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Title: Bad Seed by William March ISBN: 0-88001-540-3 Publisher: Ecco Pub. Date: 01 August, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.4 (25 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A Great Read!
Comment: Despite a few ham-handed attempts to throw psychological jargon into his narrative, William March delivered a solid piece of literature when "The Bad Seed" was published. In young Rhoda Penmark, he gave us one of the most accurately yet subtly drawn portrayals of simple, single-minded, self-interested evil that one could imagine. And in developing the novel's other characters, he did equally fine work. The story remains engaging even to a reader who comes to it almost 50 years after its initial publication. The focus is never fully on Rhoda and this is what makes the novel work so well. By showing us the actions and reactions of her mother, Christine and the other people around Rhoda, we see a more complete, realistic view of her world. This broadening of the novel's perspective creates a more humane environment and puts Rhoda's evil deeds in context. This is a much greater work of literature than many of today's popular murder stories. There are no faceless victims in "The Bad Seed" and the effects of evil are not taken lightly. In an interesting way, the ending is much like that of a classical tragedy -- but with a modern twist. I'll say no more about that. Just know that I recommend this book highly!
Rating: 5
Summary: A Gem of a Horror Story
Comment: It's a shame this book has become all but unknown behind the enormously successful movie with its God-awful copout ending (although Patty McCormick's deliciously chilling perfomance of its anti-heroine is a gem in itself), because the book is infinitely better than the movie (I can't speak for the Broadway production because I never saw it). In fact, most people who saw or heard of 'The Bad Seed' as a play or a movie never knew it was derived from William March's terrific book. March tells the story of Rhoda Penmark, eight years old, a devil lurking inside an angel's facade. To her adult neighbors, she's every parent's dream: obedient, unassuming, compliant, always neat and well-groomed, quiet, polite to her elders. She does her homework without being prodded and she gets all the answers correct on her Sunday school quiz. Those who know her more intimately suspect there's something ugly underneath all the surface charm; her peers can't stand her, her teachers see a disturbing lack of feeling or sensitivity in her, and her parents, who dote on her, wonder if she is capable of love, affection, remorse, or any of the characteristics that make us human. For Rhoda goes after what she wants with a single-minded purposefulness and anybody who gets in her way better watch out. Rhoda's father is absent throughout all but the last few pages of the book (he's away on a business trip that is important to his career advancement), so Christine, her mother, is left to deal with Rhoda on her own. Christine is a fasinating character, one of the most tragic in contemporary fiction, a decent, compliant, earnest woman, whose identity is totally bound up in being a good wife and a devoted mother; what she learns about her own history shatters her world, especially when she realizes that her daughter is the 'bad seed' she unwittingly transmitted from her own diabolical mother. And as Christine cannot accept that she is blameless in this transmission, that she did not cause her daughter's criminal behavior any more than she caused her own mother's, so she feels she must not drag anyone else, even her husband, into her private hell; she created it, so she must deal with it alone, and it undoes her. How else could Christine have acted, is left to the reader to speculate. I'm not going to tell how the book ended, except to say that it's a much more satisfying (because more realistic) ending than in the movie. But it's a spooky little gem of a horror story that deserves a much wider readership. It's well written, well plotted, and a great read. I loved it!
Rating: 5
Summary: The Prototype For All That Followed
Comment: Shudder and shake when you saw "The Exorcist" or "The Omen"? This novella written in 1954 was the first that delved into the psyche of a totally evil child. For sheer chill, few of the followers have matched it. Little 10-year old Rhoda Penmark is flawless perfection without a soul. She is a pretty, tidy, obedient child who worms her way to adults' affection. Her peers avoid her. Her teachers are puzzled. And her mother is about to lose her mind.
Rhoda only has two buttons to push: Greed and Personal Safety. If she wants something, she will go to any lengths to get it. If she fears for her own well-being, she is willing to do anything to safeguard herself. Other than these two flaws, she is flawless. True, she has a short attention span and gets bored easily, but if you keep her satisfied, she's absolutely fine.
The novella gets its power from the strain of "I'm watching you watching me" until it is heightened to unbearable intensity. You begin to believe Rhoda is a force of nature, and she can no more be circumvented than the West Wind. The book shows it age in some of the almost caricature characterizations of supporting characters. From our hurried-up 21st Century viewpoint, you can't help but think everybody has a little too much time on their hands. Nevertheless, "The Bad Seed" still packs quite a wallop.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer
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Title:The Bad Seed ASIN: 6300270270 Publisher: Warner Studios Pub. Date: 27 August, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $14.95 |
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Title: Transformations by Anne Sexton ISBN: 061808343X Publisher: Mariner Books Pub. Date: 15 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams ISBN: 0451171128 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: September, 1989 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Shrek! by William Steig ISBN: 0374466238 Publisher: Sunburst Pub. Date: 01 September, 1993 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow ISBN: 0452279070 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: May, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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