Rating: 
Summary: My copy is battered
Review: I re-read this book about once a year. It is a fascinating interwoven story of fairy tales, magic, coming-of-age and the loss of innocence. I have probably read it about 12 times and am still amazed at the way Straub manages to make every little story fit into the bigger story in at least two ways. I believe this book is incredibly under-valued. Once you read it, you will never forget it.
Rating: 
Summary: a review without a catchy title
Review: I enjoyed this book. It was the first Peter Straub I have read, and since then I have also read Houses Without Doors. Peter Straub is often refered to by those who need labels for things as a "more intellectualized Steven King". There is some truth to this, but not a lot. Straub's writing is less colloquial, less immediate, than King's, and he lacks King's instinctive (some might even say addictive) sense of humor. In other ways, though, many similarities can be drawn between their writing, which is why, although it has been called a lesser work, I enjoyed the Talisman (and Black House, too).
Back to the matter at hand.
Straub's writing is quite beautiful. There is a penetrating lyricism in it. In his hands, the mundane becomes as terrifying as the bizzare, and a simple glance at a passerby out of a train window can be as numbing, or more, as the macabre violence that eventually follows (and, rest assured, it is indeed to follow- one scene towards the end literally turned my stomach- you Will realize what scene I refer to when reading it, I am sure).
The story is of two friends at a decaying authoritarian prep school in the Southwest. The second story is of these two boys' apprenticing under one's uncle, an aging magician who is on the brink of madness.
There is such a clean break of setting between the two large sections that it creates some problems- which Straub effectively fixes.
Almost.
A web of interconnected images and characters connect the sections to each other, and these are well acheived and fascinating. However, the division is almost unbridgable. The novel works as a whole, but it is a whole that is like two countries, the first of a undercurrent of crackling, quasi-Dickensian unpleasantness and uncertainty, the second of surreal, neo-Fairytale horror. While the bridge between them is a strong one, it is still possible to fall off the side, and one of the dangers of reading this book is that, such a clean break being drawn, the reader might put it down to take tea after the first half and not pick it up again. Lest this sound pejorative, let me say that the reader who does this will miss a hell of a good conclusion.
Now that I have gotten my complaints out of the way...
The characters are strongly drawn and effective, acting out a story which is ultimately about the seduction of the forbidden and the loss of innocence. Magic is the catalyst for and the observer of these transformations, and when the bottled up energy of the first section explodes in an apocalyptic climax, Straub spares no punches in the surreal fervor- midnight covens in the woods, characters who may be either real or not, supporting roles for both the Brothers Grimm and Humphrey Bogart, etc.
While there are some uncomfortable things happening structure-wise, this book is worth a read. In the end, the divisions that throw you at first are rubbed away by the protaganist's conclusion that "Shadowland" is not only the name of the old magician's estate, but it extends to the happenings at the school, and, overall, to a state of being that characterizes the book perfectly.
Rating:
Summary: The first rule of Magic
Review: I bought this book after reading The Talisman, which Straub cowrote with Stephen King, and I loved it. While there were times that it felt (only slightly) disjointed, there was nothing to take away from my enjoyment of the story, and the characters.While I was rooting for different outcomes, and different paths for certain characters, Im extremely pleased with where Straub took them. I definitely enjoyed the stories Coleman Collins told (The King of the Cats in particular), but the grande illusions he cast could have been defined a bit better for my taste. Either way, it was a fantastic book that made me late for work on more than one occasion, as I could not put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing---in a good way.
Review: I completely agree with a previous comment about this novel making a great film. I would love to see some of those fantastic scenes played out on the big screen. It does jump around a bit, but I think that this is SUPPOSED to confuse us a little to add to the general feeling of "what is real, and what is not----where am I?". I finished the novel in 2 days and was left with the sense of delicious gloom that made me want more---and I confess that thoughts of "The Collector" disturbed my sleep just a little.
Rating: 
Summary: A Disconnected, Cumbersome Book
Review: This book is one of the most poorly written books I have read in a long time. Straub shifts between present day and the 1950's so often and irregularly that the reader is left confused and lacking an understanding of how the characters develop. I couldn't even read the last third of the book. I just didn't care what happened to these people. I never really got to know them in the first place. The basic idea for this book is a good one but the execution leaves much to be desired. Don't buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Disconnected, Cumbersome Book,
Review: This is one of the most poorly organized books I have read in a long time. Straub shifts between present day and the 1950's so often it becomes very difficult to follow the characters and to understand their develoment. The basic germ of the story is good but the execution is very sloppy. Don't buy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: You need a knowledge of occultism to understand...
