Lost Boys

I have read this book three times. The first time I read it (I had read the short story it was based on and was excited to read it even if I already knew the ending) it was a fun ghost story--just the right amount of sad, creepy, and sweet. The second time I read it I laughed a lot at the commentary on Mormon culture. I couldn't help thinking that I had met several of the crazy Mormons that Step Fletcher runs into. (Yes, even Mormons can think other Mormons are crazy!) The third time I read it I cried all the way through. Just bawled. Because life is hard. Dealing with failed careers, and kids' lives out of control, and not being able to pay the mortgage, just trying to get by and claw our way along, and just deal with LIFE is more than enough before we even deal with death and loss. Card wrote the short story based on his own life, adding a fictional older son. He has distanced himself from the main character in the book, making the protagonist distinct from himself, but it still feels very personal and real. I highly recommend. Except for the prologue. I always recommend that readers skip the page and a half prologue. Gratuitous ickyness, completely unnecessary to the book.

I've read several of OSC's books and found this to be one of his most entertaining. People who say it's slow or that nothing happens in this book don't understand it. It's about the internal struggle of the main character Step Fletcher as he's subject to his new town that he moves to with his family and groups of people within and outside his new job. It's all the small things in the book that give the story strength. It's so down to earth and hits on the human condition so often it really makes you feel what the character feels. Amidst Steps ethical dilemmas, the book grows more eerie as it moves along. There's really nothing mundane about it. I found it hard to put down. Card does an excellent job of making the reader curious as to what will happen next. This is not sci-fi but more of suspense mystery. Mainly it's just great storytelling. And Stefan Rudnicki does a terrific job of reading it, as always. However, the audio CD version is very expensive. If you want to save money, buy the MP3 CD version, it's only $25.

Here's a Halloween read that I'd bet you don't have on your list, and yet, you absolutely should, must, will check it out. Because it embodies the heart and soul of the season's spirit. A ghost story, a supernatural thriller, with no gore, no horror fest over-the-top violence (actually almost no violence at all), and yet it creeps into your heart, stirs your senses more violently than a pitcherful of tequila shots (if they're even drunk in pitchers, as if I'd know) and does to you what only the finest fiction aspires to achieve: it leaves you moved almost to the point of tears, and so satisfied, you turn the last page immensely sad, and yet immensely content. Now, let's talk about M. Night Shyamalan. If M. Night Shyamalan ever makes a sequel to The Sixth Sense, he should seriously consider adapting Lost Boys. The very fact that Lost Boys was first published way back in 1992, years before Shyamalan made his dazzling debut that shot to the top of the biggest all-time grossers in Hollywood history, makes me wonder for a moment. Could it be that the talented young Indian American director (his first name is 'Manoj' and he was born in Chennai, formerly called Madras) actually read Lost Boys in its first publication? Because, if he didn't, then the 'twist in the tale' of both The Sixth Sense and Lost Boys is more than amazing; it's close to supernatural! Well, Shyamalan is certainly talented enough to have come up with his zinger of a 'twist' entirely on his own, and his stately, sedate pacing, masterful direction, and superbly nuanced screenplay certainly made The Sixth Sense way more than a clever-idea film. But it's hard to believe that Lost Boys essayed an eeirily similar plot device, and did so years before Shyamalan's movie, and had no influence at all upon that standout film. Since I certainly don't know what did or didn't influence Shyamalan--for all I know, he's never even read an Orson Scott Card book in his life, I can only muse on that a moment, and then move on. Because it's enough to know that Lost Boys existed before The Sixth Sense and that it exists even now, in a reissued paperback edition along with a number of Orson Scott Card's other highly readable backlist novels. The reason for the reissue, presumably, is a change of publishers or a lapsing of rights. But there's also Card's new novel, Magic Street. Card is best known as the author of the Ender series of thoughtful science fiction novels, the linked Shadow series, and probably less-well known but equally loved for his Tales of Alvin Maker series of marvelous, magical alternate history novels. But what most SF readers don't know is that he's also the author of some wonderfully written, genuinely moving, and eeirily effective supernatural suspense novels. Lost Boys is part of this lesser known genre that Card has worked in over the years, but found little success in, compared to his SF novels at least. (Each instalment of the Shadow series has hit the New York Times Bestse

I was probably about twelve years old when I found this book at a beach house where we were staying. It fascinated me and I was soon addicted to reading it. Then a hurricane threatened the shore and we had to leave. My grandmother allowed me to take the book so that I could finish it. That was many years ago, but the book and its story is still fresh in my mind. In fact, I still vividly remember the line "I showed them how" and it still brings tears to my eyes. This book is disturbing without being overly strange and scary without being mundane. Orson Scott Card writes incredibly well.

I have never been so profoundly affected by a book before in my life. Each member of this Mormon family comes alive and Card makes you love each one of them. I read chapters of this book while holding my breath between pages! The book captures the evils that we all encounter in our everyday lives. I worried about the oldest son, Stevie, when he went to school and about the father at work every day. The book is very spiritual and I would not classify it as fantasy. The small details about the Mormon religion were fascinating and inspiried me to read a book by a former Mormon after finishing Lost Boys. The ending is unbearably sad but also uplifting. I read the last chapter with tears streaming down my face and finished the book sobbing uncontrollably. I couldn't really regain my composure the rest of the evening and the book will always remain with me. I think that parents will be especially affected by the story of this family.

I'm not a science fiction fan, so I almost missed this one. But having read another Card book (Saints), I took a chance on this one, and I'm very glad I did. I read Lost Boys about two years ago, and I'd read it again if I thought I could handle it. It's a beautiful story of a family being subjected to terrible hardship and stress, a family whose faith and love strengthen and keep them together through the worst kind of sorrow. A word of caution: if you have ever buried one of your children (as I have), be careful with this one. You don't have to be a Mormon to enjoy this novel. The doctrine is presented as part of the story, it's easy to understand. The plot is rather complicated, but basically concerns a recently relocated software designer and his family who find themselves facing religious prejudice, serious problems with the husband's new employer, self-righteous busybodies, a severly disabled newborn, and a serial killer. All at the same time. They are blessed with a truly exceptional eldest child, Steven, who seems to be a conduit of supernatural forces. Yes, the ending is wrenching, and yes, you will cry, but that is the essence of life, isn't it? If you want to escape to a place where all the endings are happy, don't read this book. If you want to experience a slice of Mormon theology mixed with suspense and tragedy, then don't miss this one. You'll find yourself counting your blessings and hugging your children a little more tightly afterwards. I'm glad I read Lost Boys, and I recommend it to anyone with an open mind and a tender heart.