Sacrament

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: Very good, if not quite wonderful
Review: I bought "Sacrament" a few years ago when it first came out in hardcover (at a bookstore in the mall in Pennsylvania where George Romero filmed "Dawn of the Dead"). I thought it would be cool to have a Clive Barker book that had breathed that air. But for some reason, I never read the book until just recently. I had read everything Clive Barker had written up to then and have now read all of his books except for "Galilee," which I plan to read soon.

"Sacrament" is a good book, and at times a very good book (there are occasional flashes of brilliance), but it never quite achieves the imaginative momentum to crest the "wonderful book" horizon as "Weaveworld," "Damnation Game" or some of the "Books of Blood" did.

I really enjoyed reading this book, but felt that the narrative meandered at times and the book probably could have been about 100 pages shorter. Barker does grapple with some deep and moving themes, however, and this book is definitely worth the read.

The protagonist, Will Rabjohns, a nature photographer, obsessed since childhood with bearing witness to the terrible end of things, is a well-drawn character that will illicit the reader's empathy and involvement in the story. Will must come to terms with what it means to be a living (and therefore mortal) creature in the world. He also comes to appreciate the pain and joy that come from realizing that we are responible for the creation of our own selves.

An entertaining and thought-provoking book. More grounded in the spiritual dilemmas of our world than many of Barker's other excellent fantasy tales.

Rating:
Summary: Stirred to the bone
Review: I finished reading Sacrament for the second time today.It seems that Clive Barker writes not just to tell a story,but to reach further out to touch the invisible fabric of something he senses ever so clearly.Yes,this story has very human characters,and within the cycle of the book they have human experiences.But as a whole,Barker knits them together in such a way as to point again and again to something undefinable,an absolute sense of spirit.It seems that he lives through his characters the same journey,the journey to wholeness,where they become one with this untouchable spirit.For me,the most inspired part of Clive's writing is the constant presence and acknowledgement of this placid spirituality just beyond our fingertips.These emotions that connect to them are supernatural,fitting in seamlessly with the flawless universes Barker creates.I dont mean to not talk about the book:Sacrament is a brilliant novel.But I was so stirred by the beauty of it,the poetry,and most of all the great clarity that Barker has in telling tales of this very real spiritual perimeter,that I forgot to outline the story and characters.No matter-the heart of this book has already been explained.

Rating:
Summary: THIS IS AN AMAZING BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Mr. Barker certainly knows how to please his readers. Even though this book doesn't fall much on the same genre like his other books, it is still one great book to read. The life of Will Rabjohns, the main character, is well elaborated in this book. You will learn what made into the man he is in the present time, by going back to his days when he was on his early teens and meeting two people, Jacob Steep and Rose McGee, who changed his life. I'm hoping this will be made into a movie soon. As for people who are still beginners to his works, you certainly will find him one of the best writers, if not the best of our days. JUST ENJOY AND SLEEP WELL AFTER READING A GOOD CLIVE BARKER BOOK

Rating:
Summary: The book that made me a fan!
Review: This is the book that made me a Clive Barker fan. The way it combines fantasy elements (the Nilotic creature as a tangible manifestation of the human desire for spirituality) with social/environmental commentary (AIDS as a metaphor for the extinction of rare species and vice versa) turns a standard "man's perversion of nature" (ex. Frankenstein) story into something relevant, poignant and haunting.

Sacrement has all the traditional visceral horror elements to please any horror fan (the polar bear attack is the most frightening sequence I've ever read in any book). But it goes a step further than most horror novels to provide the reader with one man's experience (both mundane and fantastical) that leads us to such a dark, yet marvelous, place. Well worth the time!