NYRB Classics discussion

Our October book club choice is by Thomas Tryon. Dan Chaon (Afterword)

Holland and Niles Perry are identical thirteen-year-old twins. They are close, close enough, almost, to read each other’s thoughts, but they couldn’t be more different. Holland is bold and mischievous, a bad influence, while Niles is kind and eager to please, the sort of boy who makes parents proud. The Perrys live in the bucolic New England town their family settled centuries ago, and as it happens, the extended clan has gathered at its ancestral farm this summer to mourn the death of the twins’ father in a most unfortunate accident. Mrs. Perry still hasn’t recovered from the shock of her husband’s gruesome end and stays sequestered in her room, leaving her sons to roam free. As the summer goes on, though, and Holland’s pranks become increasingly sinister, Niles finds he can no longer make excuses for his brother’s actions.
Thomas Tryon’s best-selling novel about a homegrown monster is an eerie examination of the darkness that dwells within everyone. It is a landmark of psychological horror that is a worthy descendent of the books of James Hogg, Robert Louis Stevenson, Shirley Jackson, and Patricia Highsmith.
Genres
Horror
Fiction
Mystery
Thriller
Gothic
Classics
Suspense

...more
258 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

This topic will be for the discussion of the novel and if you have not yet read the novel be wary because spoilers may be included in the discussion.

Reviews:

https://thelongestchapter.com/2019/10...

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...

https://calitreview.com/book-review-t...

I have begun and am enjoying this. The author, Thomas Tryon, was an actor before author and had a good career. Those older members may remember him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YWk_...
Supposedly he turned author after seeing the film, Rosemary's Baby based on the book by Ira Levin and then wrote The Other which along with William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist succeeded as a trio of bestselling gothic/horror novels in the late 1960's/early 1970's and later all became successful films. Initially, I was surprised that The Other was republished by NYRB because I vaguely remembered the book as an inauspicious bestseller having read it when it was originally published, but as often is the case, I am finding the prose far more interesting today and wonder if this was a case of my having read a few pages and then skimmed the book, calling it read, because it certainly is much better than I remembered.

I am linking another video on the making of the film of the book by Adam Zanzie which I have not watched, nor can attest to its accuracy, but thought fans might enjoy. The filmmaker certainly put forth a great deal of effort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j42h...

I hope you are finding time to read the book and hope we see some comments as you finish.

I just started this read and, so far, am pleasantly surprised. I will report back when I finish.

I have just finished and will save further comments till the end of the month but overall, I was quite pleased with the read. Four stars from me and thanks for the nomination.

I finished also. I enjoyed this suspenseful tale. I'm still not exactly sure about some of the plot points, but don't want to spoil it for anyone. My biggest question concerns looking at reflections in the water and if that was a vehicle.
This was a very interesting read and I can see how it was an influential entry into the horror genre.

I am adding my last thoughts. I was a little leery on how accepted this novel would be since it was a popular best-seller and we have that prejudice about the quality of such, and it was compounded by my remembering that I read it. More than likely, I read a few pages from a copy belonging to someone I knew and rearranged that thought into my having read the book after seeing the film made from the book. I thought the writing here was fairly complex and entertaining, surprisingly good for a first novel.

The other reason for reading this is its place in the genre of horror fiction which as I mentioned really popped with Rosemary's Baby followed by this, The Exorcist and in 1974 Stephen King would publish Carrie. King has a tendency to take some criticism from academic critics, but one can't criticize his publishing success or the contributions to the genre. I loved the read and have to give NYRB a thumbs up for making this a NYRB classic.

Melody wrote: "I finished also. I enjoyed this suspenseful tale. I'm still not exactly sure about some of the plot points, but don't want to spoil it for anyone. My biggest question concerns looking at reflection..."

Melody, my apologies for not getting back on this earlier. I am afraid I could not recall exactly the part in the book to which you referred. A lot of the imagery was somewhat fragmented, blurred, or deceptive. Tryon's style reminded me a bit of Nicolas Roeg's directorial adaptation of the Daphne Du Maurier story, "Don't Look Now." Roeg's film had a similar visual impact which gave the viewer a distorted, imperfect, uncertain, perspective of what was happening. With multiple viewings one could pretty much place each shot, but on a first viewing, it was effectively disorienting which was Roeg's intent. I felt that was the intent here, so when I felt I wasn't quite getting it, I just rolled with it letting the author do his thing by allowing him to limit my understanding. My fear is that if I tried to make everything clear, I would lose the suspension of disbelief and start noticing inconsistencies or absurdities.

Everyone feel free to add comments as they see fit on this book, but our next book is Troubles by J.G. Farrell and the topic is now open for discussion.