The Taking (Group Read - June 2012)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Just started this yesterday. I took me a little while to get into it, but now I'm really impressed. This is a very good story. It's different from the chase novels that Koontz usually publishes.

I love the scene with the doll. "ALL YOUR BABIES WILL DIE." I'm listening on CD and the narrator did a great job with the doll's voice :-)

The Taking by Dean Koontz

[Maciek]

This is the only book that scared me.

[Jaice]

This is the only book for which I have written a review so far and here it is:

This is easily one of Koontz's "scariest" novels, in that it is packed full of dark suspense. In that regard, it is along the lines of Winter Moon and Phantoms (two of my other Koontz favorites). The action in the book picks up very early, which is unlike many of his novels, and continues to the very end. Overall, I thought it was a very enjoyable read and I would highly recommend it, as it is one of my favorite books of his that I have read so far.

**SPOILER ALERT**

My major qualm with the book lies in its religious theme, which we discover at the end (there is a pervasive religious undertone throughout the book, however, which is very common for Koontz and is one of the ways that his writing annoys me). The book begins suggesting an invasion of Earth by malevolent aliens, but certain supernatural events throughout the book call that hypothesis into question. At the end, the primary antagonist comes to the conclusion that the events were those of the "traditional" Christian rapture, with some humans going to Hell, others to Heaven, and still others remain on Earth to live out their lives in the new world. Of course, we are expected to take the protagonist's conclusions as gospel, no matter how far-fetched they might be, given the known facts presented thus far in the book (this is another very common aspect of Koontz's writing that annoys me). There is also a fairly confusing side story regarding the primary protagonist's evil father that seemed to add nothing to the plot of the novel, but did serve to flesh out the primary protagonist's character more, so that she seemed more real and we could sympathize more with her. Plus, Koontz just can't resist including a psycho killer in his novels. ;-)

[Maciek]

Many people disliked the ending, but I enjoyed it. If the conclusion was different I would have been very disappointed.
Agree about the serial killer thing. That was pretty pointless.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Jason "plasborgma" wrote: "there is a pervasive religious undertone throughout the book"

Yes there is :-) I see a lot Dean's personal beliefs coming out in this book.

I don't think he's a big fan of large media news sources which he attacks near the beginning of the The Taking. This is probably why he seems to do interviews with lesser-known hosts usually on radio or magazines.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

"The first floor offered much evidence of a simple life conducted in longstanding routines: comfortable furniture well used, landscape and seascape paintings, here a pipe left in an ashtray, here a book with the reader's place marked by a candy-bar wrapper...." - Chapter 10

This passage made me hungry for chocolate, but I was not inclined to try smoking a pipe :-)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Well of course Jason would like this book - Arthur C. Clarke is mentioned just like in Winter Moon!

"Some sci-fi writer," Neil said at last, "I think it was Arthur C. Clarke, suggested that an extraterrestrial species, hundreds or thousands of years more advanced than us, would possess technology that would appear to us to be not the result of applied science but entirely supernatural, pure magic." -Chapter 13

[Jaice]

Dustin wrote: "Well of course Jason would like this book - Arthur C. Clarke is mentioned just like in Winter Moon!

"Some sci-fi writer," Neil said at last, "I think it was Arthur C. Clarke, suggested that an ext..."

Yes, I remember that. :-) Clarke was also mentioned in another Koontz book I read recently. It might have been Hideaway or The Face.

[Jason]

I read The Taking about 2 months ago and I really liked it (even the ending). The book seriously had me from the moment he said the rain smelled like semen.... ;)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Jason "Slo" wrote: "I read The Taking about 2 months ago and I really liked it (even the ending). The book seriously had me from the moment he said the rain smelled like semen.... ;)"

I know. I listened to this on audio 4 years ago and the two things that have stuck with me were the semen rain and the ending :-) For some reason, I didn't like The Taking much when I first listened to it - interesting how things change.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

There is sure a lot of T.S. Eliot in this book.

