Rating: 
Summary: Barker's Greatest Novel?
Review: Seamlessly blending the 'Supernatural Horror' elements that populate much of Barker's other written/filmed work ["The Damnation Game"/"Hellraiser"/etc.] with the 'Real-Life' horrors of the world today, including the envirornmental catastrophe/mass extinction currently happening on a daily basis and the AIDS epidemic, I think "Sacrament" may have trumped "Weaveworld" as Clive's best novel. It's scary as hell and yet resonating with the beauty and wonder of the world (now largely being decimated), and one of the best treatments of love and friendship in the face of a tight-knit community being eroded away by outside forces (AIDS in this case). The vivid writing immediately transports you to the scene itself, the fierce snowstorm or long grasses blowing soundfully in the wind, and the book has an ideal protagonist in the form of a wildlife photographer who chronicles the fate of endangered and moribund species, and chillingly appropriate villains in the form of a pair who hunts down the last survivors of near-extinct species for the express purpose of personally ending their kind's existance. Also mixing in a healthy dose of spiritualism, "Sacrament" is great on so many levels, but be forewarned: Barker outdoes himself on a couple of the grotesqueries, excluding of course "The Great And Secret Show", which got a bit too vile for my tastes. Unlike Secret Show, however, which was far more cynical and nastier than even the most violent and bizarre of Barker's movies, the depravities and crudities of certain villains in "Sacrament" compliments the story well instead of choking it in nihilism.
An excellent piece of literature both as a great horror/fantasy hybrid and as a look at non-fictional trends in the world today (extinctions, intolerance, AIDs, etc.) that threaten to crush us all.
Rating: 
Summary: Sometimes we tell the same story over and over until...
Review: ...until it's perfect. Yes, I know those who follow Mr. Barker will see the same old hat, while true fans will see the author bathing in the refiner's fire. Clive Barker's message throughout all of his books is a hard one to deliver, and lies at the cores of our lives. It can best be grasped in "Lord of Illusions (the film)" when Nix states: "I was a man who wanted to be a god and changed my mind."While on the road to the godhead one often finds oneself lacking faith, and this loss will allow vengefullness to creep into one's power. This concept is drummed into the reader by Clive over and over. While far less disturbing than "The Damnation Game," and much less fantastical than "Imajica," "Sacrament" finds its balance. Everyone knows that Clive Barker is a homosexual at this point in his life, and his novels are littered with sodomy and gender-bending. What's all the fuss about? Nobody is ever going to see the big picture if they drown themselves in the opposite sex. Come on, Rosa and Steep were twin souls in the extreme, and look how confused they were! Only a gay male could put them back together. Will Rabjohns is the closest thing to "Gentle's" shape-shifting sex slave in "Imajica." Only the beings who aren't caught up in the struggle between polarities seem to make it home in Barker's finely woven world.
Rating:
Summary: A story of reluctant shamanism
Review: A shaman may not get you out of this alive, but he will get you out whole. No, I don't think I'm stretching things too far to say that the primary focus of this novel is shamanism. It's all there: a sensitive, "different", psychic youngster; the meeting with spirits in the wild early in life; the NDE that opened him up again in adult hood; "Lord Fox" as power animal and spirit guide; the uniting and healing of partial souls; the recognition of a calling; the helping of dead spirits across the veil; even the philosopher father writing about the boundary between the inner and outer worlds fading away. Even the Domus Mundi, the house of the world, echoes Native American teachings about the great circle of the world, of life. It's all shamanism. The main character of Will Rabjohns is a perfect candidate for this calling, for he already knows what it is like to live on the boundary between two worlds. On the other hand the character of Rukenau shows the left hand path- the magus who seeks to force and distort natural and supernatural forces to serve his will. It is the difference between he who serves Balance, and he who serves Imbalance. It took a lot of guts for Clive Barker to write this novel. First of all it lays much of the author's personal life and experience open to the public. Secondly, in writing about shamanism, the vast majority of the general public just isn't going to "get it."
