Well I am blown away! I have not long finished reading 'The Fog' by James Herbert. What a complete surprise it was. I was captivated from the word go.
I came across the book whilst trying to make some room in my spare room. It was in one of my boyfriends boxes that he'd had since he lived with his mum. I asked him if he'd ever read it, as I was shocked to find a book in his possesion; he isn't much of a reader. He said no but he'd seen the film. I too had seen the film as a young teenager. I thought it was great then, but at that age anything with blood and gore is impressive. (I saw it more recently and couldn't believe how bad it was!) Anyhow rule of thumb, (according to my mum) is that the book is always so much better than the film, (in this case, not a difficult task) so I started to read.
From the first page I was entranced. I had never read a James Herbert book before. My only exposure to his work was when my next door neighbour read an extract from 'The Rats'. I was ten at the time and it was the most x-rated thing I had heard up until then.
I completed the book within the week which is an accomplishment on my behalf. Not only was it better than the film. It was a completely different story.
Roughly, the storyline is as follows. Based in Wiltshire, England, there is an under ground explosion which releases a fog like cloud of gas. This fog, drifts around the countryside and as it does so it turns anyone who is enveloped in it, into a raving looney. The results are the most horrific and stomach turning events, which ultimately kill off those involved. The solution is to find out what the fog is and how to disperse it; not an easy task.
This book really is quite terrifying. It portrays the fragile state of the human mind and that when it comes down to it, without the restraints of a civilised society we are animals. It is a savage piece of literature and not for the faint hearted.
I now hope to read more by this author. I'll let you know if I experience the same stomach turning results. Until next time...
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Great review - I have also read this among many other books by James Herbert, I found this to be really spooky and the film of the book was really good too. I recommend "Others" by this author, really good and also very creepy but not so scary. Nicola:)
Advantages: Great for lovers of gore, Amazing story line and really easy to get into Disadvantages: I guess the gore if you aren't it to that type of thing!
Advantages: So apt for our current climate change Disadvantages: Don't read it at bedtime, the night will pass quickly, and you'll still be reading when it's time to goto work
May 18th, 2001
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