[Susan (aka Just My Op)]

My favorite poet. :-)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Dean has been my only source of exposure :-)

[Becky]

I don't much care for poetry, but I want to like Elliot. I feel like he is maybe the only poet I would like because of his subject matter. But I'm afraid to read any and shatter this dream by still hating reading verse. :P

Regarding The Taking, I read this a while back, a few years at least, and I'm with Jason on this one. The story was great, and the only book I've ever had to set aside because it scared me (which is saying a lot), but the religious ending ruined it for me. =\

[Jaice]

Becky wrote: "I don't much care for poetry..."

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one. Many people seem to think those who do not like poetry lack some emotional essence or imagination, but that is not true at all.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

"When you're alone in the middle of the night and you wake in a sweat and a hell of a fright..."
-T. S. Eliot, Fragment of an Agon

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

"In my beginning is my end."
-T. S. Eliot, East Coker

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

"Waste and void. Waste and void. And darkness on the face of the deep."
-T. S. Eliot, Choruses from "The Rock"

[Becky]

Jason "plasborgma" wrote: "Becky wrote: "I don't much care for poetry..."

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one. Many people seem to think those who do not like poetry lack some emotional essence or imagination, but that is..."

Oh goodness no. I am quite emotional at times, especially when it's most inconvenient, but oddly enough I'm also pretty logical too, which is kind of oxymoronic. That's a libra for you. Anyway, I have a very active and healthy imagination as well.

I just hate. Hate. reading verse. Even novels in verse annoy me.

Except Shakespeare. I can read that and it doesn't bother me. But pretty much everything else. Yeah. I'm a freak of nature. That's OK. :)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

They negotiated the fallen door, but had gone only a few steps farther when a presence in the surrounding shadows recited a line by one of her favorite poets, T. S. Eliot.
"I think we are in rats' alley-" ....

And now came the line from "The Waste Land" that in fact followed the one already spoken:
"-Where the dead men lost their bones."

From The Taking, Chapter 11

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

"The corpse you planted last year in your garden,
Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year?"
-T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

"We are born with the dead:
See, they return and bring us with them."
-T. S. Eliot, Little Gidding

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

"But at my back in a cold blast I hear
The rattle of the bones, and chuckle spread from ear to ear."
-T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

"Life you may evade, but Death you shall not."
-T. S. Eliot

[Susan (aka Just My Op)]

Great quotes, I'm going to have to dig out some T. S. Eliot and re-read some of his writing.

Yep, he is my favorite poet but I would never judge someone by whether or not he is a fan of poetry, any more than I would think someone who reads history intellectually or emotionally superior to someone who reads fiction, or mystery lovers better than people who enjoy horror. It's what you enjoy reading, not who you are.

[Becky]

Ahh, yeah Susan. But there are people who think that poetry is somehow elevated above straight prose, and therefore poetry readers are too.

I am heading to the library today with some overdue books to return. (Oops.) I might see about grabbing something by Eliot. :)

[Susan (aka Just My Op)]

You are right, but that seems a pretty silly thing for people to make themselves feel elevated. I just like the stuff. There are only a couple of poets I really enjoy, but I became of fan of T. S. Eliot in highschool when I first read "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", one of my all-time favorites and one of his better-known poems.

[Becky]

I agree... it is silly... but it's there. *shrug*

[Maciek]

Becky, if you want to get acquainted with Elliot I'd suggest "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock". It's short, funny and you can easily find it on the web.

[Becky]

Thanks Maciek. I think I will look into that one, but I really want to read his... darker stuff. :)

[Susan (aka Just My Op)]

Here is one link to Prufrock: http://poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID...

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

That Jason of the Borg asked me what changed my opinion about The Taking. I haven't recorded about the taking in my book journal yet, so I might have to come back and post more about it. I gave the book 5 stars and my 5 star books also get an "Amazing" tag too :-) It's interesting how you can read the same book and feel differently about it. I first read The Taking in 2006. Maybe I've gotten more interested in extra terrestrials since my first reading - maybe watching all those X-Files episodes and reading Dean's "Winter Moon" and "Strangers" had something to do with it. I also have been reading a lot Dean's chase books like "The Good Guy" and "Relentless" this year so it was just nice to read something by Dean Koontz that was different. I also like the page length. This is the perfect number of pages for me (350-400). Dean did a great job with making this book scary - it didn't have the silly humor like Odd Thomas and other books have. I did find it funny though that the narrator gave the same voice to both the doll and a little girl in the story :-) Maybe I'll post more after I've recorded The Taking in my book journal.

