- Paperback: 175 pages
- Publisher: New English Library; New edition edition (1 Nov 1974)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0450021270
- ISBN-13: 978-0450021275
- Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 11.2 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 98,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
A horror novel, in which the after-effects of an atomic blast produce a race of super rats.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
All James Herbert books are the same.
They have a one-chapter love/sex scene involving the main (male) character and his love interest. They also inevitably involve a `subversive' sex scene involving two of the random characters that you only meet in that chapter, before they are then killed off in that same chapter by whatever menace is the subject of that book, which is usually the same as the title. Examples of this are the two lesbians in The Fog (killed by fog), the old man and his nurse in The Dark (killed by the dark), the female tramp in Rats (killed by rats), and the two illicit lovers in Epping Forest in the second Rats book, Lair (also killed by rats). All of these characters are killed off quickly and nastily.
This leads me to believe that Herbert is in fact a very conservative writer and kills off (i.e. punishes) these `subversive types' because of their subversion. These characters are always homeless, or gay, or of a racial minority or committing adultery, etc. The `healthy' and `normal' love scene between the main character and his love interest is always sharply opposed to this other scene, and is viewed positively. These characters are rewarded for their `normalness' with triumph over adversity and a happy ending.
I got bored of this formula after 17 books (taking me up to 1991's abysmal Creed), and gave them all away. However, I kept Rats. Rats is the most perfect expression of Herbert's formula, and is his best book. It's also his first book, published back in 1974, so he didn't improve with age.
They have a one-chapter love/sex scene involving the main (male) character and his love interest. They also inevitably involve a `subversive' sex scene involving two of the random characters that you only meet in that chapter, before they are then killed off in that same chapter by whatever menace is the subject of that book, which is usually the same as the title. Examples of this are the two lesbians in The Fog (killed by fog), the old man and his nurse in The Dark (killed by the dark), the female tramp in Rats (killed by rats), and the two illicit lovers in Epping Forest in the second Rats book, Lair (also killed by rats). All of these characters are killed off quickly and nastily.
This leads me to believe that Herbert is in fact a very conservative writer and kills off (i.e. punishes) these `subversive types' because of their subversion. These characters are always homeless, or gay, or of a racial minority or committing adultery, etc. The `healthy' and `normal' love scene between the main character and his love interest is always sharply opposed to this other scene, and is viewed positively. These characters are rewarded for their `normalness' with triumph over adversity and a happy ending.
I got bored of this formula after 17 books (taking me up to 1991's abysmal Creed), and gave them all away. However, I kept Rats. Rats is the most perfect expression of Herbert's formula, and is his best book. It's also his first book, published back in 1974, so he didn't improve with age.
Format:Paperback
I first read this book in the early 80s when I was a teenager, it really appealed to me then with all its gore and a smattering of gratuitous sex thrown in for good measure! Browsing through Amazon, as you tend to do, I was delighted to find that I could get the whole Rats trilogy second hand/used for less than fiver and with free delivery. I found the book just as readable second time round and it was interesting how dated it seemed although given it was written in the 70s and I first read it in the 80s it shouldn't have come as a surprise really. The books main draw is the gore and terror of the Rats as they hunt and feast on humans and it is unrelenting in this aspect. If you didn't like rats before reading this book, you will hate them afterwards.
Format:Paperback
Hello all
I tend to read authors in phases and having earlier this year re-read The Ghosts Of Sleath and Creed I began to wonder if the other James Herbert books on the shelf were still worth keeping as over time I can only really remember The Fog, Shrine my two favourites and The Jonah, Fluke, Survivor and Haunted. All of the other books were quite hazy and Portent and Others I didn't really like. Having re-read The Rats in under 24 hours about 25 years after I first read it I am surprised at how well it reads both as a detailed characterisation and as a horror story where if you don't kill the rat it kills you. Starting off with lives gone wrong that end with an unpleasant meeting with the rats, the story moves along at pace with the realisation that just a bite from the creatures can usually kill within 24 hours. The story-arc of a teacher coming up against the creatures due to a bitten pupil followed by attacks by the rats at the school, the London underground, a cinema and a zoo means that action is never far away in the book and a believable victory at the end means that this book is still enjoyable to read even now. While I have spent a lot of time reading the cannon of Shaun Hutson, Guy N Smith, Stephen Laws in recent times re-reading some of the James Herbert novels has re-inforced what I initially liked about his books and if his newer efforts Once, Nobody True and The Secret Of Crickley Hall are just as good it will cement the legend of the author for me. Analysing The Rats then for me is relatively simple as the (probably) first book in which creatures attack man and not even Guy N Smith could do it better (although definatively equals), and the book is worthy as the first in the genre. James Herbert's first book and well worth reading as it is enjoyable, gory and a relatively quick read at 175 pages, (New English Library 1974 Paperback Version).
I tend to read authors in phases and having earlier this year re-read The Ghosts Of Sleath and Creed I began to wonder if the other James Herbert books on the shelf were still worth keeping as over time I can only really remember The Fog, Shrine my two favourites and The Jonah, Fluke, Survivor and Haunted. All of the other books were quite hazy and Portent and Others I didn't really like. Having re-read The Rats in under 24 hours about 25 years after I first read it I am surprised at how well it reads both as a detailed characterisation and as a horror story where if you don't kill the rat it kills you. Starting off with lives gone wrong that end with an unpleasant meeting with the rats, the story moves along at pace with the realisation that just a bite from the creatures can usually kill within 24 hours. The story-arc of a teacher coming up against the creatures due to a bitten pupil followed by attacks by the rats at the school, the London underground, a cinema and a zoo means that action is never far away in the book and a believable victory at the end means that this book is still enjoyable to read even now. While I have spent a lot of time reading the cannon of Shaun Hutson, Guy N Smith, Stephen Laws in recent times re-reading some of the James Herbert novels has re-inforced what I initially liked about his books and if his newer efforts Once, Nobody True and The Secret Of Crickley Hall are just as good it will cement the legend of the author for me. Analysing The Rats then for me is relatively simple as the (probably) first book in which creatures attack man and not even Guy N Smith could do it better (although definatively equals), and the book is worthy as the first in the genre. James Herbert's first book and well worth reading as it is enjoyable, gory and a relatively quick read at 175 pages, (New English Library 1974 Paperback Version).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
WHEN HERBERT WAS AT HIS BEST
There is no doubt in my mind that this was Herbert at his best. This is a book you can read more than once, but what's going on here? Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2010 by Big D
An absolute classic from start to finish!!!
I remember first reading this book over twenty years ago when still at school and it scared the pants off me! Read more
Published on 4 May 2005 by "mick_tenko"
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