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Lunch » Tags » Books » Reviews » The Keep

The Keep

9 Ratings: 3.3

A book by Jennifer Egan

In Jennifer Egan's deliciously creepy new novel, two cousins reunite twenty years after a childhood prank gone wrong changed their lives and sent them on their separate ways. "Cousin Howie," the formerly uncool, strange, and pasty ("he … see full wiki

Tags: Books

Author: Jennifer Egan

Publisher: Knopf

8 reviews about The Keep

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review by katknit. February 01, 2009

The lady in the tower

As it opens, The Keep zeroes in on Danny, who is forced to get out of town - fast, because he's screwed up royally once again. These initial chapters appear to be the set up for a romance novel, until they segue into the heart of the story. Serendipitously for Danny, his cousin Howard has provided him with an invitation and a one way plane ticket to a country (unnamed) in Eastern Europe. He makes a comically unceremonious arrival at his cousin's creepy, ancient castle, and the story becomes a tale … more

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review by Linda_in_Maine. December 29, 2008

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

One man's prison is another man's castle

Twenty-five years ago Danny played a horrible prank on his cousin Howie, and they never cleared the air between them. Now Howie's a retired millionaire and Danny's a plugged-in New Yorker, skirting the fringes of power and living by his cyber-connectedness. Howie is renovating a wonderfully creepy castle in Eastern Europe and because Danny's in a little hometown jam, he takes up Howie's invitation to come and join the team. Danny is SO out of his element, totally unplugged, and strange things happen … more

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review by gaelstat. February 14, 2008

A real page-turner, beautifully done.

I started to read this book, and just couldn't stop. It leaves me breathless. A multi-layered tour de force that works at every level. This story epitomizes what we look for when we read fiction - to be swept up, to be taken out of ourselves. Egan's talent is prodigious. An amazing book.

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review by frankiethek. September 19, 2007

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Interesting, but ultimately disappointing

I suspect that the title reveals how I feel about this book. There's no doubt that it is well-written, with fully delineated characters, and a complicated plot which keeps the reder interested from the first page almost to the end. It's that "almost" place that troubled me, and led to the 3 star rating. Shortly before the ending, the whole plot just fell apart for me, and I almost stopped reading, but I wanted to get to the end so that I could give an honest review of the whole book. Remember, my … more

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review by nateandersen. January 21, 2007

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Caves of the psyche, the nature of power, the power of the imagination

This intriguing story interweaves multiple stories into a meaningful whole, that unfolds only gradually. There is the story that someone writes down containing multiple characters, and the journal of this writer that sheds some light on the story but that is incomplete in ways the story illuminates, and there is the story of the person who receives both these -- all woven together into a larger story about the power of stories and imagination and of the nature of power in relationships and of the … more

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review by Kasia_S. January 06, 2007

Fusion of medieval secrets and modern marvels

This book was such an enigma to me and only half way thought was when I started appreciating the delectable balance of realms changing from sanity to the reality that the author wanted me to appreciate. The Keep is unlike any other book I've read in the past year, it has more than one narrator, three to be exact, and all different people who become the strands of the rope binding the story. This tale reads like a surreal fairy tale switching between Danny who has lost his home, job and stability … more

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review by cyclone_march. September 13, 2006

Interesting story with narrative complications

Pros: Story, readability Cons: Narration; there are 2 narrators but only one voice The Bottom Line: Academically it is problematic, but the story is strong enough that this won't be a problem for most. Since The Keep is a type of mystery, I will have to abridge my normal summary and analysis. The Keep is a story within a story within a story. The main narrator, Ray, writes his story in a prison creative … more

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review by LynnHoffman. August 10, 2006

Already spellbound by this brilliant book

I'm only halfway through this magnificent new novel from Jennifer Egan and I am so spellbound that I'm rationing my reading of it now. Twenty pages a day, no more. Well, except if there's a chapter that's almost done. Or if it's raining. What Egan has done is made the telling of the story almost as suspenseful as the plot. The succession of voices has its own mysterious chemistry as this tale of two cousins-bound by a shocking childhood betrayal- unfolds in a mythically mysterious setting … more

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