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The scarecrow: A novel
Hardcover, 181 pages
Published
July 1st 1976
by Heinemann
(first published 1963)
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The novel starts off with a cracking first sentence 'The same week our fowls were stole, Daphne Moran had her throat cut'. From this starting point the novel settles into the viewpoint of Neddy Poindexter as he struggles with poverty, growing up, dealing with the family and a sinister man who comes to town. The book is set in a small New Zealand town and the family struggles, the town makeup are believable and anyone can relate to the setting. There are some wonderful descriptions in the book 'A...more
Salter the Sensational stalks women in the small (ficticious) New Zealand town of Klynham in the early 1950s. This 1963 novel is told from the perspective of a teenage boy, Eddy, and the horror occurs amidst a backdrop of sleepy, frequently comedic, small-town life. The story opens with Eddy and his best friend Les's newly purchased chickens being stolen by Eddy's drunk Uncle Athol and raffled away. Eddy and Les mistakenly suspect the local gang of bullies led by Victor Lynch, and steal the Lync...more
A sensational book, full of crackling live wire writing, adventurous inventive vocabulary and a story stuffed full of vivid and wild characters. It's classic noir New Zealand style, and as fantastic and great as any pulp fiction I've ever come across.
Eddy is a small-town youth, son of a useless drunken junk dealer and nephew to an even more worthless scoundrel, Uncle Athol. Buoyed by his best friend Les and sister Prudence, Eddy manages to scrape by in the dusty burg of Klynham. When a scary ne...more
Eddy is a small-town youth, son of a useless drunken junk dealer and nephew to an even more worthless scoundrel, Uncle Athol. Buoyed by his best friend Les and sister Prudence, Eddy manages to scrape by in the dusty burg of Klynham. When a scary ne...more
Don't let the humdrum title fool you... this is an incredible book! Ronald Hugh Morrieson was a very talented writer with a lot to say, and one gets the impression that "The Scarecrow" barely scrapes the surface. Had it been twice as long, I think it would still have left me wanting more.
Set in a small (dare I say, derelict) New Zealand town in the 1950's, this novel walks a fine line between quaint yesteryears and gruesome realities. The cast of characters run the gamut from loveable to despica...more
Set in a small (dare I say, derelict) New Zealand town in the 1950's, this novel walks a fine line between quaint yesteryears and gruesome realities. The cast of characters run the gamut from loveable to despica...more
I really love this novel. I read it when I was quite young because the author grew up in same region that my family did. I think what captures me is the wonderful uniquely New Zealand darkness to this novel. Stephen King sets his novels in small towns, so too does Morrieson. And what I especially like about is the unique 'New Zealand Gothic' nature if his books. And yes, I am attached to his writing because we grew up in the same town, and his life is so tragically sad, but the writing is wonder...more
ISBN 0 86863 677 0
Heinemann, NZ.
What an opening line! “The same week our fowls were stolen, Daphne Moran had her throat cut.” The intrigue that Morrieson then dishes out to explain everything about this sentence becomes ‘a macabre comedy in which horror and humour are blended so that shudders come as fast as the smiles’ (from the dust cover). As in Morrieson’s other novels, this is small town New Zealand at a time when poverty was the norm, day to day survival was reality and people did things b...more
Heinemann, NZ.
What an opening line! “The same week our fowls were stolen, Daphne Moran had her throat cut.” The intrigue that Morrieson then dishes out to explain everything about this sentence becomes ‘a macabre comedy in which horror and humour are blended so that shudders come as fast as the smiles’ (from the dust cover). As in Morrieson’s other novels, this is small town New Zealand at a time when poverty was the norm, day to day survival was reality and people did things b...more
Small town in New Zealand is shocked by the disappearance of a girl. Told through the narrative of a neér-do-well teenage boy - Morrieson gets the voice just right - this is a little slice of liferather than a mystery per se. Conjures the place pretty well. And it has a car chase of a sort. Rated M for adult themes and matue concepts. 3.5/5
When I was about the age of the boys in this story, I used to watch the film adaptation of this book quite often. Largely due to the actress that played the role of Prudence being very easy on the eyes. However I had not read the novel until now, some 25 years later, and was blown away. As good as anything I've ever read.
Read in New Zealand, though it's a universal tale of growing up. An interesting mix of Twain-like small town characters and a genuinely horrific crime. Vividly told. This was a very attractive Penguin edition, which Goodreads doesn't have.
Klynham has so many secrets, it makes Twin Peaks look like Botany Downs.
RHM builds the plot (very) slowly, letting us get to know the characters, before the creepy scarecrow himself shows up to wreck some actually pretty horrible havoc in their lives.
As with Came A Hot Friday, there is some surprisingly tender writing in among the blood and guts, held together with a great deal of humour.
Recommended.
RHM builds the plot (very) slowly, letting us get to know the characters, before the creepy scarecrow himself shows up to wreck some actually pretty horrible havoc in their lives.
As with Came A Hot Friday, there is some surprisingly tender writing in among the blood and guts, held together with a great deal of humour.
Recommended.
i read this in a day because it was hard to put down. Kinda creepy and dark and a great twist. I read this years ago as a teen but now look forward to enjoying more of Morriesons writing as an adult.
Nov 24, 2010
Michael Heath-Caldwell
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
new-zealand
Fabulously well written book sending up Taranaki in the early 1960s.
Mar 14, 2013
Sarah
marked it as to-read
Feb 24, 2013
Gavin
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
borrowed-from-friend,
on-a-train
Dec 13, 2012
Brad
marked it as to-read
Dec 12, 2012
David
added it
Nov 25, 2012
Anete
is currently reading it
Feb 15, 2013
Andris
marked it as to-read
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“The same week our fowls were stolen, Daphne Moran had her throat cut.”
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