Customer Rating: 
Summary: Poisoned Roots
Comment: Published in 1954, William March's last novel, "The Bad Seed" was a somewhat shocking, bluntly forthright novel in its time. Viewed from today's perspective, March's frank discussion of sexuality and murder is not as shocking. However, March's creation of the child serial killer Rhoda Penmark, is horrific and chilling, the impetus for a whole plethora of creepy kids in literature and movies.
"The Bad Seed" centers around Mrs. Christine Penmark and her daughter Rhoda, who we learn from the very beginning is rather odd. She is unlike any other child, too mature by far, and seems to lack any genuine feelings - everything about her is calculated. Set during the summertime, the story opens with the death of a fellow student at Rhoda's school, a little boy whose reward Rhoda had desired as her own. As Christine learns more about the boy's death, she fears that her daughter may have played a role in his demise. With her husband away on a business trip, Christine feels there is no one she can confide in, as she struggles to come to terms with her daughter's actions, past and present, and the facts that she learns about her own forgotten past.
William March created a classic horror thriller with "The Bad Seed". It is a quick-paced novel that is difficult to put down, even though it is easy to dislike many of the characters. Populated mainly by women, March tries almost too hard at times to make these characters sinister and unlikable, but he achieves his aim in the end. "The Bad Seed" is an enjoyable read, with a truly perfect ending, that will leave readers wanting more.
Customer Rating:
Summary: sugar, spice and everything nice??
Comment: 'The Bad Seed' is certainly a great horror story, made even more remarkable since it was written in the early 1950s when the world was thought to be a kinder, gentler place. In it we have a young mother at the end of her tether in dealing with her adolescent daughter. Her daughter is not all peaches and cream. She is a cold, emotionless psychopath. She doesn't recognize good from bad. All she knows is that when she wants something ... SHE GETS IT. Poor mother eventually comes to grips as to why her daughter is the way she is, and arrives at a decision on what to do about it.
Bottom line: although it created a sensation when first published, 'The Bad Seed' has stood the test of time and is worthy of new readership. Strongly recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: THE BAD SEED!!!!!
Comment: FOR ALL OF US "OLDER" PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO REMEMBER THE MOVIE, THIS IS A GREAT COMPANION TO THE MOVIE. OF COURSE LIKE ALL BOOKS AND MOVIES MADE FROM BOOKS YOU HAVE YOUR OWN MENTAL INTRERPATATION OF EACH. ALL IN ALL, GREAT BOOK WORTH READING, BUT A BETTER MOVIE.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Still a Good Read
Comment: I imagine "The Bad Seed" was a truly shocking story back in the fifties when it first came out and it remains a chilling little tale that is well written and quite believable. The sad thing is that you can pick up a newspaper today and read more shocking stories about real childhood psychopaths.
I thought the characters were well developed and the story moved well. I watched the movie (1950's version) last night for the first time and though the movie got all the attention and is what most people remember, the book is much better and though the film was well-acted, Rhoda just seemed colder and more menacing in the book. The book also does a better job at developing the story of Christine's mother and her forgotten past. The ending of the book was much better as well!
Overall, a quick, entertaining read!
Customer Rating:
Summary: rhoda is FABULOUS - - period.
Comment: i got this book at noon the other day and finished it by eight that evening - - a page turner, gripping, gothic, yet campy and with a sense of irony about that campiness that endeared the book to me.
eloquently written, his language is engaging yet elegant, revealing and graphic, yet dark and mysterious, like sinister housewife gossip and whispered rumours.
if you root for the anti-hero (and believe me this book has one HELL of a little anti-hero to offer), this is definitely the book for you. i found myself time and again reading it, eyes wide, mouth open... "oh my god. she's the devil... she's FABULOUS!!" Rhoda is an utterly timeless character, and you can tell the author cares about her a lot; she's a little machine, a robot with no soul, she plays back what you want to hear like a broken record and kills without a second thought, but somehow you admire her, even begin to be taken in by her.
this book captures the feeling of the time it takes place, i see some incredibly caucasian small southern/east-coast town, a nightmare of whitewash, green grass, sunshine and trees and bushes bursting with flowers.
i would like to say how mortified that i am that Eli Roth is helming the (surprise!) REMAKE of this story... hollywood. rotters. yech.
so before the whole franchise becomes tainted with modern horror dreck of the ilk of hostel and saw, READ THIS BOOK and fall in love with it.
|
