Fountain Society

Rating:
Summary: Fair debute
Review: "Fountain Society" is film director (my favorite) Wes Craven's first novel, and it was actually pretty good, though predictable. In it, mad scientist Frederick Wolfe is the head of one of many top secret U.S. govenment science studies, specificlly some wild cloning and organ harvesting experimenting. As elder weapons technology scientist Peter Jance is approaching death, his brain is transfered into the younger Hans's body. Hans's girl-friend starts looking for him and begins to uncover the extent of these black ops. I saw every twist coming a mile away, and so there really was no suprise for me what so ever. However, the characters were pretty good. Elizabeth is pretty convincing, well, up to a point. Hans/Peter is actually pretty good, usually convincing. Dr. Wolfe was very dark, but never taken far enough to be truelly evil. The action was pretty fast and I liked the pacing a lot. I know I am not painting a flattering picture, I swear it is really pretty good. Just if you have read Robin Cook, you'll get the idea pretty quick.

Rating:
Summary: Craven almost grows into the medium
Review: I happen to be a pretty big fan of Wes Craven films-- I think he makes horror into something funny and smart-- no mean accomplishment. I suppose it's only natural that I'd be disappointed by his first attempt at a novel, given that my expectations were pretty high.

_Fountain Society_ is based on the idea of amoral scientists deciding to extend life through cloning experiments and a love affair trying to survive through all the associated horror. The book begins *very* slowly and is full of clunky cliches and most of the major plot points are easy to guess. It did start to redeem itself by the end-- Craven started to get more of a feel for his characters and express more of the complexity that makes him such a good filmmaker. Unfortunately, it wasn't soon enough to save the novel as a reading experience.

I *will* read a next novel, should there be a next novel, but I'd definitely take a miss on this one.

Rating:
Summary: Kinda like a diesel engine...
Review: This book is the literary equivalent to a diesel engine: It may take a while to get going, but once it starts, it goes and goes and goes, taking you along for one of the wildest Craven rides of your life. "Fountain Society" is an excellent novel from an excellent filmmaker with an impressive resume ranging from "A Nightmare on Elm Street" to "Scream". Wes Craven, like John Carpenter and George Romero before him, has become synonymous with the horror film genre, helping to shape it into what it has become today. Without Wes Craven we wouldn't have Freddy; just try configuring that into your brain for a moment and you'd have a few Halloween pranks and inside jokes removed from your memory.

But Craven isn't just about horror; he's about intelligence and plot, taking you into areas of completely original thinking while doing his absolute best to make you believe that everything you are experiencing as his audience member is possible. In "Fountain Society," we get that in spades. Literally everything in this book reads to be eerily plausible. Mostly, I speak of an astonishingly detailed surgical procedure that is prophecized by its engineer to be the birth of immortality. Craven goes through every passage of the procedure and the steps leading up to it with such detail and realism that we are almost convinced that such a thing could be accomplished. Such is the gift of a wonderful storyteller.

There really isn't much I could explain about the plot of the book that wouldn't give something away except to say that it revolves around a weapons engineer (Dr. Peter Jance), his wife (Beatrice Jance), the Frankenstein like Dr. Frederick Wolfe, a supermodel (Elizabeth ?), and a rich stock broker (Hans Brinkman). There are way too many surprises in this book to count. As they unfold flawlessly with the passing of the pages, I was willing to forgive Craven for his slow beginning of the novel, which delivers a completely unexpected shock of an ending.

Craven's decision to make this a book and not a film is one to his credit. This story could not exist as a film. The surprises within the story depend on it living in text, not in celluloid. It simply couldn't be done, unless you wanted to sacrifice Craven's uncanny ability to remain three steps ahead of his audience until the middle of the story, when he sprints ahead and never lets you catch up until you turn that very last page, you sigh your traditional final sigh that says, "I'm done," and close the binders of the book with a feeling of appreciation for the incredible work of thrilling literature that Craven has delivered. Read it; love it; read it again; love it more.