Often, I am provided with reading material by an English teacher (Sue) at the high school where I teach. I was surprised when one of the books Sue placed in my school mailbox was by author Dean Koontz. I have probably read almost as many books by Koontz as I have read by Stephen King during my lifetime. However, I did eventually grow weary of Koontz, and I haven’t read one of his novels in quite some time. My favorite Koontz book was entitled “The Voice of the Night“. It was the first book that I had ever read during a single sitting. Shortly after Kathy and I got married, we moved into a town home complex. One carefree afternoon (I hope to get some ‘carefree’ back into my life someday) we went to the pool at our complex. I opened to the first page of “The Voice of the Night” and I just couldn’t stop until way after the sunburn had painted me a deep red and my corneas were singed by ultra violet light. I still recommend “The Voice of the Night“ for those people not familiar with Koontz. Along with the novel “Intensity“, “The Voice of the Night” was Koontz writing fiction at his very best.
So what did I think of “Your Heart Belongs to Me“? It was the first book I have ever read that shattered the apparent initial plot without disappointing me. It was the first book that contained a deep subtext even though it had an entire section that literally discussed the meaning of subtext in other novels. It was the first book that changed directions with alarming speed, and then picked a more enriching highway for the final journey. It was also the first book to take an indolent theme and pierce me through my own heart with some otherwise deep context that I never saw coming.
My wife always tells me that I worry about all the things that might never happen even though I seldom have any idea about the things that might actually truly impact my life. For example, a person worries that the in flight snack will taste bad when ultimately the plane falls from the sky and crashes into a desolate field. This taciturn world throws us curve balls at a whim, so how we live our lives matters more than any perceived image we may exude. Alas, worry causes paranoia and concern for personal well being can actually create self-centered hypocrisy, cowardice and meaninglessness. I think I garnered something deep from this book’s prose. Perhaps all of us need to be more involved with humankind. We need to give our heart to others and make the same sacrifices that God did when he gave up his son Jesus. We need to be less concerned about our individual needs (and especially wants) and allow ourselves to serve the needs of those around us. The main character in this novel never even realized his responsibility to serve fellow humans. In fact, until a situation arose to alter his false image, he never even realized that he was living a lie. I truly felt the impact on the main character when he was faced with the repercussions of his life style. I bought into his paranoia and probably even agreed with his actions. So the ending was transformational, allowing this novel to be much deeper than the average work of fiction. While being entertained and entranced by a thriller, I was also slapped across the face with a dose of reality. The complexities of human behavior were explored by Koontz in a thoroughly convincing manner worthy of many psychologists, theologians and average Joe’s. Thanks for the recommendation Sue!
1 response so far ↓
John Strathern // June 19, 2009 at 9:33 am |
Good review. Liked the book, read it in one day. Very different from the “normal” Koontz. Guess he was educating us on subtext (I liked his character’s discussion re: it). I keep thinking about the themes in this book!