Rating: 
Summary: not a bad book to read
Review: of course, Clive Barker's movies like Hellraiser are much better than what he writes on paper. overall it's not the best book but the contents are somewhat interesting and leaves the readers to wonder if the dream sea ever existed in this world
Rating: 
Summary: This IS the best book I have ever read.
Review: In this strange book of "art" you will be clinging to your seat, it will MAKE you want to turn and read the next page.
Rating:
Summary: Tedious but interesting
Review: My first foray into the world of clive barker was this 600+ page passage that, I feel, could have said as much in half the space. The story was very fresh, unique and interesting, as well as dark and twisted. I enjoyed plunging into the corruptness of souls and their covetous desires. Sometimes character development lagged for major the characters. The first 1/3 of the book read like a nascar race, the remainder, a rush-hour traffic jam! Anyway, it was entertaining enough to read cover to cover, as well as peek my desire for number two. To his credit, Mr. Barker has created his own genre.
Rating:
Summary: Slow, But a good setup for Everville.
Review: Although this book had a good story content I felt as though it lagged and had to push myself to finish it. However, It setts up the reader wonderfully for Everville which continues on with the story at a quicker pace with a more entertaining storyline. If you want to read Barkers best check out the Imajica books, The Theif of Always (has get illustations), or Weaveworld.
Rating:
Summary: An artist with words
Review: I have read the other reviews, for this edition and the others, I have to agree with most of the other comments. This would have to be the best piece of literature I have ever read. Clive Barker can truly paint a picture with words. I love the erotic mystery and the struggle that evolves as the story unfolds. I could not put the book down, it is definitely a book that you only read when you don't have to go to work next day. After reading Great and Secret Show, I was addicted to Barker. Everville would have to be the next best as the Great & Secret Show was fully revealed in Everville. Barker is truly a master of words.
Lyn Buxton Australia
Rating:
Summary: The Great and Secret Book
Review: "The Great and Scret Show" is undoubtedly one of the best books of our time in the genre of the horror/thriller/action epic. This book takes you on a ride through the lives of numerous deeply developed characters and the hauntingly chilling (and thrilling) ways that their lives are entangled through the "art". Although is may seem starnge that you haven't heard of his work, Barker is arguably the best storyteller that this generation has had access to. His stories are beautiful, horrifying, erotic, suspenseful, and believable at the same time. This is also, most likely, his best work. This book can easily consume your life, and when it is finished, it feels as though you have been in another place living another life. That is the work of a great story teller, which Barker certainly is. "The Great and Secret Show" is the best of his stories.
Rating:
Summary: Forget the "horror" classification and open your mind...
Review: I passed this book on to my dentist, an avid and discriminating reader to whom I always bring my finished novels at check-up time. His first remark was, "I don't read horror novels." Before he could get his hands in my mouth, I made my case for this book...Forget the generic classification. This is a story from the most original and creative novelist I have encountered in many years. Just start reading with an open mind. Soon you will not put it down. Other reviewers have described what they can of it, so I will only mention my reaction upon finishing it. Remember how you felt after certain original Star Trek episodes - a kind of hope against hope in the seemingly impossible? That is what I felt, however fleetingly - I wished it were true, that I could explore these places and meet these beings. And it started me wondering about this and that...and I can't find higher praise for a novel or novelist than that fact. My dentist, though still sceptical, did accept the book and I hope he takes the plunge and enjoys it as much as I did.
Rating:
Summary: The Quest for the Parallel of Existance
Review: The Great and Secret Show is a magnificent tale of morality and ambition. Barker uses his ability to grasp a reader to the point of siglemindedness to give you a fascinating perspective on the thrill of his imagination. A battle fought between good and evil by the sons and daughters of the light and darkness. Told with so much originality that even the most supreme analytical mind wouldn't know what to expect next. A tale of a time out of time, the religion of religions', a sea of tranquility and the power of a god. Mike Scott
Hamilton, Ontario
Rating: 
Summary: I got through it, but didn't get it.
Review: After reading Weaveworld, I thought Clive Barker would be my fantasy novelist of preference. The Great and Secret Show had its moments of ephiphany like WW, but not enough for its hundreds and hundreds of pages. Maybe I just didn't get it, but at the same time, you should not have to read three hundred pages into any book to realize you are wasting your time. But committed, I read on and in the end enjoyed the epic, vowing never to read Barker again
Rating:
Summary: A good versus evil epoch, probably Barker's best!
Review: The story is focussed around two men who attain high spritual power; one from hard work, dedication and some insanity - the other by curiosity and pure chance. The two characters come face to face in a confrontation unequalled in a story of this genre. If you hate picking up a book and reading, only to realize that
you're late for work because you were up all night reading it,
this book is not for you; but if you enjoy the twisted plots
that Barker is so famous for, a story line that presses on until
the end...then you will enjoy a Great and Secret Show.
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