The War Zone (Paperback)

The War Zone [DVD] [1999] DVD ~ Ray Winstone 4.3 out of 5 stars (3)  £5.98

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Review
Incest rears its head in a middle-class British family - in a novel that's told with a searing intensity and pace but that otters, in the end, a good deal less than meets the eye. Mum and Dad (she's a lawyer; he's an architect) have moved from London to a cottage in Devon with their teen-aged daughter Jessie (a provocative nymphette and intelligent-but-rebellious son Tom (who gets kicked out of school after school). Birth of new baby brother Jake opens the novel, and this nuclear if petulant family seems to be muddling along until son Tom, coming home one rainy day, catches a through-the-window glimpse of Jessie and Dad having (or having just had) sex in the shower. Already-troubled Tom is filled with a consuming and vertiginous sense of rage, betrayal, and isolation (he and Jessie have always been as close as peas in a pod). Waiting for his moment, Tom confronts Jessie with what he's seen; getting no satisfaction, he becomes a spy, follows the couple's every move, and finally, unseen, watches them in the act. The situation is intensified when the local boys, having gotten wind of what's up, come to the cottage, wreck a few things, and rough up Dad. Late that night, having steeled his will and nerves for murder, Tom enters the bedroom where Dad and Jessie are together (Mum is at the hospital with ailing Jake) and manages to knife Dad, though not mortally, before fleeing to London to burn up one of Dad's new buildings. The novelist's greatest problem (aside from a postscript ending, in which Tom takes Dad's place with Jessie) is that in order to get the Incest Topic rolling along, he's had to rely on uncompromisingly shallow people. In spite of plenty of surface detail, Dad is little more than two-dimensional; Mum is a vague presence; Jessie is dramatically quick of mind and manipulative, but unconvincing and jejune psychologically; and Tom, for all his sense of doom in the world ("It's hard to choose between the new functional ugliness and the old functional ugliness, so why not nuke it all") is more callow and cravenly glib than thoughtful. Moments of narrative power but, in the long run, Sophoclean themes reduced to TV tropes. (Kirkus Reviews)

Product Description
Tom, the young narrator, sees the war zone everywhere, on the streets of London, in the Devon countryside, but above all at the heart of his outwardly safe middle class family. The choice of two of the three judges for 1989 Whitbread Novel of the Year, their decision was controversially overruled.

6 Reviews 5 star:  (3) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:  (2) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 3.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars a smart amazing book, 26 April 2002 By A Customer This review is from: The War Zone (Hardcover) This book needs to be read as fiction/art not as self-help -- and may indeed be disturbing if you have a background of child abuse. The themes are deep and shocking and I normally do avoid such hard-edged explicit material. But I liked it and came away with the sense that the author is extremely gifted. I felt like I was reading a tougher, grittier, WEIRDER "Catcher in the Rye." I also think the author very brave to risk offending sensibilities. But he is not gratuitous. And he is funny at times. Gallows humor but still... he captures the voice of the Little Brother.. like it much! Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   3 of 6 people found the following review helpful: 2.0 out of 5 stars A disturbing novel, 3 April 2000 By A Customer This review is from: The War Zone (Paperback) I was sexually abused by my father as a child and am still struggling to free myself from the guilt I hold. I was hoping this book would give me an insight and help to release me. However, it appeared - quite irresponsibly, I feel - to perpetuate a shared blame between father and daughter. Thought provoking, but I wish I hadn't read it. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   1 of 2 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I have read in ages., 25 Sep 1999 By A Customer This review is from: The War Zone (Paperback) I could not put this book down once I started to read it. I found that the book covered the subject of incest - which a lot of people might not like - very well. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 6 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews 2.0 out of 5 stars In father-daughter incest there is no such thing as shared guilt A middle-class family has decamped from London to Devon for reasons unclear, leaving the son angry and isolated. Read more Published 16 months ago by Trevor Coote 5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant but harrowing I read this book about 15 years ago and it has stuck in my mind - powerful writing. Published on 28 May 2007 by lilysmum 4.0 out of 5 stars Not your usual novel... This book indeed was one which will always stand out of the many i have read, for it is a story of reality as i have never read it before... Read more Published on 17 Jan 2004 by Sunset Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 6 customer reviews...

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