Rating:
Summary: Barker's intimate Book
Review: A wonderful book about extinction, AIDS, life, death, childhood, adulthood, lust, love, hatered, and every thing in between. It is not an epic novel on the scale of some of his past works but a book that keeps you thinking well past its conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: Epic tale of the natural and supernatural
Review: A wonderfully different and more personal novel from Barker, in which a wildlife photographer is attacked and seriously wounded by a polar bear. While in a coma, he relives his life in England, and the lifechanging moment when he met up with a pair of immortal wanderers, one of whom seems intent on wiping out life on our world. When he awakens, the photographer returns to his roots, and soon finds himself crossing paths with the two immortals, and finds himself on a journey of supernatural proportion. Wonderful, human story with real emotions and real issues, wrapped up in a grand fantasy to delight and thrill the ages. One of Barker's best.
Rating:
Summary: A mystic journey into the natural world
Review: Although Barker earned his name with his early books on horror and scaring you, most of his later novels are more fantasy based. Usually they include a mystic journey between our world and another world existing just beyond our senses. These novels are often huge in length and very difficult to briefly sum up without sound crazy. This novl started out as a much more real story than Barker has done in a while, but it did turn into another mystic journey; a much more centered and specific story than other novels, but still a journey. However, this novel is much more reachable and attainable than his other mystic journeys as in Imajica. The story focuses on Will Rabjohns, a photographer who focuses on photographing dying animals, an influence which came from an experience with Jacob Steep who had taken the task of documenting and exterminating the last animals of a species. (See what I mean about not being able to easily summarize and still sound sane.) The symbolism within the novel is rich and plenty and often sublime. And before the story is complete, your view of good guys/bad guys becomes instead a view of nature and that is how people act. This in turn becomes symbolic as the entire story is seen to be about nature and life. It is a story that I very much reccomend! END
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable read
Review: Although the book lacks some of the stronger elements of character development seen in some of his works
(i.e. imajica, great and secret show), this book leads
the reader on a more personal journey into the psyche
of the main character. One of the few "main stream"
publications today that provide a strong, believable
gay main character. Barker does not fall into the
trap of making his character the tired cliché in which
many authors fall prey. For me the story line fell
short in few places, and even when it did, Barker's
ability to enthrall his reader carried me quickly
through my trouble spots. Overall, one of the more
enjoyable and entertaining books I have read recently.
Rating: 
Summary: An author's catharsis
Review: As a fan of Clive Barker, I was disappointed with this latest offering. While it incorporated some of his usual insights to life in beautifully written passages while intertwined with fantastical realms, I felt that in this book these elements were rarely and unsuccessfully interspersed in the sea of the author's personal catharsis. The story was made up of tangents without one direct course. It seemed mainly to be a very personal and real novel, but then, as if he'd meant it to be a fantasy novel or as if he realized he was getting too tangential on this level, he'd drop in elements of fantasy. It was as if he'd cut and pasted these elements of fantasy into the novel almost as an afterthought. While the analogies were made, I felt that it was an unsuccessful combination. As I said, while I appreciate Barker's writings and also the rare bits of this book that were insightful, I felt that the book overall was a disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't finish it!
Review: As a gay man I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the main character in this book was gay. However I found the plot a bit boring and not very grippihng, though after reading the reviews here I might go back and finish it. I would also like to comment on some of the reviewers who found the story good but were put off because the main character was gay. Well now you know how us gay folk feel when we read a main stream novel for the story but find it riddled with heterosexuality. Like the guy below me, I find myself tuning out the love scenes in main stream books because they simply bore me. I live for the day when all books will appeal to all readers. I thank Barker, Anne, Rice and others who write with open minds and include a diverse range of characters not carbon copies; if only most writers would write like this.
Rating:
Summary: Barker's gambit pays off as he enters the non-horror genre.
Review: Clive Barker has been hailed the horror genre master by fans and fellow authors alike. With his latest offering, he suceeds in his coup to enter the non-horror field. He draws the readers into the heart of his characters. They get caught by the plot flow and drawn into the story as it unfolds. The protagonist, Will Rabjohns, is a moving character that has qualities that we all have within ourselves. You can not help but to feel his joy, his fear, his love, and his supreme sadness. Sacrament has all the requirements to become a classic. It is socially relevant and socially reflective. It instills in the reader a sense of something greater than ourselves and provides the hope that this greatness is achievable. Sacrament is one for the ages
|