[Jaice]

Dustin wrote: "That Jason of the Borg asked me what changed my opinion about The Taking. I haven't recorded about the taking in my book journal yet, so I might have to come back and post more about it. I gave the..."

No rush, take your time. There are aliens in Strangers?! :-O

[Becky]

There are aliens in Winter Moon?!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Haven't you read STRANGERS yet?

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

*Spoiler Alert*
There are aliens in "Strangers"

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

*Spoiler Alert*
There are aliens in "Winter Moon"

[Becky]

LMAO!

[Jaice]

Becky wrote: "There are aliens in Winter Moon?!"

***Spoiler*** No. There is a single entity and it is very different from anything you might think. It is not Tommyknockers!

[Becky]

Uh... ok.

[Nicholas]

This was one of my favorites, even thought i do have a lot. The dogs leading the people around town to save the children was a terrific sequence. And the ending was surprising, I would definitely read this book again.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Over the Independence Day weekend, I finally watched M. Night ShylaWhoever's The Happening. I thought Dean's The Taking was better :-) a lot more to Dean's story - meaning, explanation, closure etc.

[Maciek]

I suppose I'm in the minority by liking The Happening. It reminded me strongly of King's "Cell". I found it to be much better paced than "Lady in The Water" which was rather incoherent. Plus it's his only film with a R rating: he totally lets himself go. Also this magnificent flick provided two most iconic lines in modern cinema: "Why you eyein' my lemon drink?" and "WHAT NO!".

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Anything has to be better than Lady in the Water! :-) have you watched the newest one that's in theaters?

[Maciek]

It's not availible here yet. I guess that by the time it gets here it'll already be out on DVD but I want to see it in a theater - the trailer looks very impressive and it should be an amazing experience.
I saw it getting very negative reviews though; I sincerely hope it won't be his third flop and he'll make a new movie based on his own idea (The Happening seemed to suffer from studio pressure, and the newst one is an adaptation of a Anime). After all, he's the man behind Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense - two of my favorite movies. (+ Signs, which I still condider to be magnificent - the ending montage is just flawless).

[Jaice]

Maciek wrote: "It's not availible here yet. I guess that by the time it gets here it'll already be out on DVD but I want to see it in a theater - the trailer looks very impressive and it should be an amazing expe..."

I posted a review of this movie on Goodflicks here:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...
I posted one here earlier, but goodreads failed to save it and I didn't feel like retyping it all. After this, I would not want M. Night doing a film adaptation of The Taking. :-/ By the way, I am an M. Night fan overall.

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

My favorite is actually The Village :-) In The Happening, my favorite thing was that co-star female actress (Zooey Deschanel)with those eyes. She was also in one of my favorite comedies, Eulogy :-)
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0221046/

[Maciek]

I'm with you on The Village. I loved the premise and think that Shyamalan really sold it well.
I'm going to watch The Last Airbender. I still hope that I'll enjoy it; I seem to like practically everything the guy did, and still hope to see a film based on his own, original idea.
Dustin, if you like Zooey you might be interested in watching 500 days of Summer - a romantic comedy/drama. I saw it some time ago and liked it. :)

[Jaice]

Maciek wrote: "...I seem to like practically everything the guy did, and still hope to see a film based on his own, original idea...."

I know at least Lady in the Water was his own original idea. None of his other movies is his own original idea?

[Maciek]

All of them are. I was referring to the newset one, The Last Airbender - even though he wrote the script the characters & the universum belong to the anime series "Avatar".
The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village - these are the movies I enjoyed most by him. The last two were flops and I think that's why he set out to direct a movie adaptation of an already existing series, instead of developing an original idea.