The Red Tree

Worth it for the quality of writing

Many reviewers have complained about the meandering plot, lack of clear conclusion, swearing etc.

I don't like the novel because of any of these things, and yes, I usually prefer a more sympathetic main character too.

Yet the novel is worth reading if you like good writing, both in descriptions and in characterization.
I loved Lovecraft and Poe as a child, but have long since rejected the first for his laughably bad writing and see no reason to reread the second because his characters have so little depth.

In comparison to Kiernan, Stephen King spins a better plot, but I don't think a compelling plot is what Keirnan is trying to write here.
In terms of description, both literary quality and ability to convey creepiness, she writes as well -- better, I'd say -- than the best of King, and she does a better job revealing the tragedy and especially the ambiguity that lurks in relationship.
Yes, there is some sweaty sex that may titillate or disgust the reader, but the really compelling and heartbreaking thing about the novel is the portrayal of a tentative new friendship that is a shadow of hope threatened by horror.

The tension lies in wondering whether the narrator will be saved, go down with her friend, or be left even more alone in the darkness.

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

A beautifully crafted tale

After listening to this book, I am a new fan of Ms. Kiernan. The tale is chilling in a way the creeps up and over and under the skin, taking its time but not taking too long. I finished it feeling dazed and uncomfortable, which is precisely how I like my horror. A unique and troubling read.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Gripping, excellent horror

This is the best horror novel I've read in some time, filled with mystery, the tangled legacy of history, personal tragedy and the difficult war with one's own grief, the awful recognition of losing one's creative capabilities and seeing an inescapable tragedy approaching, and some great surprises wonderfully presented. Kiernan brings her distinctive fusion of scientific and artistic appreciation of the world to bear on this chronicle of a life's final months.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Compelling experience

Somehow between the introspection and melancholy that I've been left with after this, I believe I've become a fan of Caitlin R. Kiernan. Enjoyable is the not quite the right word for this, but definitely compelling, the need to experience what happens next. I also appreciate the way the main narrator, really becomes the character, and even the use of several narrators.
It raises questions and leads you down paths, and then circling back...I'm searching for some green monofilament, and maybe it will lead to the conclusion somewhere. I actually listened to the last segment three times, to make sure I din't miss anything. I hadn't. I don't like to be left hanging at the end of a story, but as she says, it is fickle, and is meant to be that way. If you can handle that and what the previous reviewers have mentioned, it is worth it!

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Hmmm......

This book will either leave you exclaiming,WOW! Or have you scratching your head and thinking, HUH..? I'm leaning on the side of WOW! This is not a fast paced chiller-thriller. It's not supposed to be. Is it a story about a haunted tree? Well sort of. In any case, I can't get it out of my head.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

Not too shabby

Would you try another book from Caitlin R. Kiernan and/or the narrators?

Yes, I might.

What other book might you compare The Red Tree to and why?

I'm not sure there's one that compares exactly. It has a "falling down the rabbit hole" surreal feel to it.

Which scene was your favorite?

The story about the woman on the cliff.

Could you see The Red Tree being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No, probably not.

Any additional comments?

It's not scary (I feel like I write that a lot about "horror" books lately *sigh), but it is interesting.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Katherine Kellgren was the novelist?

A middle-aged Lesbian horror author burdened with grief, epilepsy, and writers’ block leaves her native Atlanta to reside a summer in an isolated farm house close to a gigantic oak tree with a sinister reputation. Though she can’t write a novel, she can keep a journal, and this, plus the contents of a notebook she finds in the house, constitutes most of the novel. She has horrifying experiences that drive her to suicide, but whether said experiences are “real” or “imaginary” is left to the reader. I wasn’t surprised to read Kiernan later admitting that the story was partly autobiographical.

The credits list three voice actors, one for the author, one for the editor who provides a preface, and one for the professor who wrote the notebook. I am convinced that Audible listed the actors in order of appearance, not importance, and that is Katherine Kellgren who is the voice of the doomed writer. Ms Kellgren did a fine job as Mina Harker in the Dracula audiobook I heard in October. Here, she is even better as a tough, foul-mouthed, gravel-voiced Southern gal who is going into the abyss kicking and cursing. An excellent performance.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Slow, Cerebral Pulse

Very difficult to put into words how much I enjoyed this reading, but I'll try. I'd read the book years ago, liked it, but probably didn't grasp it then like I do now with this second pass. The reading of it was both intoxicating and mystifying, opening up its many dimensions.

Many listeners will find this a little too slow, but once you get used to the pace, it flows so well you can't wait to find out what comes next. Quite interesting from both a horror and a historical perspective.

A great book if you are a patient listener, someone who likes movies like the Witch...even better if you're a writer listening to how a master story teller spins a yarn.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A true "classic" horror story.

Be prepared for some spine tingles with this ones folks. I have not read too many horror storues and chose this one because the author is an advocate of HP Lovecraft and I was curious to read/hear this story.

I was surprised how chilling this book was aty times - I am a mature man with a wide variety of tastes - but Caitlin R. Kiernan took me on a journey of facination, suspense and yes . . horror.

But the horror was not "in your face" . . it was well scripted around a general story of a woman who rents a remote house ... simple . .yes ? . . well no - the background is well proportioned and the build up to the moments to real terror are irresistable.

A good read - but will make you sleep with the lights on once or twice.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great writing, Fantastic narration, Absent Story

There's a story in there - hell there's a few stories in there - but they all pale in comparison to the writing and the narration. The author really knows how to turn a good phrase, how to describe things so perfectly, how to capture a characterization. The narrator - she's amazing - I've never heard a person switch in and out of southern drawl so seamlessly.

The story itself unfortunately.

And the very heavy doses of info-dumps and citations from boring periodicals or reference books - I want to believe that maybe this is a "House Of Leaves" kind of meta-story thing and just maybe half of it is lost in narration, or perhaps there's some much much MUCH deeper meaning that my feeble little mind just couldn't pick up because the writer was writing for other writers, who would be able to pick up on all the subtle literary references between mythology, Virginia Woolf, Yates, Jung - there was just so much going on that whatever kind of supernatural scary tale that might've been buried in there - it just never got a chance to breathe.

And there's no ending. Literally.

And the hard core erotica threw me for a loop; I'd already recommended the book to a few people because of the brilliant way the author explained her take on ghostly apparitions, and her writing, it was a really good book, but as soon as the lube came out, yeesh I had to do some serious back-pedaling.

So - we've got an author who is just amazing at writing themes and using her words in the best of ways, with a narrator who just NAILS a torn soul or two, but a story that is trying to be about seven things at once, and succeeds at MAYBE three of them, tops.