The Rats by James HerbertMy rating: 8 of 10 stars
This was undoubtly one of the best books of the year. The rats is a pure horror tale from the seventies.
First of all, what I enjoy most of all were... the rats. The killing frenzy. The history behind each attack. One of the best scenes is when the writer gives us four or five pages about a woman fall from being a true believer through whore and now a hobo. Btw that's the only good female protagonist. There aren't any more.
This is the seventies guys and girls. Things were different. Even Stephen King or Koontz, in horror genre, in the seventies gave way much attention to males characters than females.
I really enjoy the attack on the subway. Great images. I won't go to the subway again and look into the darkness and thing there are things watching... and waiting.
So.. Gory, horror, suspense and a bit of sex. Fun as hell. Thank god Herbert wrote two more books. Excellent. BUT as I said before... it was written in the seventies. Like the thirties and Lovecraft you can't compare to what you have now.
Lovecraft = Racist? - Herbert = Machist? I think not. Different times. Different ways of thinking. You can't compare yourself to a medieval guy or even comparing to nowadays - You can't compare a UK or USA citizen with a Japonese or a Somalii. There are different views of the world and so it's my belief that's why there are so many one star reviews on this book. Read the reviews. Most of them think Herbert is a machist. Oh well.
Advisable to anyone who wants to read a good short horror story but don't mind about characters.
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