About "Galilee"
Over many years and many books, Clive Barker has earned a reputation as the thinking person's horror writer. His novels have mixed fantasy, psychology, and sheer creepiness in almost equal quantities, and while the gore quotient remains relatively low, the tension always runs high. In
Galilee, however, Barker soft-pedals the ghoulish in favor of the gothic. His novel (or as the author would have it, romance) tells the tale of two warring families caught up in a disastrous web of corruption, illicit sexuality, and star-crossed love, with a soupçon of the supernatural thrown in as well. On one side are the wealthy Gearys--a fictional stand-in for the Kennedys--and on the other are the Barbarossas, a mysterious black clan that has been around since the time (quite literally) of Adam.
Galilee chronicles the twisted course of this centuries-old family feud, which centers around the magical Barbarossa matriarch Cesaria and her son Galilee. Indeed, it's the latter figure--one part Heathcliff to one part Christ--whose relationship with the Geary women sets a match to the entire powder keg of hostility and resentment. Mixing standard clichés of romance with his own peculiarly deep-fried version of the Southern gothic, Baker has come up with an intelligent and shamelessly amusing potboiler.
Reviews
07.12.2007 / P. Joseph / Los Angeles, CA. US!
Not my favorite Barker, but still good.
I am no fan of Romance novels, and this initially has the kind of long, intricate, hot and humid southern geneology that bored me with some of Anne Rice's work. HOWEVER, it's Clive Barker baby! That means for me it always has some passionate wisdom, and a totally new world that I want to esc...
[> more]30.10.2007 / Allison M. Perkel / Boston
Asleep at the wheel
I've been a Clive Barker fan for a long time - many of his previous novels not only scared me, but got me to look at the world in a new way. And here was Galilee - a non horror book that promised to talk of love, revenge, supernatural and family - I was very excited to read this novel.
<...
[> more]18.09.2007 / Michael Fenner / Las Vegas
Not his best
As always, Clive treats the reader to excellent prose, but the story is a bit slow with too much romance. Don't get me wrong, it is a very readable book but not much in the way of suspense, horror or excitement. Give it a try if you appreciate good writing.
The book "Galilee" belongs to the following genres:
Horror & ghost stories Fiction Fiction - Horror Horror - General Fiction / General General
| Other editions of this book |
|
About Clive Barker
Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction.
Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer. He has since written many novels and other works, and his fiction has been adapted into motion pictures, notably the Hellraiser series.
Personal life
Clive Barker was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Joan Rubie (née Revill), a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm.[[http://www.filmreference.com/film/98/Clive-Barker.html Clive Barker Biography]][[http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800022056/bio Clive Barker Biography – Yahoo! Movies]] Educated at Dovedale Primar...