too many to count, are some of the most sadistic, vile and racist bunch I have encountered. I can' t help but compare the True Knot from Doctor Sleep to this group, only severely watered down and nowhere near as creepy. Maybe it is due to having read King's newest while I read this one. Not sure, but there are similarities.
I could go on forever but I finished this at 3 am and I have to stop.
I don't want to spoil anything but I will say that Saul was my favorite character. He was so well written, I never doubted his authenticity one bit. Rob Gentry and Natalie Preston were equally good.
As I mentioned, the bad guys are EVIL, and we even get a first person account from one of them, while the rest is told in third. That was interesting, and Melanie's scenes damn near steal the book.
This one gets a big well deseved 5 from me.
I will be reading more Simmons for sure. ...more

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Mar 24, 2021 Aliaa rated it liked it

Shelves: 2021

3.5 stars. Great plot but I hated almost all of the characters.

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Jul 14, 2009 Gregor Xane rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2009

Too long. The premise was OK, but it wasn't taken far enough considering the page count. I'd try another book by Simmons, but it would have to be much shorter. ...more

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Sep 27, 2012 Lee rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012-gr-challenge

I don't even know where to start with this review.

It is a long book with a lot of characters and back story. This was my first read of a Dan Simmons book and I was afraid that with the size it was just going to be a wordy, boring mess. I was really worried after reading the introduction in the twentieth anniversary edition that I got. While somewhat interesting, the introduction was wordy and seemed somewhat arrogant in parts. It almost seemed to say I am smarter than you and I know it. I thoug I don't even know where to start with this review.

It is a long book with a lot of characters and back story. This was my first read of a Dan Simmons book and I was afraid that with the size it was just going to be a wordy, boring mess. I was really worried after reading the introduction in the twentieth anniversary edition that I got. While somewhat interesting, the introduction was wordy and seemed somewhat arrogant in parts. It almost seemed to say I am smarter than you and I know it. I thought this might be a clue to how the book was going to go. I am a smart person so the big words and some of the theories didn't bother me, but I did wonder how it would appear to the average reader.

Character development was amazing in my opinion, I felt that I had a true sense of who each character was and really felt involved with them. Now with that being said, I did find that some of the character relations were a bit far stretched at times, but over all it worked. I will say that my favorite character in the book was Sheriff Gentry, he kind of reminded me of Peter Faulk as Colombo, just a small town idiot cop that was really too smart for his own good. I must also say that I liked Saul's character a lot as well. His story and his will to survive were amazing.

As far as the 'evil' characters in the book, I thought they were brilliant. Kudos to Willi and Melanie for being the most vile, despicable creatures I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I won't say anymore on that because I don't want to give anything away.

I would not classify this book as a 'horror' as I didn't find it at all terrifying. I thought the premise was sound and the story was well told. The book was not at all wordy as I feared it would be. I think that if any of the parts were left out, the story would have been incomplete. I don't think there is anything that could be trimmed.

Now with all that being said, let me tell you what kept this book from getting 5 stars from me. I know it may be a petty thing, but it was the racism in the book. I understand that a lot of the back story required it, and it was a sign of the times when the book was written, but I hated it. I myself am white, however my spouse and my step daughter are African American and I cringed every time the N word appeared in this novel. The references to how they are beneath a white person or not as smart just really pissed me off.

However with that being said, I am grateful for the progress we have made as a society since.

All in all, do I recommend this book? Yes I do. It is worth a read and I place it in my top 10 for the books I have read this year.

...more

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