Koontzland - Dean Koontz discussion
This topic is about
Innocence
Welcome to Koontzland!
>
Ask Dean Koontz a Question
message 51:
by
Karen B.
(new)
-
rated it 4 stars
Oct 23, 2013 03:01PM
Oh I can't wait for that. And next week we get the pre-Innocence story.
reply
|
flag
Mod
Which isn't to say that you aren't Lucky Karen B, just that you aren't quite as lucky as us in this incident of Innocence.
Dustin, I am very lucky because:A. I don't have to wait long for the next book of his.
B. There is that pre-Innocence book coming out next week.
C. It will give me longer to savor the anticipation. After all, for me, part of the fun is the build up ... like waiting for Santa when I was a child.
And I will be blessed with my six friends on here not giving away spoilers.
And your comment that your believe being religious might make a difference as to enjoyment of the book, adds to the anticipation and curiosity about why you say that. I will be anxious to see what you mean after I read Innocence. Personally, i always say I am not religious, I prefer to say spiritual. That is one of the reasons I got so much out of What the Night Knows. I have lots of highlighting in that book because it says so much to me about what life is and the strong good versus evil theme. I may be mistaken but I even think Stephen King mentioned the character in his recent release, Doctor Sleep.. I will have to double check the two books to be sure.
And the luckiest thing of all (not meaning to sound too mushy) is having this group to discuss Koontz books with.
Besides I have our two November reads to focus on now and if I had Innocence I know I would read that and be focused on that.
BTW, did the winners get answers to their questions?
Mod
Exactly. I believe in a spiritual life but I am done with organized religion. However, I didn't get anything out of What the Night Knows... maybe I will think differently on second reading. I am always willing to give a Koontz book a second chance :-)
Mod
Not just the 5 winners. The winners were randomly selected by Bantam/Random House and Random House will also be selecting which questions will be passed along to Dean.
Even though participants may not have won a signed advance copy of Innocence, everyone who posted a question has the possibility of having their question answered by Dean. I haven't been told when/how these questions will be passed along to Dean or when/how he will be answering them.
Well I guess that means that Dean Koontz really does know about the existence of the group and maybe even what we think about his books. It's all the little "coincidences" that get to me like Chris Snow and Odd Thomas' "Mystery Train" cap and shirt. Man, I wish I had listed that as one of my questions to ask him.
Hi, Dusty and all! I was brought up religious, and was seriously done with it for a while. I wonder if my experience was like yours at all. I must've spent at least as long a time being "spiritual but not religious". Finally had an intense encounter with God (one I didn't expect or want). Learned the difference between faith and religion. That faith is in a Person, in the "round and round of all that is". Religion is just how you respond to it and many people have done "religion" very badly. In fact, one of my favorite theologians says that you have to say "no" to religion" (the wrong kind) before you can say "yes" to "religion" (the right kind).So yes, I have faith, and I express it. My religion is Catholic. Without spoilers, what made me curious was your disappointment at the entire last 35 pages, which was about recognition of the self, not any "religion". I note that you had no problem with a "religious" person being bad, but the same "religion" professed by a good guy (and only mentioned, and then only acted out on one page) seems to set you off. Why is that?
We can take further discussion on this private if you like. I know this can be a touchy subject, and would inevitably involve spoilers. You and all the Koontzlanders are in my prayers, and I look forward to discussing Koontz with you for a long time to come!
Mod
Sounds like something straight out of By the Light of the Moon :-)
Mod
I was raised Mormon. Unfortunately, I found the necessary meetings and callings to take away the spiritualism. I was so tired from everything I had to do, I was simply exhausted. Maybe that was the point so I wouldn't have time to think. But alas, I have always been a rebel and I liked to ask questions and I liked to question the answers :-)
Mod
"
You're right I didn't have any problems with that character :-) I have always liked horror and that was a nice piece of evil. Gotta love those Marionettes :-)
I don't have any problem with the Catholic Church being mentioned. The Catholic Church was rather prominent in By The Light of the Moon and I still enjoyed the story. However, the religious tone in Dean's two most recent books (Deeply Odd and Innocence) has ruined both stories for me :-(
The sad thing is I could really relate to those two main characters in Innocence because I have often felt misunderstood and like to live a solitary existence.
This is what I wrote to Bantam/Random House when I finished reading my advance copy of Innocence:
**MAJOR SPOILER ALERT REGARDING BOOK ENDING**
(view spoiler)
I wonder if anyone can help me?I'm looking for a book by DK, my best friend was reading it and LOVED it - this was in the mid 90's that he was reading it and it featured two gay male characters. I have always tried to remember what the book was as I would love to read it....My best friend passed away in 2001.
The only other detail i remember is it has a picture of a house on it.
This is a long shot, I know :
Mod
Helen, *putting on my thinking cap* Were the two gay male characters the main characters in the story?
The only book I am looking for with a house on it is
but it doesn't fit the other descriptions. I will have to look further.
Mod
I thought of The Bad Place as Well but that character is not gay but an hermaphrodite. (I never heard of one before Koontz).