Review: Peter Straub is a very intelligent thinker when writing about occult matters. However, I found this book very confusing at times--wondering what was happening. In many places Straub could simplify his language rather than drawing out the entire plot with unneeded pages of action and details that bare no significance whatsoever. Like at the end, where you want the novel to end, he builds it up without giving a very specific ending. He wastes time on imagery that we simply don't care about, whereas in other areas of the book he is very stingy and cheap with details--making it very hard to understand what is happening. His allusion to other Literature is very thought-provoking, though it helps to have read these stories beforehand, otherwise you might get a little lost in the symbolism in his story. Finally, if you don't know who Eliphas Levi and other characters like Aleister Crowley are, you will be doubly lost. They are writers on the occult and some, like Crowley are practitioners. However, I find it remarkable how Straub includes non-fictional characters in a fictional story and uses this as a basis to interject his own personal thoughts on them. Straub gives us his opinion on various things like Christianity--that the true religion is Jesus' learnings, not the modern day preversion of priests and ministers. He draws many parallels and employs the use of metaphor heavily throughout Shadowland. The story becomes cliche when the characters take on a Jesus versus the Devil theme later in the novel. It becomes rather gaudy when Straub tries to create an allegory to Christ and his crucifixion, by actually using one character to represent Judas--who is later referred to as "a Judas." If that wasn't enough, the main character is crucified and must find the power within to resurrect himself, so to speak, from the in and out states of consciousness he experiences. If you're familiar with any of the author's works, the occult, or Stephen King's works, I highly recommend Straub's Shadowland. It is a good story in and of itself, though it takes a while to digest, and many people will probably put it down after the first 100 pages where it appears to resemble a Harry Potter story for grownups.
Rating:
Summary: A Nelgected Horror Classic
Review: Straub burst into fame with his previous book "Ghost Story" but this book has always been my favorite. It has stories within stories, details in one part that take on ominous meanings later in the story, and a weird meshing of magic and Grimm fairy tales. What is real and what is not is a constant question and never fully answered. It does lead to a very stunning though violent ending. It is also a coming of age book but so different from many others of that type. Truly unique which may be why it confused people at first because it fit no clear cut category. With its stunning deatil and visual images, I am amazed no one ever made this book into a movie.
Rating:
Summary: Be Careful What You Wish For...
Review: Tom Flanagan and his more affluent friend, Del Nightingale, receive an invitation from Del's uncle, Coleman Collins, to spend the summer with him. Collins is perhaps the greatest stage magician in the world, and both of the boys love magic. Collins promises to teach them both some new tricks. In fact, he promises to pass all his secrets on to the worthier of the two, which couldn't please Del more, since he wants to be the greatest living magician. Of course, one should always be careful what one wishes for... This is an extraordinary book, something that might come from Walt Disney, if Disney was capable of coming up with anything either adult or horrific. It is best described as a nightmarish fairy-tale, full of magic - but mostly from the dark side. As is typical of Straub, the story is constructed in convoluted and highly complicated form, all of which builds nicely to the conclusion of the main story at hand. The action begins in an Arizona boys' prep school, moves to an isolated mansion in Vermont, and includes numerous stories of Collins' highly checkered past throughout war-torn Europe, each tale of which increasingly fuels a mounting sense of dread - for Coleman Collins is much more than he seems; much more, and much worse. I'm amazed no one ever attempted to make a movie of Shadowland, for it is highly cinematic in style. It isn't as good as Straub's preceding masterpiece, Ghost Story, but is still a worthy successor and a great, involving read. The characters are well-realized, the action intriguing, and the atmosphere and actual magic of the piece are striking.
Rating:
Summary: IN THE SHADOWS....
Review: This is his best. We follow our narrator and actual protagonists through their Freshman year at Carson, a mid-level prep-school in the 1950's. We go through a very traditional turn before... either. This is a great book, featuring the idea of magic in the everyday world as well as in the world of fantasy. It belongs in the fantasy/horror genre, but like Robert McCammon's "Boy's Life" would later, it transcends it and uses the conventions of the genre to become a universal coming of age story. As I said above, this is Straub's best work, in my opinion.
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