Sliver

I love Ira Levin, full stop. He creates such wonderful characters and settings while still hammering home a truth about society that lingers beneath the surface of the narrative that you have to dig a bit to find. This book would be a five star for me, however, I felt that the main female character, one who is written from the very beginning to be strong willed, intelligent, and self sufficient, behaves naively and uncharacteristically through the second third of the book. In my opinion, she does not at all stack up like Joanna in Stepford Wives or Rosemary in Rosemary’s Baby, however, it is not enough to entirely ruin the book for me as the concept and language Levin explores and uses is fantastic and will keep you on the edge of your seat.

"Sliver" is definitely not up to "Rosemary's Baby" but it's one of Levin's better products, and for those readers who felt it lacked believability, what would they say about "Rosemary's Baby" or "The Stepford Wives"? It's not supposed to be read with a straight face; it's fun, and on that count, it measures up. What made the book especially enjoyable for this reader was that I know the Carnegie Hill neighborhood very well, and it was a lot of fun identifying all the places Levin mentioned in the book -- real places, in fact. (The Corner Bookstore is one of my favorite book shops in all of New York.) The story of the sophisticated, jaded older woman who falls in love with a younger man has been done to death, but Levin makes this one refreshing by giving the heroine sense enough not to take this too seriously; she knows sooner or later it's bound to end so she just enjoys what she has while she has it. The book's main theme of voyeurism is well presented; we share the heroine's mixture of fascination and revulsion, and realize how all too easy it is to get sucked into the thrill of snooping and being privy to all the neighbors' secrets. And while the ending may be as believable as a two-headed giraffe, the whole book is slightly off-center so we shrug and enjoy the fun. If you're looking for something heavy or profound, go read "War and Peace" or an equally weighty tome; "Sliver" is a good book to spend a rainy day with.

There's a lot to like here: The plot moves fast and suspensefully, making it hard to put this one down. The female protagonist is interesting, educated, down-to-earth yet urbane and sexy. The male protagonist is evil enough not to make excuses for, yet the book challenges you to at least consider his point of view.Most excitingly, this book gives an incisive observation of maybe the most important social phenomenon of the TV age: voyeurism. Written before the Internet craze, this book has become only more relevant since! It describes aptly the temptation of wanting to play god in the form of an all-knwoing observer, as well as the dangers of such hubris: addiction, the seduction into doing something the perpetrator would intellectually/morally violently disagree with yet feels strangely compelled to perpetuate. Ultimately, the book discusses the consequences of such behavior as the perpetrator resorts to criminal behavior to continue his game.Granted, there are a few flies in the ointment: the premise may not be considered terribly plausible. Yet, I believe it stacks up well against the suspense of disbelief required in most novels. The ending, however, while symbolically quite interesting (the voyeur becomes blinded, tying also into the Oedipal theme which is one thread in the book) is ultimately fairly contrived. Even more so, the final climactic scene, including the blinding, is just too far over the top to not teeter on the verge of the absolutely ridiculous! Mr. Levin could have definitely done a lot better there!Despite these flaws, I still rate this one highly. If not taken all too seriously, this one's one satisfying ride!

I love this book - easy to read, engrossing, interesting characters,... I definitely recommend it.

Not one of Ira Levin's best, but still heads and shoulders above what most horror writers out there are cranking out. (And Mr. Levin's best [Rosemary's Baby, Stepford Wives, Boys from Brazil] are the defining classics of the horror genre.) I don't understand how the people below can recommend the movie, as it bore no resemblance to the book whatsoever. A taunt, exciting thriller that had me up late to finish it. Levin's forte is psychological horror, and here he deals with an ancient psychological terror and thrill, voyeurism, and gives it a very modern spin, while retaining mythical elements. If they had stuck to the plot, they could have made a great movie out of this.

The best thriller novel I've read since Craig Furnas's THE SHAPE. It's a shame Ira Levin doesn't write more, because I love his books.