The cover thing is harder to figure out but I haven't read any of his books with gay characters. Then again, I haven't read all of his books either. Thought I had it with Watchers though but read a little and that's not it either.
Mod
Watchers was published in the late 80's. The Bad Place was published in 1990.
Dustin, I love that one too. I think I am probably the only one in the group who loves What the Night Knows but the philosophy of it, exploration of good vs. evil draws me in; and especially the little things that I have cloudy ideas about. The whole thing with the bells. And the the bells came up in another novel, might have been Odd Apocalypse and I ask myself "What am I not getting here?"
Mod
That's what I tend to think ... that there are no coincidences but it could be DK is punking us on that; making us think there is a link. But bells have important symbolism in literature so I think there is something there. But then to paraphrase a famous quote, "Sometimes a bell ringing is just a bell ringing."
Mod
Mod
The Bad Place 1991 novel 417
Cold Fire 1992 novel 448
Hideaway 1992 novel 416
Dragon Tears 1993 novel 432
Mr. Murder 1993 novel 496
Winter Moon 1994 novel 480 rewritten from Invasion
Dark Rivers of the Heart 1994 novel 487
Icebound 1995 novel 408 revised from Prison of Ice.
Strange Highways 1995 short stories revised 1995; includes "extensively revised" version of Chase"[2]
Intensity 1995 novel 448
Ticktock 1996 novel 335
Sole Survivor 1997 novel 436
False Memory 1999 novel 784
Short Stories.
"Strange Highways" (1995) short story that appears in the collection Strange Highways
"Santa's Twin" (1996)
"Pinkie" (1998)
"Black River" (1999)
I know some of it is re-published, but this is what the list says!
I have absolutely no idea which it is. I looked through the covers of the books and still I am not sure. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help. Is there anything else you remember or just the gay characters and the house? Every way I word trying to find Koontz books with gay characters in the search, nothing helpful pops up.
Mod
What about Voice in the Night? It's about 2 boys.
Oh, BTW Innocence is in my top 3 favs of DK...
Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I love The Bad Place :-)Watchers was published in the late 80's. The Bad Place was published in 1990."
Oh, thought she said her friend read it in the 90's didn't realize it was written in the 90's
Mod
Dean Koontz says the same thing :-) Maybe you two have a lot in common.
Mod
I'm looking for a book by DK, my best friend was reading it and LOVED it - this was in the mid 90's that he was reading it and it featured two gay male characters. I..."
Tracy, You're right. After re-reading the comment it does now seem that the friend read this book in the mid 90's not necessarily that it was published in the 90's.
This criteria would exclude False Memory then. I really thought it was False Memory (even though there's no house on any edition I've seen). False Memory was not published until 1999.
Mod
The boys weren't gay.
I know the boys weren't gay, but it's all about perception right? I don't remember any story lines about gay boys...not off the top of my head anyway.
Mod
I don't remember any gay boys either, but I remember a gay couple :-) it's somewhere in the back of my false memory. If I could look within my moonlit mind and see the vision behind the mask - the answer is somewhere there in a hideaway.
Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Renee wrote: "I know the boys weren't gay, but it's all about perception right? I don't remember any story lines about gay boys...not off the top of my head anyway."I don't remember any gay boys ..."
HaHa!!
Mod
Scientists would love to get in your brain.
Well played Dustin, well played!!
Just don't make me Breathless, especially with the good husband hiding from the corner of my eye, while poised to open the door to December.
Mod
good. good. good. And here I was thinking I was a sole survivor of an odd apocalypse. Lost souls like us fear nothing with a certain kind of velocity that comes like lightning on the darkest evening of the year. Thank you for being Satan's Twin.
Mod
yeah. Jason of the Borg actually liked to use me in his science experiments but I think the funhouse of my mind was a bit too deeply odd for him. He was shattered and has taken an odd interlude from online activities. I hear he might be living at 77 Shadow Street at least that's what the servants of twilight told me amide their whispers and dragon tears. When I heard the news, I felt a cold fire as if I was dead and alive :-( I will miss you Jason but never forget that your heart belongs to me!!! I will come for the taking by the light of the moon so you better have your watchers ready!
I think I remember something about a gay couple in one I read more recently, but I can't for the life of me remember which one it was!
Mod
Keep thinking about it and hopefully the voice of the night will reveal what you know. Sometimes the answers come to us at odd hours and sometimes our questions are answered by strangers. Life is really a mystery train I think.
Mod
You are very kind. You deserve a great life expectancy filled with wonder and mystery - I hope it's a big little life for you full of everything you love.
May you never have counted sorrows...
But then again, my memory may prove to be false.
Alas, you have discovered my face of fear while in my hideaway...may you never come to know my personal demon seed.
Please assist me in wiping my dragon tears away.
Mod
I found Moongirl in 'Darkest Evening of the Year' extremely disturbing, yet at the same time, totally fascinating. What happened to her that made her that way?
Mod
I agree :-)
Koontzland - Dean Koontz
Books mentioned in this topic
Lost Souls (other topics)Wilderness (other topics)
Eight Mile Island (other topics)
Lightning (other topics)
