The Great and Secret Show

by Clive Barker

Book Overview

"Clive Barker's career has been building up to The Great and Secret Show. . . . A cross between Gravity's Rainbow and J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings, allusive and mythic, complex and entertaining.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061099015
• ISBN13: 9780061099014
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 688 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Very good book!!!

The detail in the character's is what I liked and just the storyline

A masterpiece of imagination from Barker

This is a masterpiece of imagination from Barker. Randolph Jaffe was a failure post office employee who wanted to be big, but ended up small. Along with his co-workers he started opening mail and, in doing so, found a secret that another world existed besides ours. Thus, he went to find this world and with it the power to rule. Not learning anything from his own miserable life, he mistreated the power to create evil. Thus he opened the gates to our own world and created a battle of chaos. Superb.

Worth the effort

Like most of Barker's works, "The Great and Secret Show" is not an easy read, and is not recommended as an introduction to the fantasy/horror genre. For those who have the requisite mindset, though, this book is a jewel.Randolph Jaffe's corruption by the Nuncio, Fletcher's pitiful attempts to stop him, Jo-Beth and Howie's ultimate star-crossed love, Tesla, Raul, Kissoon, the terata and Lix... they're all burned into the reader's mind by the force of Barker's writing. The concepts embodied in TGaSS are mind-blowing: more than once since my first reading of this book and Everville, I've found myself thinking of "the past, the future, and the dreaming moment between, all one country living one immortal day."Barker's unconventional treatment of Christianity and homosexuality will doubtless offend some. For the more open-minded, and those with a bent for truly fantastic writing, "The Great and Secret Show" is an absolute treasure.

Like an Old Friend ....

Like an old friend you will want to see this novel again and again and again even if it is only to rehash old stories. this book is truly exceptional. Not many writers can actually make you visualize settings with only words. the story, the plot or your own desire to read the novel will compel you to stay with it. Not this novel, the magic Clive barker performs by actually letting you be in the novel and feel for these characters will drag you through to the end. when you do finally complete this book you will wish that it goes on for another 1000 pages. It is truly a wonderful novel and something that will stay with you for years after you read it.I read this book when I was in High School and I never will forget it.READ IT AS SOON AS YOU CAN!!! You will not regret it.

A grand tale with high payoff for the reader...

I read this maybe 5 years ago after a friend suggested it. I had mentioned at the time how much I had loved Stephen King's The Stand and my friend suggested I would really enjoy this as well. At the time I doubted anything could be as epic and grand as The Stand was but after reading the entire book in a day or two I realized I was very wrong. The way Barker brings the characters to life is wonderful and I can not begin to describe how well paced the book is. You are constantly wanting to read further and discover what lies on the next page and what great thing will happen to these characters you feel you know. The book is a very long one but you will be unable to tear yourself away and will fly though it much as I did. If you enjoy King or Koontz at all you will love this book and wonder why you haven't read it before.

Barker never ceases to amaze

This, simply put, is one of the best books ever written. The characters are well drawn out, the plot never stops twisting, and there is more imagination put into the inventions in this book than in any other two. It is not a hardcore horror novel but there are some interesting, cerebral scares nonetheless. Clive is able to create other worlds and conventions so efforlessly that concepts like The Art, The Shoal, and Quiddity seem commonplace once you are done the book. The characters got to be so familiar that I couldn't wait to read Everville (also mind-bogglingly amazing) so I could revisit old friends and places. If you want to introduce yourself to Barker or are already familiar with his work and haven't read this novel, you WILL buy this book.